Plugin: photonic (Used by 3,099 domains)

Photonic takes the WordPress gallery and super-charges it with a lot of added functionality. It adds support for several new sources and parameters to enhance the content and look-and-feel of your galleries. It supports Flickr photos, Albums (Photosets), Galleries and Collections, along with SmugMug folders, albums and images, and Zenfolio photos, Photosets and Groups. You can also set up authentication so that visitors can see private and protected photos from each provider.

When used without the Gutenberg editor Photonic by default overrides the gallery shortcode. In case you happen to be using a theme or plugin that already overrides the gallery shortcode, Photonic provides you with the option to use your own shortcode for Photonic galleries. This lets your plugins coexist. Bear in mind that if you deactivate Photonic you will have to remove all instances of this custom shortcode, something that is not required if you stick to the gallery shortcode.

When used with Gutenberg Photonic creates no shortcodes, rather it creates blocks. If some of your posts were written with Gutenberg and some without, Photonic supports both scenarios.

Lightboxes

Of all plugins free or paid, Photonic has support built in for the highest number of lightbox scripts. This includes scripts that run on pure JavaScript without relying on external libraries, or those that require jQuery.

Pure JS Libraries

• BaguetteBox
• BigPicture
• “Gie” Lightbox (GLightbox)
• LightGallery
• PhotoSwipe v4
• PhotoSwipe v5
• Spotlight
• VenoBox

jQuery Based Libraries

• Colorbox
• Fancybox2 – not GPL, so the script is not included with the plugin. See the Lightboxes page for details
• Fancybox3
• Featherlight
• Image Lightbox
• Lightcase
• Strip
• Swipebox
• Thickbox

Obsolete Libraries

• Fancybox 1 – no update since November 2010
• Magnific Popup – no update since February 2016
• PrettyPhoto – no update since May 2015

For the non-GPL alternatives like Fancybox2 and the obsolete libraries, Photonic has code to work with them, but you have to install the scripts yourself or rely on them from your theme or another plugin.

With the exception of Thickbox the lightboxes have been adapted to become touch and gesture-friendly. See the Lightboxes page for details.

Support for Multiple Platforms

Flickr

The following Flickr concepts are supported in Photonic:

• Photos
• PhotoSets (Albums)
• Galleries
• Collections
• Single Photo
• Authentication

For demos of Flickr support visit the Flickr page.

Google Photos

Google API Change:** With effect from 31st March 2025, Google’s Photos API is discontinued (see here for Google’s official announcement). Consequently, Photonic will stop working for Google Photos**. For more details, see this thread. Note that while Google’s official announcement says otherwise, as of 20th April 2025 the API is still working, so older versions of Photonic will seem to work. However, there is no guarantee about when Google will truly shut it off.

SmugMug

The following SmugMug concepts are supported in Photonic:

• User Tree
• Photos
• Albums
• Folders

For demos of SmugMug support visit the SmugMug page.

Zenfolio

The following Zenfolio concepts are supported in Photonic:

• Photos
• PhotoSets (Galleries and Collections)
• Groups
• Group Hierarchies

For demos of Zenfolio support visit the Zenfolio page.

Instagram

In mid-September 2022 Meta / Facebook / Instagram changed its rules to disallow individual developers (i.e. developers not operating as a business) from meaningfully using its API. As a result, Photonic no longer works for Instagram photos. The code is still in place though, and can be used by someone with a business wishing to adopt it.

Native WordPress Galleries

Your existing galleries are left intact. However you can add a style parameter to a native gallery to open it up to Photonic. The style parameter can take any of the values documented on the Layouts page.

Other Photonic Goodies

Gallery Wizard

The WordPress Classic editor shows up with a button that says “Add / Edit Photonic Gallery”. Clicking on it launches a wizard that helps you interactively build out a gallery with just a few clicks.

Gutenberg Support

The Gallery Wizard can be accessed via Gutenberg / the Block Editor as well. While creating a block, just look for Photonic. Please refer to the documentation.

Video Support

Photonic provides gallery and lightbox support for videos as well. Videos of the following sorts are supported:

• External videos from YouTube or Vimeo can be opened in any of the lightboxes apart from Image Lightbox, Thickbox or BaguetteBox
• Self-hosted or external videos in MP4 formats can be opened in any of the lightboxes apart from Image Lightbox, PrettyPhoto, Strip or Thickbox
• Videos hosted by external service providers (Flickr, SmugMug etc.) can be opened as a part of a gallery in any of the lightboxes apart from Image Lightbox, PrettyPhoto, Strip or Thickbox. Some lightboxes have issues with specific features. Please refer to the Lightboxes documentation for more.

Deep-Linking and Social Sharing

Photonic provides deep-linking support for non-WP images, and by extension, supports social sharing to Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Beautiful Layouts

Photonic displays your galleries in multiple forms:

• A grid of square thumbnails (the default)
• A grid of circular thumbnails (like Jetpack)
• A neat justified grid
• A masonry layout
• A “horizontal” masonry layout, for those who prefer having their masonry layouts sorted horizontally
• A tiled, random mosaic (a much improved variant of the Jetpack Tiled Gallery layout)
• A slideshow, using the Splide script

See the Layouts documentation page for details and examples.

Obsessively Comprehensive Documentation (OCD)

Photonic’s documentation is comprehensive to the point of obsession. And yet, if you find something missing, please feel free to get in touch via the support forum.