FooGallery plugin review and common issues

Lazy loading in FooGallery is configured per gallery template. In the gallery editor, go to the Appearance settings and look for the Loading effect option. Select “Lazy Load” from the options. If lazy load is enabled but all images still load immediately: (1) a JavaScript conflict may prevent FooGallery’s lazy load library from initializing; (2) your caching plugin may be pre-rendering images without respecting lazy load attributes — some caching plugins remove lazy load attributes from cached HTML; (3) the gallery may be positioned above the fold where all images are immediately in view. Test on a page where the gallery is lower in the page layout.

The lightbox requires FooGallery’s JavaScript to be loaded and no conflicting lightbox plugin active. Check: (1) in the gallery editor → Lightbox settings, verify “Enable Lightbox” is checked; (2) another plugin (Jetpack, WPBakery, NextGEN) may be registering its own lightbox that overrides FooGallery — deactivate other gallery or lightbox plugins to test; (3) check browser DevTools Console for FooGallery JavaScript errors; (4) some performance plugins defer FooGallery scripts — if images link to the image file directly, the deferred FooGallery script has not yet initialized to convert them to lightbox triggers.

Duplicate images in FooGallery occur when the same media attachment is added to the gallery multiple times, often through repeated bulk-add operations. In the gallery editor, scroll through the image list — duplicates appear as identical thumbnails. Select the duplicate images by clicking them (they highlight) and click “Remove Selected” to remove them from the gallery (this does not delete from the media library). To prevent future duplicates, avoid adding the same folder or media library selection to a gallery more than once.

Assign tags to each image in the FooGallery editor — click an image and add tags like “branding,” “web design,” “photography.” In the Gallery Settings → Filtering section (Pro feature), enable filtering and configure the tag-based filter bar. Set the initial filter state (Show All, or a specific tag). Publish the gallery. Visitors see filter tabs that filter the gallery by tag using a smooth CSS transition. The filtering system is based on image tags rather than gallery categories, enabling the same gallery to serve as a complete portfolio with category navigation.

FooGallery Pro includes a Front-end Gallery Submission extension. Configure it by enabling the submission form on a specific gallery in the gallery settings. Set the allowed file types, maximum file size, and whether submissions require admin moderation before appearing in the gallery. Place the submission form shortcode on a page. Visitors can upload images that are either immediately added to the gallery (auto-approve mode) or held for admin review. This is useful for community photography projects, event galleries where attendees contribute images, or user-generated portfolio submissions.

FooGallery free provides six polished, performant gallery templates with lightbox — more visually capable than NextGEN Gallery free, which has very limited display options. FooGallery free is a better starting point for most sites that want a good-looking gallery without payment. NextGEN Gallery free is better if the batch upload management tools or EXIF metadata handling are specifically needed. For pure gallery display quality in the free tier, FooGallery is generally preferred.

Yes — FooGallery’s free version includes a Video Gallery template for YouTube and Vimeo videos displayed in a grid with thumbnail previews. Clicking a video opens it in the FooGallery lightbox for inline playback. FooGallery Pro adds support for self-hosted video files (direct .mp4 URLs) and the FooBox Pro lightbox provides a more polished video playback experience. Mixed photo and video galleries are also supported — images and videos can be combined in the same FooGallery instance.

Yes, that can happen, especially on older sites with many plugins. This usually happens when the plugin, theme, and add-ons are updated out of sequence. In most cases, testing on staging catches the issue before it reaches the live site. From experience, backups and changelog reviews save a lot of cleanup time.

Start by checking whether another plugin already does the same job. In most cases, overlap is what creates avoidable conflicts and performance issues. A common issue is installing a plugin because it looks convenient without checking the stack first. From experience, a short compatibility review avoids most of the pain later.