Articles in Design Category — Blog — Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin

11 Inspiring Slider Examples for Your Next Website

Raelene Morey — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 08:00:33 +0000

Looking for slider examples to inspire your next website design?

Sliders are a fantastic design tool for showcasing the most important content on your site in an eye-catching, engaging, and space-saving way. What’s more, modern sliders have evolved well beyond the simple image carousels of a decade ago, as you’ll see below.

Today, sliders can be anything you want. Want to display company logos? Easily done with a slider. Want a hero header that features video, space for your business’ key message, and call-to-action buttons? You can do that too.

Let’s take a look at some slider examples to get your creative juices flowing.

1. Hero Header Slider

Live Preview

Let your creative side shine with the Tattoo Studio slider template. This template has a sleek and contemporary design that not only looks great but also adapts perfectly to any device, providing a smooth experience for everyone.

👍 Why it works: This template is perfect for any website because of its simplicity and responsiveness. The navigation is intuitive and includes a custom hover effect, making it engaging for users. Each slide has a unique CTA layer, making navigation and interaction a breeze.

2. Product Carousel

Live Preview

Spice up your product showcase with the Full Width Product Carousel template, a cool slider that effortlessly combines style and practicality. By using the Carousel slider type, this template offers a visually stunning full-width layout, ideal for showcasing products and captivating your audience.

👍 Why it works: The Carousel slider is great at showing multiple slides at once, which really gets users interested and makes it easy for them to compare products. You can navigate through the slides using arrows, bullet points, or by dragging, so there are plenty of ways to explore the featured items. Plus, the design is responsive, so it looks great on any device you’re using.

3. Blog Post Carousel

Live Preview

This kind of slider example lets you display your latest WordPress posts using your featured images as the background. What’s more, with Smart Slider 3 your post carousels will update dynamically each time you publish a new post. That means you can focus on your writing without having to worry about manually updating your slides in WordPress.

👍 Why this works: This style of blog post carousel is ideal if you want to incorporate your WordPress posts as a section on your homepage. Plus, tablet and mobile users will be able to swipe through your posts with ease.

4. Logo carousel

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Displaying the logos of the businesses you work with is a proven social proof technique, i.e. if Pizza Hut works with you, you must have a great business. With a logo carousel like this one, you can easily display client logos in a prominent space on your Homepage or About page. Plus, with infinity scrolling enabled, it will instantly catch your visitors’ eyes.

👍 Why it works: For businesses that have worked with a large number of clients, a constantly looping logo carousel like this one lets you show off lots of logos in a small space without having to display them all at once.

5. Instagram Carousel

Live Preview

Upgrade your website with the Instagram Carousel slider template and bring the vibes of your Instagram feed right to your website audience. This eye-catching slider effortlessly converts your Instagram posts into a captivating carousel, giving your website visitors a stylish way to dive into your content.

👍 Why it works: The Instagram Carousel’s layout takes advantage of the browser’s horizontal space, giving you a full-width view. With its arrows, bullets, and touchscreen swiping, the Carousel slider makes it super easy to navigate through the content. Plus, the rounded corners of each slide add a cool card-like look that makes everything even more appealing.

6. Fullscreen Slider

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Take a cosmic adventure with our Undiscovered Universe slider template, created to take your website to new heights. Engage your visitors, by showcasing stunning visuals and enchanting animations that transport them to otherworldly places.

👍 Why it works: The Undiscovered Universe template grabs your attention with its captivating full-width layout, instantly making a visual impact on your webpage. With its seamless navigation options like horizontal dragging, keyboard controls, custom arrows, and rotating planet images, it guarantees an engaging and user-friendly experience.

7. Landing Page

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Treat your guests to the irresistible Bakery slider template, ideal for displaying the mouthwatering treats from your bakery. This demo website consists of five sliders that work together seamlessly, providing an engaging and informative experience for users.

👍 Why it works: The Bakery page example is a great showcase of a one-page website, offering a delightful experience. It has a top navigation bar that includes a logo, menu, and icons, allowing users to smoothly scroll to different sliders using the ScrolltoAlias action. Each slider is equipped with an alias, making navigation even more efficient.

8. Full-page Slider

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Upgrade your content with the Office Exercises slider template, a lively presentation that blends captivating visuals, smooth animations, and easy-to-use navigation. Designed specifically for busy professionals, this slider is the ideal resource to showcase a healthier lifestyle and enhance your fitness content.

👍 Why it works: The Office Exercises template uses a simple slider design that creates a captivating and engaging experience. By taking up the entire page, the slider becomes the main focus, removing any distractions and enabling visitors to effortlessly navigate through each exercise. The intuitive navigation options, such as dragging, bullet points, and arrows, cater to different preferences.

9. Shape Divider

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The Animal Shelter template is a perfect blend of captivating design and visuals. Not only does it feature a simple slider type and full-width display, but it also incorporates subtle shape dividers, layer effects, and mesmerizing background animations.

👍 Why it works: The Animal Shelter template is designed to provide a simple yet captivating visual experience with its full-width display. By eliminating distractions and highlighting your content, it ensures an immersive experience for your visitors. The inclusion of shape dividers, seamlessly integrated above and below slides, adds a touch of elegance to the design and enhances its overall aesthetic appeal.

10. Testimonial Slider

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This testimonial slider features a minimalist design that is easy to read. The logos stand out and the photo helps visitors visualize who the quotes belong to. In addition, the navigation arrows and dots make it easy for visitors to scroll through and see other testimonials.

👍 Why it works: Similar to logo carousels, testimonial sliders let you display social proof. Social proof reassures potential customers and clients that you’re the real deal and they can trust you.

11. Groups of Sliders

Live Preview

Introduce your brand with ease using the Gibraltar template. It’s a simple and user-friendly solution that showcases a clean design and eye-catching layer animations. This template is flexible and can be used as a dynamic business portfolio or an engaging company website, providing various options to meet your requirements.

👍 Why it works: With its cleverly designed captivating layers, flexible layouts, and flawless responsiveness, this template guarantees an engaging and user-friendly experience, making it the perfect option for businesses aiming to make a strong online impact. The dynamic features of the template, such as CTA buttons and imaginative animations, further enhance its ability to grab and hold visitors’ attention.

Wrapping Up

These are just some examples to show you what can easily be achieved with the right slider plugin and the right design. For more inspiration, check out the impressive sliders featured in Example Sliders, which include customizable sliders, blocks, and page templates.

Plus, you’ll be happy to know all of the examples featured in this article are available to customize with Smart Slider 3! Download the plugin for free today.

The post 11 Inspiring Slider Examples for Your Next Website appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

12 Inspiring Examples of Stunning Modern Homepage Sliders

Raelene Morey — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 07:00:10 +0000

Homepage sliders are back! Or, should I say, they never left in the first place. If you’d believe the anti-slider brigade, homepage sliders are boring, annoying, and bad for conversions. But the actual evidence proves otherwise.

Modern sliders have evolved beyond the basic slideshows that were everywhere 10 years ago. Big brands like SpaceX or Microsoft feature well-designed sliders on their websites. Contemporary sliders are gorgeous. They feature stunning imagery – usually high-resolution photography – along with thoughtful copywriting, well-placed CTAs, and design elements that ensure information is well-timed so users can absorb the content on each slide.

Why use a homepage slider on your WordPress site? The many benefits include:

Focus. The ability to focus users on your key messages above the fold.
Visuals. Users love stunning imagery. Sliders let you display more than just one image.
Calls to action. Sliders provide opportunities to display multiple CTAs for your important content.

Let’s take a look at some examples of how you can use homepage sliders.

1. Monolith Boxed Slider

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Monolith Boxed Slider

Make your website more appealing and mesmerize your visitors with the Monolith Boxed Slider. Its design and engaging content will make a lasting impact, getting your audience ready for an unforgettable visual experience. Using the Showcase slider type, and featuring blurry slides on each side of the main one creates a captivating effect that grabs your visitors’ attention without much effort.

👍 Why it works: The full-width layout guarantees a perfect fit on big screens, providing three easy-to-use navigation choices. The various layers, such as the one-of-a-kind Image Area layer, contribute to a stylish appearance. Captivating animations like the Horizontal showcase effect and the basic incoming animations bring a touch of elegance, making it a multipurpose option.

2. Undiscovered Universe

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Undiscovered Universe

The Undiscovered Universe’s mind-blowing cosmic design will take your website to a whole new level, just like a powerful banner that grabs attention instantly. Each slide features its own arrows and a cool rotating planet image, making navigation a breeze. With captivating visuals and mesmerizing animations showing the wonders of space, your audience will be hooked and they’ll keep scrolling through the galaxies.

👍 Why it works: Its two-column design, completed with unique layers like the Area layer and Absolute Layer, adds a touch of cosmic beauty. The custom CSS blur effect elevates the overall aesthetic. With mesmerizing animations like the Crossfade Main Animation and Distortion-Wrap Background Animation, the experience is completely lively.

3. Gibraltar

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Gibraltar

Upgrade your brand image effortlessly using the Gibraltar template. With its sleek and user-friendly design, along with captivating layer animations, this flexible template is perfect for a range of uses. Whether you need a professional portfolio or a vibrant website for your company, this template has got you covered.

👍 Why it works: As a Slider group, it allows for a seamless presentation of your content with an unlimited number of slides. The engaging layers, including the menu bar and CTA buttons, grab and hold the visitors’ attention. With absolute layers, custom CSS features, and captivating animations like the Reveal animation, it adds a modern touch to any website. It has a gallery-like layout on the last block, highlighting the template’s versatility, and making it a perfect choice for various branding needs.

4. Construction

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Construction

The Construction slider is an absolute game-changer with its smooth animations and flawless design. This slider spans the entire width of your screen and adapts perfectly to any device, ensuring a seamless experience for your visitors. However, it’s not just visually stunning, but also a powerful tool that can convert your visitors into satisfied clients. With its navigation options and unique layers like Image Area, List, and Progress Bar, this template effortlessly catches your visitors’ eye.

👍 Why it works: With its structured two-column layout and creative use of Absolute layers, the Construction slider ensures visually stunning sliders for your website. Users can easily navigate through arrows, a “Next Slide” button, or by dragging the slides horizontally. It also offers various layers, such as the Image Area and Progress Bar, which add versatility to your content. The slider’s animations, including the Horizontal Main Animation and layer-specific effects, are captivating and keep users engaged.

5. Cosmetics

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Cosmetics

The Cosmertics slider will take your product presentation to the next level. This full-page slider is specifically designed to display your cosmetics in a visually appealing way, with a stylish white border that frames the entire screen. It’s the perfect choice for showcasing your cosmetic line on large monitors, providing a stunning backdrop that will captivate your audience.

👍 Why it works: The Cosmetics slider is all about modern elegance, giving you a smooth and stylish way to showcase your products. It’s designed with stunning layers, from headings to product descriptions, and a standout CTA button, making it easy for customers to make a purchase. The innovative image box layers add a touch of sophistication with a cool list of check marks. Plus, the engaging animations and smart layout make it visually captivating and effective in presenting your cosmetic line.

6. Blur

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Blur

Explore a whole new world of endless creative options with the Blur slider template. Its incredible design and smooth animations go beyond the limits of imagination, enabling you to create stunning visuals that leave a lasting impression on your visitors. Blur the lines between ordinary and extraordinary, and leave a memorable impact with this captivating slider.

👍 Why it works: The Blur slider is more than just a visual treat – it’s a dynamic tool to captivate your audience. Its full-width layout is perfect for larger screens, ensuring your content stands out on any device. It’s user-friendly and adaptable, offering two convenient navigation options – stylish arrows or a seamless drag for touch screens. Special layers like the Countdown and Area layers appear on some of the slides. Moreover, the 3D effect and mesmerizing Distortion-Shard animation add a touch of elegance.

7. Greek Restaurant

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Greek Restaurant

Check out the Greek Restaurant template to give your restaurant or business a stylish introduction. This amazing template offers six different projects, including a stunning full-page layout that will instantly grab attention. Every block and slider in the template is carefully crafted to highlight your special offerings, from delicious dishes to the heart and soul of your brand.

👍 Why it works: It effortlessly combines style and practicality. With a variety of layout choices, such as full-page and full-width sliders, it caters to various ways of presenting content. The layers, which include captivating elements like headings, images, and call-to-action buttons, breathe life into your story. Contemporary animations like Reveal and layer parallax improve the visual experience, while the inventive layout of the Dinner Menu slider adds a dash of creativity to your slider.

8. Black Friday Slider

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Black Friday Slider

Get into the sale season spirit with the exciting Black Friday Slider template. Designed to highlight unbeatable deals, this slider adds a festive touch to your website. With its full-page layout, it grabs visitors’ attention and offers plenty of space to showcase exclusive offers, creating an amazing shopping experience.

👍 Why it works: The Black Friday Slider is so effective because of its user-friendly design and impactful features. With its full-page layout, it makes a grand entrance and instantly grabs attention. The interactive layers, such as the Image Area and custom CSS, really bring the deals to life. And with loop animations and a reveal effect, it creates a sense of urgency that enhances the overall shopping experience.

9. Digital Art

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Digital Art

You can turn your digital artwork into a vibrant masterpiece with the Digital Art template. This slider specifies in highlighting your creativity while simultaneously captivating your audience. It effortlessly combines practicality with stunning visuals, guaranteeing a great experience for all your visitors.

👍 Why it works: It’s designed to effortlessly display artwork with its carousel slider and full-width layout. In addition, it skillfully combines various elements like images, headings, text, and buttons, this template demonstrates that simplicity can have a powerful impact. The addition of responsive animations and touch-based events further enhances interactivity, ensuring that visitors have a memorable and engaging viewing experience.

10. Tattoo Studio

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Tattoo Studio

Let your artistic vision shine through the online world using the Tattoo Studio template. With its modern design, it adapts to any device and is easy to navigate. This template enables artists to effortlessly display their amazing work. Whether it’s tattoos or services, this design perfectly merges creativity with practicality.

👍 Why it works: The Tattoo Studio template provides a smooth and easy browsing experience. It includes cool arrow options and a special hover effect that adds to the overall appeal. With its cool layers and animations, the showcase becomes vibrant and eye-catching. The adaptable layout guarantees a dynamic presentation for various types of content, making it perfect for artists who want to make a bold statement online.

11. Full Width Product Carousel

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Full Width Product Carousel

The Full Width Product Carousel is an innovative slider that takes your product showcase to the next level. It uses a Carousel slider type to make the most of your screen space, making it easy for users to compare product details. With smooth animations and user-friendly navigation options like arrows, bullets, and touch-friendly swiping, it provides easy browsing. Whether you’re showcasing products, promotions, or dynamic content, this template is a versatile solution that will captivate users and boost conversions.

👍 Why it works: This template is incredibly versatile, effortlessly blending different content elements in a carousel. The Carousel slider type is perfect for making your products more visible on big screens, allowing users to easily explore and discover. Plus, the responsive design guarantees consistent functionality across all devices, and the option to include dynamic content from WooCommerce products makes maintenance a breeze. If you’re looking for an engaging and efficient way to present your products, the Full Width Product Carousel is the ultimate tool for your business.

12. Office Exercises

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Office Exercises

Upgrade your office wellness routine with the Office Exercises slider. This template is loaded with smooth animations and effortless navigation, making it the perfect tool to highlight exercises that are suitable for busy professionals. Captivate your visitors, encourage healthier habits, and make your content shine.

👍 Why it works: This slider is designed to keep things straightforward by displaying one amazing slide at a time, allowing for a complete view. It features a full-page layout that gets rid of any potential distractions. You can easily navigate through the slides in three different ways – by dragging it on your phone, tapping the bullet points for a smaller screen, or clicking the arrows on your desktop. Additionally, it includes some impressive layers, like the Image Area layer, which adds a touch of extra style to everything.

Creating Your Own Beautiful Homepage Slider with Smart Slider 3

With Smart Slider 3 you can easily create beautiful home page sliders. If you like any of the Smart Slider examples above, you can use them — just import them into your WordPress install when you sign up for Smart Slider 3 Pro.

Conclusion

Sliders are dead, long live sliders! But seriously, gone are the boring, ugly, and hard-to-use sliders that were around 10 years ago. Modern sliders using 2024 design techniques are stunning. They use optimized high-quality photography and elements that were just not possible to implement back in 2013, such as complex previews and advanced accessibility, layering, and animations.

I hope the examples above inspired you to explore what’s possible with homepage sliders. For more impressive homepage slider examples, don’t forget to check out our Example Sliders.

The post 12 Inspiring Examples of Stunning Modern Homepage Sliders appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

10 Beautiful Full Width Slider Examples

Bernadett Toth — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 07:00:24 +0000

A full width slider is a great way of using sliders on any type of page, it looks good on blogs, webshops, or company websites as well. A full width slider fills the horizontal area of the browser, and they are popular to be used as headers in web design. Using a slider is a great way to highlight your content on the top of your page, like a hero header.

Let’s take a look at some beautiful examples of full width sliders which can be inspiring when building your website.

1. Advertising Agency

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Advertising Agency

The Advertising Agency slider looks like a super simple full width slider. What makes it special is its clever use of layer animations and events. First, there’s continuously rotating text in the top left corner. Second, hovering on the big texts brings up a video or another text block on the right. The combination of these effects makes the Advertising Agency slider look one of a kind.

2. Animal Shelter

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Animal Shelter

The Animal Shelter template is an awesome combination of creativity and eye-catching visuals. It uses impressive effects and animations to provide an exceptional experience. With its sleek design, it emphasizes captivating images and impactful messages, guaranteeing a user-friendly browsing journey. Whether you’re sharing information or displaying adorable animals, this template makes your animal shelter slider truly remarkable.

3. Winery

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Winery

The Winery template combines a smart design with subtle animations to highlight wines. Using the Showcase slider type, it beautifully showcases multiple products, making a strong impact on sales. The full-width slider allows for customization, and the carefully placed layers of text, buttons, and captivating images create visually stunning slides. The rotating bottle animations add a touch of elegance, ensuring that your winery stands out with its own unique style.

4. Tattoo Studio

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Tattoo Studio

The Tattoo Studio template is perfect for showcasing your creative work online. This template is designed to display one slide at a time, so it provides users with a visually captivating experience. With customizable navigation, eye-catching call-to-action layers, and animations, Tattoo Studio offers an interactive way to present your artwork.

5. Construction

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Construction

The Construction slider is the perfect display for your projects, that effortlessly combines style and functionality. With user-friendly navigation, cool hover effects on arrows, and smooth slide transitions, exploring your projects becomes a breeze. It has unique options like Image Area and List layers. With captivating animations and a well-organized two-column layout, this slider is designed to captivate and engage. The Construction slider is your ultimate tool for converting visitors into satisfied clients.

6. Christmas Postcards

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Christmas Postcards

Add a touch of holiday cheer to your website using the Christmas Postcards template. This template is perfect for highlighting your favorite content in a stunning holiday-themed layout. With its user-friendly navigation, captivating animations, and a hint of parallax, your Christmas greetings will truly shine. Plus, the template is responsive, guaranteeing a seamless experience on any device.

7. Monolith Boxed Slider

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Monolith Boxed Slider

The Monolith Boxed Slider’s modern design will leave your audience wanting more. The Showcase slider type showcases multiple slides with a central focus on one of them, catching attention. Navigation is a breeze, allowing users to effortlessly swipe, click bullet points, or select side slides. The subtle yet elegant animations add to the overall visual experience, making the Monolith Boxed Slider the perfect choice for an impressive website.

8. Blur

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Blur

Explore endless creativity using the Blur slider template. This template provides breathtaking visuals on any device. Add cool layers such as the Area and Countdown layers, which offer interactive and visually stunning content. With smooth animations like Crossfade and Distortion-Shard, along with easy-to-use navigation options, the Blur slider template turns your website into an eye-catching element of your website.

9. Showcase Portfolio

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Showcase Portfolio

The Showcase Portfolio is a stylish and interactive slider created to beautifully showcase your portfolio. This slider highlights the main portfolio item at the center, with additional pieces on each side for a visually captivating experience. The smooth design and minimalistic layers bring your work to the forefront, inviting visitors to explore your portfolio further. It has seamless slide transitions with a subtle dark overlay effect, adding a touch of elegance.

10. Full Width Product Carousel

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Full Width Product Carousel

This template takes product displays to a whole new level by combining captivating slides with intriguing product features. It’s ideal for showcasing discounts or highlighting your brands. The full-width layout and Carousel slider type make the most of large screens, providing an engaging experience. Visitors can easily navigate through slides using arrows, bullet points, or touch-screen swiping. With consistent image sizes, dynamic layouts, and responsive design, your online store will be elevated effortlessly.

11. Real Estate

🎓 Available in Smart Slider 3 Pro – Real Estate

You can upgrade your real estate or portfolio website using the elegant Real Estate slider template. This template is specifically designed for a modern hero section that stretches across the entire width of your page, highlighting one slide at a time. With its user-friendly navigation options such as bullets, swiping, or a customizable image-based feature, it provides a smooth experience. The template also includes captivating animations, like reveal effects and a unique shape divider, guaranteeing that your content leaves a lasting impact. Moreover, its responsive design and effortless customization options make it suitable for any device.

How to Create a Full Width Slider in WordPress?

1. Install Smart Slider 3

Smart Slider 3 is the best-rated free full width slider plugin in WordPress, and you can easily install it on your website. First, you should click on the Add New at the Plugins in your WordPress menu, search for Smart Slider 3, and click on the Install Now button.

Another option is that you can directly download the free version from the Smart Slider 3 website – or if you purchased the Pro, from the Download area – and then you can upload it through FTP.

2. Activate the plugin

After you have installed Smart Slider 3, you should activate it by clicking on the Activate button.

3. Create your slider

To create a new full width slider all you need is to click on the green New Project icon, then select the “Create a New Project” option, and after that choose the Full width layout in the drop-down list.

Or you can import a full width slider template from the Slider library, where you can find a lot of free and premium sliders.

In Smart Slider 3 you can customize every slider, you can set a background color, change the font size or family, use layers, and you can create an image slider, a thumbnail slider, or a WordPress carousel as well. It’s only up to you what you build. You should just drag & drop your layers, use a simple animation, and your slider is ready.

4. Publish your slider

With Smart Slider 3, you can publish your slider in more ways to your WordPress website.

You can use Shortcode
Or use the Smart Slider 3 Gutenberg block
You can use the slider widget
And you can publish the slider with PHP code as well.

Are you using a page builder? This isn’t a problem either, Smart Slider 3 works well with Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, and Page Builder by SiteOrigin, too.

Why use a full width slider on your page?

It can be a good header which attracts the eye
Makes any website look modern and trendy
It is SEO-friendly, and search engines work well with the sliders’ text
You can make it dynamically changing, it is easy to create a post or product slider
You can customize it after publishing as well
With a CTA button, you can navigate the visitor to another place on your website

Useful tips for full width slider settings

Limit your slides’ width! Set a max width, and don’t let your slides go too wide. This will only restrain the width of the layers, but the background image will still stretch out to 100% width.
Pay attention to the slider height. If you want to create a tall section, create rather a full page slider, where your slider will have 100% width and the height of your screen.
Don’t use too much text. In Smart Slider your slide’s height is based on the layers and all the slides’ height are based on your highest slide. If you are using the Text layer, you can set up different texts for different devices which can be useful to show less text on mobile.
Don’t work with too big sizes. 1200px width and 500-600px height is an optimal size for every device. We are working with these numbers at the templates, too.

Final Thoughts

Creating a full width slider can be a good choice for every website. Use it as a header or a section, and customize it as you imagined. Smart Slider 3 gives you a lot of opportunities in slider creation, build up your slider by using layers and create your own responsive WordPress slider.

The post 10 Beautiful Full Width Slider Examples appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

Do People Still Use Sliders in 2024?

Ramona Nemeth-Csoka — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 07:00:29 +0000

Sliders are the most versatile design elements you can use on your website. They’ve been around for a while, and they’ll always find a place for themselves on modern websites. Maybe the new sliders aren’t traditional-looking and won’t keep sliding anymore, but they are present. There are many different ways to use sliders in 2024 on a website. In this article we’ll see what kind of sliders people use and why.

Misconceptions about sliders in 2024

First, let’s address some of the many common misconceptions you can find about sliders. These are part of the reasons which make lots of people not like them. For example, many say sliders are bad from the UX perspective. Generally, that’s because the sliders rotate automatically. Additionally, they do it so fast that it makes it impossible for the visitor to read the content. Luckily, there’s an easy solution for this problem: allow pausing the autoplay, or don’t use it at all.

I’ve collected the most common arguments people have against sliders in 2024:

1. Sliders are bad for SEO

SEO is an important factor, because everyone wants their site to rank good. If you put anything on your site that’s not SEO friendly, it will ruin your ranking. This includes sliders, but any other elements as well.

2. Sliders ruin UX

People won’t spend their valuable time on your site if it’s not user friendly. Elements that are bad for UX will drive them away sooner rather than later. A typical example is the slider that automatically rotates its slides. Usually, it moves too fast and there’s no way to stop it.

3. Sliders cause banner blindness

Banner blindness means people ignore parts of the website, because it looks like an advertisement. Most people hate ads, and I assume you hate them, too. The only good thing about them is that generally they’re easy to recognize. That’s because they’re full of constantly moving, jumping and flashing elements, and scream for attention. But they rarely get it.

4. Sliders are not responsive

Responsiveness is crucial in 2024, because almost 55% of all web traffic is coming from phones. If your site doesn’t look and perform well on a mobile device, you lose visitors.

5. Sliders are not accessible

Accessibility is always an important factor on modern websites. When you create a site, you need to make sure that all people can browse it. In other words, everyone needs to be able to use it whether they use a mouse, only a keyboard or a screen reader.

6. Sliders are slow

From the technical point of view, sliders need CSS and JavaScript codes to function. As a result, they’ll load some extra CSS and JavaScript codes to your website. Loading extra files can increase the time your site loads.

Also, people tend to overuse images, without realizing the impact they’ll have on the site. For example, when they add static images, they generally only add 1-3 images below each other. But when they use a slider, it’s not uncommon that they add 5-15 images, which can also put a heavy load on the speed.

Why should you use sliders?

After all these negative arguments, you might be wondering why you should use a slider? Firstly, if you choose the right slider plugin you won’t have to worry about the points above. A good slider plugin won’t create serious speed problems for you, and won’t create problems for you. Also, make sure you design your slider carefully to fit the purpose you need it for.

Secondly, sliders have many advantages, and can be used for almost any purpose. Additionally, they fit into any kind of website. I’ve collected some of the most important reasons to use a slider:

1. Sliders save space

This is especially true for product or post sliders, where you can display many items next to each other. As a result, the visitors can get a glimpse of your products or posts. Additionally, they don’t have to scroll too much, or go to other pages and risk leaving your site.

2. Sliders are interactive

Sliders which aren’t auto advancing require the visitor to take action. They need to click on a button to see more slides. So, an interactive slider helps engage users the moment they arrive at your website.

3. Sliders are visually appealing

While they’re more than just eye candies, sliders are design elements. This means they let you get creative and create innovative designs and amaze your visitors. This can result in them spending more time on your site.

4. Sliders make content stand out

Sliders are visual tools, and they can easily grab the visitor’s attention. As a result, they’re perfect for showcasing new content in an attractive manner.

How to create sliders in 2024?

To create good sliders in 2024 make sure you keep the above mentioned points in mind, and do your best to create sliders they don’t apply to. In other words, make sure your slider is SEO friendly, responsive and accessible. Also, make sure you create an eye-catching design that looks nice. Finally, don’t forget to optimize your slider for speed.

Most of these aspects depend on the slider plugin you choose to create your slider. Before settling on a certain plugin, make sure it can create sliders that will benefit your site.

What kind of sliders can you find on modern websites?

Modern websites call for modern sliders. But what does this actually mean? Use sliders with a purpose, and make them valuable assets for your site. Don’t use them only to have something on your page that looks fancy. Sliders in 2024 are more than eye candies that take up valuable space.

Here are some examples on what kind of ways you can use sliders in 2024:

Product sliders

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Product sliders are the most common slider types on modern websites. Basically, you can find at least one on every ecommerce website. Sliders can showcase a bunch of products, without taking up too much space. Typically a product slider displays 3 to 6 slides next to each other. It displays an image of the product, its price, category and a CTA button to check its details. Of course, it can display extra information, like the product’s rating.

Post Slider

Live PreviewBloggers love post sliders. A post slider is a good way to feature the most recent, or most popular articles anywhere on their site. As a result, these articles can get more views, because the visitors can find them more easily.

Portfolio slider

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Showcasing your portfolio in a creative and unique way can help you get more work. There are many photographers, designers and developers out there, and clients can have a hard time choosing. A creative portfolio makes you stand out of the crowd and get more clients. Additionally, it tells your future clients they’ll stand out, too, if they work with you.

Logo slider

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Usually you can find a logo slider on websites which sell products or services. They use the logo slider to showcase some of the big name customers they work with. To make it simple, logo sliders are marketing tools, to help increase sales. After all, if someone is good enough for a big company such as Amazon, it’s good enough for you as well.

Image gallery with thumbnails

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A thumbnail gallery is another popular way to use a slider. In this case the slider acts as a gallery, rather than an actual slider. It helps to display your images in an engaging way. The thumbnails are great for two reasons. Firstly, you can use them for navigation. Secondly, they indicate how many images you can see. The most common way to display the image gallery is to put the thumbnails to the bottom of the slider. But you can also find thumbnail galleries where the images are on the left or right side.

Testimonial slider

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Seeing satisfied customers of a product or service can help convince hesitant customers to make a purchase. So, they can help you generate revenue. Using a slider is the best way to display testimonials on your site. The potential customers can browse them in a comfortable way, so make sure you take advantage of it!

Storytelling slider

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Every slider tells a story. But interactive sliders, where the users can click on buttons to advance create a memorable experience and visitors will likely come back later.

Video sliders

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Video sliders generally don’t contain static images, just videos. You can use them to display tutorials, courses or even introduce your products. They’re one of the best demonstrating tools at your disposal, and it’s worth using it on your site.

Photography slider

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If you’re a photographer, you must have lots of images you want to show on your site. Good news: sliders are great tools to showcase pictures, which makes them perfect for photographers. You can create a nice image gallery, add your captions and let your visitors enjoy your photos.

Conclusion

Are sliders back? Yes they are! In fact, they’ve never left, they just evolved to fit better into modern websites. They have purpose, and they’re not just fancy eye candies anymore. Sliders in 2024 have a solid goal: to help your website. Will you let them do so?

The post Do People Still Use Sliders in 2024? appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

2024’s Biggest WordPress Design Trends to Follow

Sara Humenyanszky — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 06:00:02 +0000

Staying current with the latest trends is critical for website owners and designers in the ever-evolving world of web design. Keeping your website fresh and modern can help attract new visitors and keep existing ones engaged. It is essential to keep ahead of the competition by recognizing and adopting the current design trends in your website.

In this post, we’ll cover some of the major WordPress design trends to follow in 2024 and how you can execute them using Smart Slider 3. We’ll talk about the trends that are defining the digital landscape this year, ranging from responsive design to minimalist layouts and typography.

Additionally, we’ll introduce you to Smart Slider 3’s templates and interface, a handy tool that can aid you to construct attractive and trendy sliders that are guaranteed to make an impact. So, whether you’re a website owner or a designer, keep reading to learn more about the current design trends for 2024!

📚 Table of contents

1.📱Responsive Design
2.✏️Minimalism
3.🎓Typography
4.⚡Animation
5.💻Call-to-Action (CTA)
6.💡Conclusion

Responsive Design

As more and more people are accessing the internet on their mobile phones and the number is continuously growing, responsive design has become a necessity rather than a trend. This year it is more important than ever to create websites that are optimized for different screen sizes. Responsive design allows pages to adapt to different devices, making it easy for users to navigate and interact with the content.

Some of the primary benefits of responsive design are improved user experience, larger mobile traffic, and higher search engine results. Visitors are more likely to engage with content and stay on a website that is optimized for mobile devices. Also, Google and other search engines favor mobile-friendly websites in their search rankings, so integrating responsive design can aid in increasing your website’s visibility and attracting more traffic.

WordPress’s unique plugin, Smart Slider, makes it easy and simple to create a website that looks great on any screen size. Our huge template library aids you with pre-designed templates that you can choose from offering one of the best resources for responsive design. These templates are also fully customizable allowing you to adjust the slider design to your specific requirements. But that’s not all, to make it even more affordable for website owners and designers, we offer several free versions of our unique templates.

Therefore, creating a website with responsive design is not even hard, you just need to be provided with the right tools to do it. Just like with Smart Slider, you can simply use a template or you can fully customize your own. With the pre-made templates and responsive design tools Smart Slider’s interface lets you create a website that looks great on any device. In addition, there’s no need to worry because it doesn’t require any extensive coding skills.

Check out the template library and decide for yourself. Start creating your own mobile-friendly website now.

Minimalism

For some years, minimalism has been a trendy design style, and it shows no signs of disappearing in 2024. The use of simple, clean elements to produce a sleek and modern aesthetic is the main point of minimalist design. This approach is particularly beneficial for websites that wish to exude sophistication and professionalism.

Focusing only on the essentials is the secret to great minimalist design. Therefore, it’s critical to apply a limited color palette, basic patterns, and clear typography. White space is also an important part of minimalist design since it contributes to a sense of serenity and spaciousness.

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One advantage of minimalist design is that it makes your website more user-friendly. Users can focus on the information and browse the site more quickly if the distractions are removed. Minimalist design can also help your website load faster improving user experience and SEO.

Smart Slider’s templates come in a variety of minimalist designs. From simple text and image sliders to more advanced designs, you can create a clean and modern website. Furthermore, with our customizable templates, you can truly make it your own by adding your personal touches to the design.

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Make it easy for your visitors to navigate your site by creating a sleek and modern page. Head over to Smart Slider’s template library to find numerous unique templates.

Typography

Typography plays an increasingly large part in website design in 2024. Many designers experiment with a larger selection of typefaces and styles thanks to the rise of high-resolution screens and improved font rendering technologies. As a result, typography may now be employed as a powerful design element as well as a practical one.

The usage of a huge, strong font is one design element we can see more of in 2024. This is a powerful tool for drawing attention to key headlines or messages. Serif typefaces are also gaining popularity because they provide a sense of sophistication and beauty.

Furthermore, custom fonts are becoming more accessible allowing designers to build their own distinctive typefaces that reflect the character of their company. However, it’s important to keep in mind that by implementing these unique fonts into your slides, there’s a possibility that their appearances will vary from the original.

I will show you an example of an outstanding hand-drawn font which is an emerging trend among designers as well. Its artistic look and resemblance to natural handwriting, allow you to add a personal touch to your design. These types of fonts are best used for headings or as decorative elements.

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It is critical to take readability and accessibility into consideration when selecting typefaces for your website. Strong fonts may be eye-catching but they don’t seem to be the best choice for body text. Sans-serif fonts are neater and should be used for longer pieces of text. Also, it can’t be dismissed to make certain that your font choices are accessible to users with visual impairments. Therefore it’s essential to test your designs using tools like color contrast checkers and screen readers.

The typographic possibilities in Smart Slider’s designs range from slick and futuristic to more classic and neat. You can experiment with different font choices and styles with our customizable templates to discover the right match for your website.

It’s also worth mentioning that highlighting a text or putting an animation on it is turning out to be a great new trend as well. These typewriter effects or highlighted headings are very useful in case you want to emphasize an important part of your content. In addition, animations are great tools for bringing your website to life.

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Animation

In web design, animation is a great, effective technique, and we see even more implementations of it in 2024. Animations can add depth and variety to your website, from subtle animations that improve the user experience to fearless, attention-grabbing effects.

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Micro-animations are very popular this year. These tiny animations can be used to signify interactions, such as when a button is hovered over or clicked. They can also be used to add aesthetics to a page, such as a moving or changing background.

Another emerging trend is the usage of 3D and immersive animations. With the emergence of virtual and augmented reality, designers can now build more immersive user experiences. This type of animation can seem more complex to carry out, however, Smart Slider’s clear interface helps you through each step. So you can easily achieve your desired result without it being overwhelming.

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Whether you want to apply subtle animations or provoke a mesmerizing feeling, Smart Slider provides you with a variety of different options, from simple text and background animations to more complex layer animations, you have every tool to bring your vision to life.

Call-to-Action (CTA)

A call-to-action (CTA) urges visitors to take a certain action, so it’s an important component of any website design. CTAs are even more important in 2024, as companies and website owners seek to boost their conversions and engagement.

The use of tailored CTAs is one thing we see more of in 2024. Personalized CTAs, as opposed to a generic “Sign Up” or “Subscribe” button, can be designed to match the user’s behavior or interests. For example, a visitor who has spent a significant amount of time on a given page may get a CTA that is relevant to the content of that page.

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Another emerging trend is interactive CTAs. Interactive CTAs, as opposed to a static button or link, can be more engaging and inspire visitors to take action. It is more eye-catching than a standard button when the CTA changes its color or shape when it’s hovered over.

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The possibilities of CTAs in Smart Slider 3 range from simple buttons to interactive and customizable CTAs. You can experiment with different layouts and styles to discover the best match for your website with the use of our customizable templates.

Ready to put Smart Slider 3 to the test and improve your call-to-action game? Visit the template library for some inspiration and start building a website with effective CTAs today!

Conclusion

In conclusion, the main concepts of WordPress’s design trends in 2024 are based on accessibility, unique design, and increased engagement. Smart Slider 3 is a WordPress plugin that enables website owners and designers to make gorgeous and mobile-friendly websites by giving access to a large template library and an easy-to-use interface that offers a variety of customizable opportunities.

We all know that applying trends to develop a modern website can be a fantastic idea, but keep in mind that they change all the time. You should also be paying attention to your content and SEO to stay relevant. Users will stay on your page if it is fascinating to them, but search engines will only find you if you have great content to offer. Utilizing animations and effects might catch the attention of your visitors, but no one should overdo it.

All in all, you can create without any doubt a better user experience, engage more visitors and stay ahead of your competition in the ever-changing digital world by leveraging these trends, ideas, and tools.

The post 2024’s Biggest WordPress Design Trends to Follow appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

How to Use Background Color and Images in Smart Slider 3

Sara Humenyanszky — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 06:00:33 +0000

Welcome to the fascinating world of sliders! You’ve come to the right place if you are a WordPress lover wanting to add life to your website. This in-depth blog post will explore the captivating world of background colors and images in Smart Slider 3, a slider plugin that will advance your design skills.

We all know that visuals are everything in this digital world. Additionally, when it comes to sliders the background color and images are crucial to designing captivating interfaces. Not to mention that with Smart Slider 3, you have the resources at your fingertips, so you can easily turn your sliders into engaging displays.

This article will guide you through your slider building process with useful tips and tricks on background color and images. What’s more, we’ll address your burning questions, including how to apply background images, change background colors, and even consider the best background color options for your images. So prepare to unleash your imagination and bring out the best in your sliders!

📚 Table of contents

✏️ Changing Background Color
🎓 Working with Background Images
⚡ Choosing the Right Background Color for Images
💻 Setting Custom Background Images
💡 Conclusion

Changing Background Color

Are you prepared to add a splash of color to your sliders? You can easily modify the background color in Smart Slider 3 by following the instructions in this section. In addition, you can create the ideal settings for your slides thanks to its simple user-friendly interface.

How to Change Background Color

Let’s go through each step of changing the background color in Smart Slider 3:

Log in to your dashboard and find the Smart Slider 3 plugin. Then, open an existing slider or make a new one to edit.
Now there are two ways to accomplish it. You can either set the background color of your whole slider. Or simply change the color of each slide separately to your preferred one.

First, let’s look at how to set it for all of your slides in one setting:

Find the “General” settings of your slide.
Scroll to the bottom of it and there look through the “Slider Design” section.
The “Background Color” option allows you to set a background color for the slider, which will be behind all slides. However, note that this option is only visible if there’s a background image set.

Now let’s move on to how to set a background color for individual slides:

Select the slide you would like to edit, once you are in the slide editor. Then, on the right side, look for the slide settings panel.
In the Style tab find the “Background” section. There are 3 options to choose from, but as we want to set the background color of the slide, we’ll choose the color option, which is shown as the brush icon.
There are several ways to choose a color in Smart Slider 3. To get the ideal shade you can use the color picker tool, enter your HEX code, or select a color from the color palette.
And finally, you just need to click on your selected color and voilá! Your slide’s background color will be instantly updated.
In addition, you can add a gradient to your slider background, and choose its direction to make the color pop.

Applying Background Color

Now that you got the basics of changing the background color covered, let’s take a closer look at how you can use it effectively to make your sliders stand out:

Maintain consistency: Stick to the same color throughout your slides to ensure that your visitors have a consistent and visually appealing experience.
Contrast between your background color and your content: Make sure that the text on your slides and other layers can be easily read against the background color.

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Experiment with different background colors: Don’t be afraid to try different background colors on your slides to get the look and feel you are looking for. With Smart Slider 3, you can preview your changes in real time. Remember that your background color defines the tone and mood of your slider, it’s important to take your time and experiment with them.

In the next part, we’ll explore background images and how they can take your sliders to the next level.

Working with Background Images

Not only do you have background colors, but background images also have the power to turn your sliders into amazing visual experiences. Let’s take a closer look at how you can set up custom background images, make them transparent, and take advantage of Smart Slider 3’s unique features.

Setting a Custom Background Image

Here’s how you can set up your own custom background images with Smart Slider 3:

Just like it was mentioned above, there are also two ways to add a background image to your slider.
First, let’s look at how to set the whole slider’s background. You just need to navigate to the General Settings tab, and right next to the Background Color, there’s a section for the Slider Background Image. Here you can upload your chosen image.
The second option is to set different images for each slide. To accomplish it you need to select the slide you would like to modify. Then, just like you did it before, find the Background section in the Style settings tab. After, clicking on the image icon you can upload your image file. Play around with the additional image settings to see what works for you best.
Finally, when you are done with setting up your background image, don’t forget to preview the changes, then if you are satisfied with the result, save them.

Using Images as Backgrounds

If you want to make your sliders look amazing, you can use background images to add depth and interest. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of them:

Relevant images: Select images that match your content and message. Think about the color scheme, subject matter, and mood.

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Stick to the same style throughout your slider. This will help create a consistent visual experience.

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Text readability: Make sure that the text (and other slide elements) are easy to read against the background image.

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Experiment with Smart Slider 3’s editing features, like opacity and blur effect, to get the best results. By applying these tips, you can make your background images look amazing and captivating.

Choosing the Right Background Color for Images

The color of the background of your sliders can have a big impact on how people perceive your images. Let’s take a look at some things you need to know and some tips on how to choose the background color for your sliders.

Exploring Color Psychology

What is color psychology? Color psychology is the study of how emotions and perceptions are influenced by the color of the environment.

Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing the background color for your images:

Warm Colors: Warm colors, such as red, orange, and yellow, evoke feelings of excitement, energy, and passion. These colors work well for images that are dynamic and vibrant, such as adventures and celebrations.
Cool Colors: Cool colors, such as blue, green, and purple, evoke feelings of calm and serenity. These colors are great for images that show serenity, and nature.

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Neutral Colors: Neutral colors, such as white, gray, and beige, provide a clean, minimalist background. These colors can be used for a variety of images. They are timeless and versatile.

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It’s important to note that everyone’s perception of color is different, so take into account the context and your target audience when selecting background colors for your images.

White or Black Background: Which is Better?

What’s the difference between a white background and a black background? It’s a never-ending discussion. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately, it comes down to your content and what you want it to look like.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

White Background: A white background looks clean and classic. It adds brightness and contrast to your images, making them look lively and interesting. It’s often used for product photography to highlight details.

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Black Background: A black background adds depth and a dramatic effect to your images, especially for high-contrast or moody photos. They are commonly used in artistic and fashion photography.

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At the end of the day, it all comes down to the style and intent of your sliders and the images you want to emphasize.

Setting Custom Background Images

Smart Slider 3 has one of the most amazing features: the ability to customize your slider’s background images. This means that you can add your own unique style and branding to the sliders!

How to Set a Custom Background Image

Let’s look at how you can make it happen in Smart Slider 3:

Upload an image in either of the two ways we mentioned above (you can set the background for the whole slide, or individually). You can choose the image from your media library or upload a new one.
Once you upload the image, you have several options to adjust the display of the image. You can change the size, position, etc.
Always make sure to preview your changes, then if needed, make necessary adjustments. If you are done, save your design.

Making the Background Image Transparent

Sometimes you might want to make your background images transparent, allowing the content and other elements to seamlessly blend with the webpage. Smart Slider 3 makes this possible with a few simple steps:

Open the slide you want to edit, then in the Style tab find the “Background” section.
If you’ve already uploaded an image then you will easily find the Opacity option. On the other hand, if you haven’t yet, then that should be your next step.
You can either toggle the Opacity bar or write the value you would like to receive. This will make the background image transparent. To add an overlay, use a color with the opacity setting.
The same happens if you turn on “Overlay” and select a partially transparent background color.
Experiment with it and adjust it to your preferences, to find the perfect balance between readability and engaging visual effect.
Then finally, take a moment to preview your slide to make sure the transparent background looks exactly how you want it. Once you are happy with the effect, save your changes.

To create a one-of-a-kind experience for your viewers, customize your background images and experiment with the different effects Smart Slider 3 offers its users.

Conclusion

It’s time to take your sliders to the next level! And Smart Slider 3 is here to give you all the flexibility and creativity you need to make your background color and images stand out from the crowd.

Whether you are looking for a vibrant and colorful display, a clean and minimalistic look, or anything in between. You will find everything you need to take your vision to the next level. What’s more, it’s a powerful tool that can help you turn your ordinary sliders into extraordinary ones.

Why not download or try it out and see what it’s all about?

The post How to Use Background Color and Images in Smart Slider 3 appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

How to Animate Text & Images Like a Pro

Sara Humenyanszky — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 07:04:55 +0000

If you ever wondered how to give your website some life and make an impression on your visitors, you’ve come to the right place.

Nowadays most websites have changed from static pages to interactive platforms that engage users and create their own stories. Sliders stand out as a strong tool among many, to achieve this. They effortlessly improve the user experience, while also delivering information and showcasing items.

This brings us to Smart Slider 3. It’s more than a simple slider plugin, as it offers a variety of animation and effects, that can make your website stand out. We’ll guide you through the process of creating these interactive effects step-by-step, from slide animations to learning how to animate text on them.

Now, without any further ado, let’s jump into the world of animations in Smart Slider 3.

📚 Table of contents

🎓 Getting Started with Smart Slider 3
⚙️ Understanding Slide Animations
⚡ Dynamic Text Effects: How to Animate Text
🔎 Bringing Depth with Zoom Effect
🌊 Making Waves: Using Wave Animation
💻 Storytelling with Timeline Animations
🎨 Customization
✏️ Best Practices for Animation Usage
💡 Conclusion

Getting Started with Smart Slider 3

Okay, let’s get things going by introducing you to the amazing world of Smart Slider 3. You can install the plugin now if you haven’t yet done it on your WordPress website. You’ll be stunned by its user-friendly interface and cool features, I promise.

Making your first slider is simple once Smart Slider 3 is up and running. Just follow these easy steps:

1. Making a New Slider:

Go to your WordPress dashboard and select “Smart Slider 3” from the menu on the left.
Select the “New Project” button, and voilá a new slider was born.

2. Selecting a Template (Optional):

Smart Slider has got you covered even if you are not a design guru, so don’t worry. To spark your imagination, you might choose a pre-made template.
There’s a huge selection of eye-catching templates to pick from, and they can all be customized to match the feel of your website.

3. Adding Slides and Content:

Now comes the more enjoyable part. Slides should be added to your slider and it should be filled with interesting text, eye-catching images, and anything else you want to highlight.
You are not restricted to a single layout with Smart Slider 3. Allow your creativity to soar!

4. Customize Your Slider:

To customize the behavior and appearance of your slider, take a look at the slider settings. You can change the slider transition, the autoplay, the navigation, and much more.
Pay attention to the responsive settings to make sure your slider looks good on desktop and mobile devices.

Now that you are familiar with the basics of setting up your slider, let’s get into the world of animations and effects that will make your slider stand out. Let’s get started!

Understanding Slide Animations

Alright, here’s where the real magic begins! Slide animations are like the secret ingredient that adds that wow factor to your sliders. These transitions between slides can be subtle and smooth or bold and eye-catching, depending on the vibe you want to create.

How to Apply Slide Animations

1. Select Your Slide:

Open up your Smart Slider 3 editor and choose the slide you want to add animations to. Remember, each slide can have its own unique animation.

2. Explore Animation Options:

Once you’ve selected the slide, head to the “Animations” tab in the slide settings. Here, you’ll find a treasure trove of animation effects waiting for you.

3. Pick Your Animation:

From classic fade-ins to dynamic move-ins and captivating zoom effects, Smart Slider 3 offers an impressive range of animations to choose from.
Go ahead and experiment with different animations to see which one complements your content and brand the best.

Top Tip: Less is often more when it comes to slide animations. Subtle and elegant transitions can have a more significant impact on your audience than an overload of flashy effects. Keep your focus on enhancing the content and user experience.

Example Animations

Not sure which animation to go with? Let’s explore a couple of scenarios where specific animations shine:

Fade-In: Ideal for a clean and professional look, the fade-in animation smoothly transitions between slides without stealing the show. It’s perfect for minimalistic designs and when you want to keep the focus on your content.
Move from Left or Right: Want to make a bold statement? The move-in effect from either side can add that extra punch to your slider. Use it to introduce new sections or showcase striking visuals.
Zoom Effect: Ah, the beloved zoom effect! If you have stunning images or products to flaunt, this animation can make them pop on the screen. Your audience won’t be able to take their eyes off your slider.

Remember, Smart Slider 3 gives you the flexibility to set the animation speed and even add delays if you want to create a well-choreographed presentation.

Now it’s time to let your creativity run wild and make your slides come alive with animations that leave your visitors wanting more.

Dynamic Text Effects: How to Animate Text

Okay, now we’ve got the hang of slide animations, but let’s take it to the next level! Your text elements are your slider’s storytellers. In addition, they add a whole new level of interactivity and engagement.

Ready? Let’s get started and see how we can animate text and engage your audience!

How to Animate Text

1. Add Your Text Element:

To animate text, start by adding the text that you want to animate using either the Heading layer or the Animated Heading Layer. This could be a headline or any text you want to emphasize.

2. Add Text Animation:

Once you’ve added your Heading Layer, navigate to the “Text Animation” sections of your layer’s Content settings. Here you’ll find a variety of text animation options to choose from.

3. Explore Styles:

Check out Smart Slider 3’s selection they offer you to animate your text in different styles.
On each heading, you can set both an Incoming and Outgoing animation. Whatever you are looking for you’ll be spoiled for choice.
In addition, you can change other aspects of the animation to fine-tune it to your unique preferences.

4. Animated Heading Layer:

On the other hand, you can also go for the Animated Heading Layer, which is perfect if you want to change a specific part of the text to another one from a list. However, this effect only works if you have at least two lines of text in the Animated Text field.

Pro Tip: Ensure that the way you animate your text matches your brand’s personality and your website’s theme. It’s important to stay consistent to create a polished and professional look.

When Should You Animate Text?

There are many ways to animate your text and add value to your content. Let’s look at some cases.

1. Catchy Headlines:

- For your headline, you can use the Typewriter effect to reveal your headline letter by letter. This will create anticipation and intrigue in your visitors’ minds.
- Play around with different text animations for your Headings, they can add a nice touch to your content, in a subtle way.

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2. Portfolio:

- However, there are other ways it can be used to create interest, like sharing information about yourself. Adding a slow and elegant animation is the best way to make your portfolio impressive.

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3. Quotes:

If you have great quotes and testimonials that you want people to read, you can choose from all the different incoming animations Smart Slider 3 offers, to focus on those impactful words.

Don’t overdo it: While text animations are a great way to grab the reader’s attention, don’t go overboard. Stick to what’s important and use animations to highlight those elements. Remember, a tiny bit of animation can make a difference in keeping your audience interested. Let your text speak for itself.

You are now in control of how your text looks and feels, so let’s create a slider that’s full of dynamic text effects.

Bringing Depth with Zoom Effect

The zoom effect is a great way to add depth and dynamics to your slide. It’s an effect that instantly draws attention to certain parts of the slide. Besides, it makes them look bigger and more alive.

How to Use the Zoom Effect

1. Select the Layer to Zoom:

To use the zoom effect, select the layer you want to use a zoom effect on. You can use any slide element, such as an image, text, or even a heading.

2. Add a Zoom Effect:

Once you’ve selected the element you want to add a zoom effect to, go to the layer settings and click on the “Animation” tab. You’ll see a list of options however, we’ll only need the scale animation.
Under it choose the one that suits your slide. Decide if you want to bring your content closer to your audience or create a subtle downscaling effect. Then, adjust its settings to your preferences. There are many different ways to use this zoom effect in Smart Slider 3.

3. Use the Ken Burn Effect:

Another way to add a unique zooming effect to your content, specifically to your background images, is to use the popular Ken Burns effect.
Head to your slider’s Animations settings and under the Background Animation section enable the Ken Burn Effect. It’s extremely simple and elegant.

Pro Tip: Strategically use the zoom effect to highlight important content or product details. You can also use it as a soft hover effect to captivate users when they are interacting with your slider.

Creative Ways to Use the Zoom Effect

1. Product Showcase:

If you are running an e-commerce site, highlight your product images with the zoom effect. Showing off your best offers will make your customers feel more confident in their purchase decision.

2. Interactive Image Gallery:

Create an interactive image gallery with the zoom effect. When your visitors hover over your images, they will get a much closer look, creating an interactive and immersive experience for your visitors.

3. Elevate Your Background:

- Move your background a bit, by adding the Ken Burn Effect. This zoom effect is simple and elegant and works on any kind of image.

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Zoom effects are a great way to add depth to your slides. However, it’s important that you remember that you don’t want to use too many zoom effects on your slider. Instead, focus on one or two essential elements to zoom in or out on and let them take the spotlight.

Making Waves: Using Wave Animation

Wave animations are the perfect way to add vibrancy to your sliders. So, let’s dive deep into the world of wave animations and learn how to bring your content to life.

How to Use the Wave Animation

1. Add Wave Animation to Your Background:

You can add it to your background in Smart Slider 3, so think about what slider’s background can benefit from a bit of motion.
Once you’ve chosen your slider, go to your Slider Settings page and choose the Animations tab. Inside the Background Animations section, you are provided with two different options to add a wave animation to your slider’s background. (Morph – Wave, Distortion – Wave) This type of animation will be only noticed when your visitors switch between slides.

Check out these templates to see them in action:

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2. Add a Wave Animation as a Divider:

You can also add a wave animation as a Shape Divider. Just below the Background Animation section, you can spot the Shape Divider option. They are perfect for creating smooth and interesting transitions between the sections of your website.

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What’s even more, is that each shape has its own unique animation, which you can fully customize. In addition, many of them are designed as animated wave-like shapes, and setting them to continuously move creates a simply marvelous result.

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3. Wave Animation Settings:

Plus, Smart Slider 3 lets you customize the wave effect, giving you complete control over the intensity of the wave animation. Keep in mind that the goal is to add a thoughtful touch to your content, not overshadow it.

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All in all, adding a wave animation can be a great way to give your sliders a magical touch that will keep your visitors engaged and interested in your content, so let your creativity flow.

Storytelling with Timeline Animations

In Smart Slider 3 each layer animation is shown on a timeline, where you can change its delay and duration. If you click on an animation, it will open the layer window’s animation tab, where you can edit the animation you’ve chosen.

When you press the space key, animations will start up, giving you a preview of what they’ll look like.

Another awesome thing about timeline animations is that you can copy and paste the animation from layer to layer. So if you’ve made a really complex animation, all you have to do is copy it to different layers and you can save yourself time and effort.

Tips on Creating Timeline Animations

Top Tip: Keep your timeline animation short and to the point. Focus on what matters the most to keep your audience engaged and avoid overloading them with too much information.
Use timeline animations to create a seamless narrative that grabs your audience’s attention.
Combine engaging content with smooth animations and you’ll have a mesmerizing storytelling experience that’s unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Use the timeline animations to bring life to your slider and create an unforgettable story.

Customization

Now, that you’ve learned about the different animations and effects, your slider is more interesting than ever before. But don’t worry, we’re not finished yet. In this part, we’ll customize and personalize your designs until they are absolutely perfect. So, let’s get started.

Additional Animation Settings

1. Duration and Delay:

Change the duration of your animations to control how fast or slow a layer animates, and you can also add delays to create a timed animation sequence.

2. Layer Alignment:

Ensure the correct positioning of your animated layers with alignment settings. It’s the small details that matter!

3. Mix and Match:

The fun part starts when you start mixing different animations and effects together. All of the above-mentioned animations and more are here at your disposal to create hypnotic effects that grab your audience’s attention and keep them glued to your content. So don’t be afraid to mix and match!

So now that you mastered the basics of animation, you’re ready to take your website sliders to the next level. Show off your creativity and let your website sliders steal the show.

Best Practices for Animation Usage

You’ve learned how to use Smart Slider 3’s animations and effects with ease. Now, let’s look at some important best practices to make the most of these dynamic tools while keeping your website fresh and professional.

Tips for Using Animations Tastefully

Keep It Simple: Animations can be a great way to grab your audience’s attention but don’t overload your slider with a ton of effects. Too many effects can be distracting and overwhelming.
Keep It Inline with Your Brand: Make sure your animations match your brand’s identity and design. Stick to a consistent style and color scheme to reinforce your message and create a unified experience for your audience.

User-Friendly Experience

Navigation: Make sure your slider’s navigation is easy to understand and use. Give a clear overview of how the slider should be navigated.
Attention Span: Attract your audience’s attention in the first few seconds. Avoid animations that are too long, as visitors may lose interest and move on.
Testing: Make sure to test and preview the slider on different devices and browsers to ensure it works properly and looks the way you want it to.

By following these tips, you can make your sliders look amazing and not only let your audience see what you have to offer but also make their experience on your website better. Keep in mind that the key is to find the perfect balance between creativity and usability.

Conclusion

To sum up, your sliders will be full of life and imagination. From slide animation and zoom effect to how to animate text and create wave animation, we’ve even touched upon the captivating timeline animation and more. You’ve come a long way on this animation journey and Smart Slider 3 has been the perfect partner along the way.

Keep in mind that the best way to use animations is to keep them tasteful, relevant, and in line with your brand’s identity. Less is more when it comes to animations, a cohesive and visually appealing slider will leave your visitors with a lasting impression.

Thank you for joining us in this journey of animations and effects! Your commitment to improving the visual appeal of your website and engaging your audience is truly admirable.

The post How to Animate Text & Images Like a Pro appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

10+ FAQs on WordPress Sliders: Everything You Need to Know

Sara Humenyanszky — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 09:17:20 +0000

We’re thrilled to delve into the world of WordPress sliders! They can be a game-changer if you want to boost your website with dynamic content. Additionally, we’ll address the most frequently asked questions regarding WordPress sliders giving you the information you need to make wise choices.

However, there’s still more! We have you covered whether you are an inexperienced or a seasoned user. This article will support you with the necessary information to get the most out of WordPress sliders, from understanding the basics of sliders to improving their performance and customization. So let’s get started and look at the solutions to your most pressing questions concerning WordPress sliders.

📚 Table of contents

What is a WordPress Slider?
Should I Use Sliders On My Website?
Do Sliders Negatively Affect SEO?
Do Sliders Make Websites Slow?
What is the Easiest WordPress Slider?
What is the Best Free Slider for WordPress?
How Do I Create a Slider in WordPress?
What Size Should Slider Images Be in WordPress?
How Do I Make a Full-Width Slider in WordPress?
How Do I Make a Slider Autoplay in WordPress?
How Do I Make a Responsive Slider in WordPress?
How Do I Create a Post Slider?
How Do I Make a Slider in Elementor?
How Do I Create a Product Slider in WordPress?
Conclusion

What is a WordPress Slider?

Are you brand new to the WordPress slider community? We’ve got you, so don’t worry!

WordPress sliders, sometimes referred to as carousels or slideshows, are dynamic elements of a website that can present a variety of content, including media content in a slideshow format. It often takes up a primary spot on the homepage, drawing the users’ attention, while exhibiting its content in a visually appealing and engaging way.

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What is the Purpose of a Slider?

A WordPress slider’s main goal is to captivate visitors and offer them an alluring experience. Sliders are frequently used to:

- Showcase portfolio items

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- Make significant announcements

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- Highlight featured products

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- Display client testimonials

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They provide a dynamic and interactive feature that can improve the aesthetics and usability of your website. You can efficiently share information, pique your visitor’s interest, and advertise certain content or services by using a slider. Visitors can navigate among all types of content without overcrowding the page with material thanks to sliders. They help you display many bits of content in a limited space.

Should I Use Sliders On My Website?

You could be weighing whether you should add a WordPress slider to your website, now that we have a better understanding of what they are. Sliders can be intriguing, but it’s important to take into consideration the benefits and drawbacks before choosing one.

What are the Benefits of Using a Slider?

Visual Appeal: Slider’s eye-catching content can quickly capture users’ attention and help establish a lasting first impression.
Highlight Multiple Content: Sliders make it simple for visitors to browse through a variety of options by allowing you to display different pieces of content or products in a small space.
Promotional Opportunities: Sliders are a great way to draw attention to special deals, brand-new items, or significant announcements.
Enchanted User Experience: Including interactive sliders in your website, adds a visually appealing and dynamic outlook, additionally enhancing the overall user experience.

What are the Disadvantages of Using a Slider?

User Distraction: Sliders that change slides automatically can divert users’ attention away from the primary message or call-to-action, which might have an impact on their focus and engagement. So in this case make sure to always allow the visitor to stop the autoplay on demand.
Page Load: Sliders with huge image files can slow down page loads and degrade the user experience. We’ll explore this concept more later on and give you tips on how to avoid it.
Accessibility Problems: Many users choose not to follow the useful recommendations given to make their sliders accessible. This causes it to have accessibility problems. So they either choose to drop the slider or just simply not make their website accessible.

Think of your website’s unique goals, target audience, and content before employing sliders. Sliders are a very useful tool if you have eye-catching visuals or a variety of products to highlight. However, firstly you should always consider the needs and goals of it for a moment.

Do Sliders Negatively Affect SEO?

It makes sense that you are wondering whether WordPress sliders are affecting SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Let’s answer some typical concerns and clarify the connection between sliders and SEO.

Content Accessibility: A possible risk is search engines’ ability to correctly index and comprehend the content within sliders. It’s crucial to make sure the text content within a slider is crawlable. For improved accessibility, use a slider plugin that enables you to add alt text to your images, and lets you structure your content with different H tags. However, a good slider plugin also offers the opportunity to add text as paragraphs as well. In addition, your slider should have a good HTML structure.

Page Load Times: A key element of SEO is how quickly your page loads. You must optimize your slider to prevent them from negatively affecting the speed of the entire website. Use effective image compression methods, reduce the picture sizes, and if your slider plugin supports it, activate lazy loading. Additionally, pick a performance-focused slider plugin, like Smart Slider 3, that’s lightweight and well-coded.
Mobile Responsiveness: Search engines prioritize mobile-friendly websites because they offer a better user experience. So make sure the slider plugin you use has choices for responsive design, and test your sliders on a variety of devices to make sure they appear correctly.
User Engagement: Although not directly associated with sliders, user engagement metrics, like click-through rates, time on page, and bounce rates can nonetheless have an indirect influence on the SEO of your website. These can be positively impacted by engaging sliders that grab users’ attention and promote interaction. They can even inform search engines that your content is important and relevant.

Don’t let SEO concerns stop you from including sliders on your website. You can have a positive effect on your SEO efforts by implementing the best practices for accessibility, performance optimization, mobile friendliness, and unique content. Additionally, make sure to choose a slider plugin that has all the above-mentioned options for better accessibility.

Do Sliders Make Websites Slow?

The possible impact on website performance while utilizing WordPress sliders is a common concern. Let’s explore this and learn more about how to include sliders into your website with the best performance possible.

Image Optimization: Images in sliders are commonly the main cause of longer page loads. To avoid this issue, optimize your slider images by resizing them and compressing them.

Lazy Loading: Implementing lazy loading for your slider can greatly enhance the functionality of your website. It allows for faster initial page loads by only loading images within the slider when they enter the users’ viewport. Lazy loading features are included in several slider plugins, including Smart Slider 3.
Reduce Animations and Effects: Although animations and transition effects can improve the aesthetic attractiveness of your sliders, too many or complex animations can have an adverse effect on the speed of your website. To ensure seamless and quick transitions on and between the slides choose animations that are lighter and simpler.
Performance-Optimized Slider Plugin: Select a slider plugin that has been optimized for performance, because not all slider plugins are made equally in terms of speed. Choose a performance-optimized, lightweight, and well-coded plugin, like Smart Slider 3. Such plugins are created with the intention of prioritizing speed and reducing resource usage without sacrificing functionality.

Remember, optimizing numerous features, including sliders, contributes to the overall performance of your website. Utilize tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to continuously evaluate the performance of your website and spot areas for development.

Don’t let your fear of website slowdown stop you from utilizing sliders to their full potential. You can profit from sliders without losing website speed by adopting optimization strategies like image optimization, lazy loading, and starting to use a performance-focused plugin, like Smart Slider 3.

What is the Easiest WordPress Slider?

Finding the easiest WordPress slider plugin will save you time and trouble, whether you’re new to WordPress or just searching for a user-friendly slider solution. Fortunately, there are some out there that put emphasis on simplicity without sacrificing functionality.

Smart Sldier 3 stands out as a superb option in terms of usability. It has a very user-friendly and straightforward interface, making it available to users of all skill levels. Without coding experience or other technical skills, you can easily design and edit sliders using its drag-and-drop builder.

With real-time previews, Smart Slider 3 offers a fluid editing process so you can see your changes right away. The user-friendly interface makes it easy to add and arrange slides, edit animations, include multimedia elements, and choose transition effects. To kickstart your slider-making process, you can also use the side library and the pre-designed templates.

Additionally, you can easily include sliders in your current website design, thanks to Smart Slider 3’s compatibility with well-known page builders like Elementor, Divi, Brizy, WPBAkery, and Avada Builder.

What is the Best Free Slider for WordPress?

You’ll be happy to know that there are several impressive solutions if you are looking for a free slider plugin for your WordPress website. However, Smart Sldier 3 stands out as a strong free slider plugin among them. It provides an astonishing amount of functions and customization options without charging you a thing.

Here’s why it’s on the top of the free slider plugins for WordPress:

Feature-rich: Smart Slider 3 offers a wide range of features equivalent to those found in premium slider plugins. You can get access to:
- 5 different layers types and default and absolute position them
- Image optimization
- Page builder support
- Dynamic content
- Adjustable controls of your slider
- 9 smooth background animations with customization options
Intuitive Interface: Smart Slider 3’s design makes it simple for both beginner and experienced users to build sliders with ease. You can easily organize slides and other layers using the drag-and-drop builder, and the real-time preview lets you watch the changes take effect as you edit your sliders.
Responsiveness: A slider must be responsive and mobile-friendly in order to function properly, given the growing popularity of mobile usage. Your sliders will be entirely responsive and mobile-friendly thanks to Smart Slider 3. It ensures the best viewing experience on a variety of screen sizes.
Template Library: Smart Slider 3 offers a variety of pre-designed templates to get you started with creating sliders. You can save time and work by using one of these templates, which provides a number of aesthetics for different sectors.
Compatibility: As it was already mentioned above, Smart Slider 3 works in perfect harmony with well-known page builders. Because of this, you can build your website using sliders without worrying about compatibility difficulties or conflicts.

Create engaging sliders without going overboard with your money to improve your website’s aesthetics and user engagement.

How Do I Create a Slider in WordPress?

With the help of the Smart Slider 3 plugin, WordPress makes it simple to create siders. Let’s go through the detailed instructions to get you started creating your own slider:

Step 1: Install and Activate Smart Slider 3
Go to “Plugins” in your WordPress dashboard and select “Add New”.
Find “Smart Slider 3 “ by searching for it, then click “Install Now” next to the plugin.
Once the plugin has been installed, click “Activate”.

Step 2: Access Smart Slider 3
Now, the WordPress sidebar has added the Smart Sldier 3 menu. To access the plugin’s dashboard click on it.

Step 3: Create a New Slider
Click the “New Project” button on the Smart Slider 3 dashboard.
Choose whether you want to start from scratch or use a template.
If you choose to build your own, then select the slider type you would like to use (block, simple slider, carousel, or showcase).

Step 4: Customize your Slider
You can add and arrange your slides. To add slides select the “Add Slide” button. Add content on each slide, change the settings, and add animations and effects as desired.
Step 5: Configure Slider Settings
On the Slider settings page, you can adjust and customize your slider wholly like, autoplay, animation, and controls. In addition, based on the layout of your website, modify the slider.
Step 6: Publish the Slider
Click the “Save” button when you are done with customizing the slider.
There are different publishing possibilities available in Smart Slider 3. You can choose to embed the slider using a shortcode or a widget, or directly insert it into a page or post using the Gutenberg editor or page builder.
Step 7: Check and Verify
To make sure that your slider displays and operates as intended, preview it.
To guarantee responsiveness and the best possible user experience, test your slider on a variety of screen sizes.

What Size Should Slider Images Be in WordPress?

Choosing the right size for your WordPress sliders’ images is essential, to ensure that they blend smoothly into the style of your website and offer the best viewing experience to your visitors.

Let’s look at some recommendations that can help you in choosing the right size for your sliders:

Aspect Ratio: It is advised to match the slider’s aspect ratio to your website’s general layout and appearance. Choose an aspect ratio that works with the dimensions of your website’s content space.
Proper Images: The size of the images should match the slider they are placed in. So don’t attempt to fit a 3000 px wide image within a 1200 px wide slider. The same goes for putting smaller images in bigger sliders.
Full Width, Boxed, and Full Page: Choose whether you want your slider to be contained within a certain content area (boxed), cover the entire width of the browser window (full width), or fill in the browser’s width and height (full page). While the boxed layout can provide a more focused and under-control display, the other two can produce an experience that is more visually striking.
Responsive Desing: Your slider must be capable of adjusting to various screen sizes. Therefore, select a slider plugin with responsive design choices, such as Smart Slider 3.
Page Load Times: Even though they are aesthetically pleasing, sliders that require huge image files can considerably slow down page loads. Maintaining the balance between aesthetic appeal and performance is important. If you can, use jpg photos rather than png ones since they load more quickly. A nice slider image should not exceed 500 kb in size.
Testing and Previewing: To make sure that your sliders are displayed as intended across various devices, it’s crucial to preview them. It’s important to ensure that your sliders adapt properly and maintain their aesthetic appeal.

How Do I Get an Image to Fit a Screen?

You can select how an image will fit the screen when you set it as a background image. You can choose one of five fill modes in Smart Slider 3, for each of your slides. Let’s check out how they work!

Fill: This is the default option. If necessary, it crops the images so that it fits the whole slider.
Fit: The entire image is seen, without cropping. The areas where the image can’t reach the slider are left unfilled.
Blur fit: It doesn’t crop the image. However, it also doesn’t leave any blank areas in the slider. Actually, it fills them with the original image’s blurred form.
Stretch: Here the image is stretched to fill the slider without being cropped. The visuals frequently become distorted as a result. Use with caution!
Center: Contrary to popular perception, this setting won’t center the slider. It only places the background image there in its original size. As a result, this mode loses its responsive behavior.

Check out this video for an example of each mode in action:

How Do I Make a Full-Width Slider in WordPress?

A full-width slider in WordPress enables you to make a visually striking effect by leveraging the complete width of the browser window. Creating a full-width slider is simple with the help of Smart Slider 3. So let’s begin:

Step 1: Install and Activate Smart Slider 3
Follow the instructions mentioned previously in this post to install and activate the Smart Slider 3 plugin, if you haven’t yet.
Step 2: Create a New Project
From the WordPress dashboard select Smart Slider 3. Click on the “New Project” button, then choose the “Full width” layout.

Step 3: Slider Settings
In the Slider Editor select the Size tab. To make sure the slider fills the complete width of the browser window turn on the “Force Full Width” option. This option forces the slider to go outside of its container and makes it as wide as your screen. However, it has limitations, so it won’t work in every case.
Step 4: Customize Your Slides
Use the “Add Slide” button to add slides to your slider. Then add layers and animations to make it your own. Use the drag-and-drop editor to organize it in a manner you like.
Step 5: Additional Settings
Explore the wide range of settings Smart Slider 3 offers.
Step 6: Preview and Test
Always previous and test before moving on to the publishing process. Ensure your slider looks how you intended it to look. Test its responsiveness, and make adjustments to achieve the best results.
Step 7: Publish Your Slider
After you saved all the changes on your slider, you can publish it in your preferred way by choosing one of the publishing options Smart Slider 3 offers.

How Do I Make a Slider Autoplay in WordPress?

Even in the free version of Smart Slider 3, you can make autoplaying sliders, but the Pro version gives you additional features. Let’s go through each step:

Step 1: Choose a Slider
On the WordPress dashboard locate Smart Slider 3 and select it. To edit the slider, click on the one you would like to add autoplay to.
Step 2: Enable Autoplay
Go to the “Autoplay” tab inside the sider editor, then toggle the “Autoplay” option to enable it.

Step 3: Adjust Autoplay Preferences
Additional options will show up after you enable autoplay. In accordance with your preferences, you can adjust the configuration options.
Step 4: Customize Autoplay (Optional)
Advanced settings are available in Smart Sldier 3 to customize the autoplay further. Explore them, and additionally, you can change the options for controls, pause/play buttons, and indicators.
Step 5: Preview and Test
To check that the slider begins autoplaying in accordance with the selected parameters, preview your slider. In addition, test on various devices and screens.
Step 6: Save and Publish
When you are happy with the autoplay settings, click the “Save” button to keep your modifications. After this, you can publish it in your preferred way.

How Do I Make a Responsive Slider in WordPress?

A responsive slider makes sure that it adapts nicely to all screen sizes and devices, giving your visitors the best possible viewing experience. Luckily, making a responsive slider in WordPress is simple with Smart Slider 3, which is fully responsive. Besides, there are some features you can easily customize before proceeding.

Font Sizes: To change the font size of your content just use the Text Scale option. The fact that this is a device-specific setting means that you don’t need to worry about changing the font size on other devices, which is one of the numerous advantages of using it.
Hide Layers On Devices: Anybody can experience having their desktop layers look bad on mobile view. With Smart Slider, you can hide whatever layer you want on any device, so there’s no need to worry. Use the “Hide On” feature in the layer window to get to this option. It can be quite beneficial to be able to hide your layers individually.
Hide Slides On Devices: If you are using the Pro version, hiding your slides on different devices can be another great option to improve the responsiveness of your sliders.
Hide Sliders On Devices: Or just simply disable the slider, which will hide everything on the selected device.
Controls: Your controls can also be hidden since some of them are simpler to use on desktops but on smaller devices, they seem to be more challenging.

How Do I Create a Post Slider?

Making thumbnail sliders for simple navigation is one of Smart Slider 3’s outstanding capabilities. If you want to highlight a number of pages or posts, you can even go one step further and build a WordPress carousel with the help of it.

Although there are many great slider plugins available, let me explain why Smart Slider 3 is unique. You have complete control over the design and can easily make a free full-width slider that looks good on all screens. Additionally, it has more functionality than many other groundbreaking slider plugins.

However, there’s still more! The Dynamic Slider feature is a great tool in Smart Slider 3. You can use this tool to build slides from your WordPress posts that update anytime you make changes to the original post itself. So the maintenance will be simple.

You can make as many dynamic slides as you wish. On top of that, you can create a custom post type slider using Smart Slider 3. This offers full access to the featured image, textual content, URL, post title, categories, and tags of your posts. What’s more, you can add custom layers to design and represent these slides as you wish.

Therefore, Smart Slider 3 is the way to go without any doubt, if you are looking for a user-friendly plugin with advanced customization options, that goes above and beyond the essentials. Give it a try and see how beautiful sliders and carousels can make your website come to life.

How Do You Make a Dynamic Slider?

Now we can move on to the actual process of creating a dynamically changing slider. So follow along for this 5-step guide to create your own:

1. Create a Dynamic Slide

You can add a dynamic slide either to an already-created slider or a new one. When you add new content to your source, the slide will automatically update. You should configure the generator and decide how many dynamic slides you want to have in the slider.

2. Set Up the Generator

There are several sources to pick from. If you have the Pro version of Smart Slider 3, then you can select from 20 sources in WordPress and 27 sources in Joomla to build a post slider from your Joomla articles and WordPress posts.

3. Create Your Own Slider

You can design your own slider if you want to make one that’s distinctive. Additionally, you can import predefined-slider examples in Smart Slider 3 to use as dynamic slides. Simply copy the layout and paste it into your dynamic slide to complete the task.
You can learn more about how to utilize the demo slider in your generator by reading our documentation.

4. Insert Variable

Set variables if you want your content to change dynamically. Where variables are not used, a static layer will be present.

5. Publish the Slider

Your slider can now be published, such as a shortcode, or turned into a Gutenberg block. Your slider will also show up on the frontend and automatically refresh.

How Do I Make a Slider in Elementor?

As you may know in Elemnetor you can create simple sliders. However, there are only 3 layers you can add to it: a heading, text, and a button layer. In addition, they have fixed places, so there’s not much room for creativity. This might be the right choice for some websites. But, if you would like to create a more advanced slider where you would like to add additional content, you need to look for a slider plugin that works well with Elementor.

Let’s look at how you can make it happen with Smart Slider 3:

Install and Activate Smart Slider 3
Create a new slider and add slides
Customize each slide to match your own preferences
Create a new page or edit an existing one with Elementor
Drag and drop the Smart Slider 3 widget wherever you would like it to be
Select your slider
Save and Publish

You don’t need to start from scratch, browse the template library to find the most suitable slider for your project.

As you can see using Smart Slider 3 with Elementor couldn’t be easier. Just create your preferred slider, add the Smart Slider 3 widget to Elementor, and select the one you’ve created. It’s effortless, time-saving, and fun.

How Do I Create a Product Slider in WordPress?

Smart Slider 3 is a great tool for building special and functional product sliders for your online store in WordPress. In addition, you don’t have to worry about losing mobile visitors, since Smart Slider will take care of it for you.

With this plugin, you are offered a wide range of options for how to effectively display your products. To show your items from various perspectives or highlight their unique features you can add additional image layers. It also helps you with adding specific information about each product using the heading and text layers. Besides, you can design call-to-action buttons that send your visitors to the category or product pages for additional information.

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The fact that you can select from the pre-made templates or create your own slider without any coding experience is pretty fantastic. There are no restrictions on how many sliders you can make.

You can draw attention to your top-selling items, or special deals. Moreover, it’s very simple to add a call-to-action button that will persuade visitors to take action. Both the Carousel and Showcase slider types offer beautiful layouts and perfect responsiveness, depending on what your preferences are. In contrast to the Showcase type, the Carousel type maintains the same number of visible slides regardless of the screen size.

In short, if you would like to create captivating product sliders that easily catch the attention of your audience and help you achieve your goals, then give Smart Slider 3 a go.

Engaging Product Slider Examples

Now, let’s look at some stunning examples of different product sliders, to help you get started with your next project.

Product Carousel

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To present your products in an engaging and responsive manner, you can utilize the WooCommerce carousel slider. The amazing thing about it is that it shows numerous products slides together, rather than just one slide at a time, which creates an aesthetically pleasing arrangement. The slider and the slide widths are completely adjustable, and you can even decide how many products you would like to show at once. With this fantastic tool, making a responsive carousel is quite simple.

Full-Width Product Carousel

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A really cool slider that’s ideal for presenting your products is the Full-Width Product Carousel. What’s so eye-catching about this is that it introduces some pretty creative concepts, like creating a background with a complementary color to further highlight your items. Additionally, it has space for special slides, including those that advertise offers or encourages your visitors to sign up to your newsletter. They can view several slides at once with this carousel type, allowing them to see more of what you have to offer. It’s an excellent strategy for getting their attention.

Full Page Product Slider

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You don’t see the Full-page product slider every day, do you? It’s a wonderful idea to create a full-page product slider to make yourself stand out from the competition. With its cool animations and smooth navigation. The Top 5 Product template takes it to the next level. And the best thing, though? You have plenty of room to include product descriptions and give your buyers all the information they need. This strategy is fantastic for getting their attention and leaving a positive impact.

Showcase Product Slider

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The Showcase slider type stands out because it shows several slides at once, giving your visitors more to look at. Bet here’s the cool part: by making the main slide larger than the others, it always focuses all the attention on it. The centered slide gets all the attention thanks to this innovative design, while also showcasing the remaining slides. It’s a great technique to draw attention to your content and keep people interested. Try it out to see for yourself!

Conclusion

Congrats! Now you have a firm understanding of WordPress sliders and how they can advance your website. Throughout this post, we’ve answered the most frequently asked questions regarding sliders, including their advantages and effect on SEO as well as their functionality and customizability possibilities.

By utilizing sliders, you can attract users to your WordPress site, highlight key content, and significantly impact your visitors. Sliders offer an effective approach to engaging your audience and successfully delivering your message, regardless of whether you are a blogger, designer, developer, or business owner.

And Smart Slider 3 is the real deal when it comes to selecting the best slider plugin. It’s the most outstanding option for building gorgeous sliders that blend with your website flawlessly. All thanks to its user-friendly interface, rich customization options, and compatibility with well-known page builders.

Why wait then? Utilize Smart Slider 3, and discover the full potential sliders can bring to your website when you make the right choices. Get ready to engage your visitors with aesthetically pleasing sliders.

We hope this post has given you insightful information and useful advice for your adventure with sliders. Feel free to get in touch with us through our support system if you have any additional questions or need assistance. We are here to help you make your sliders shine!

Thank you for joining us on this slider adventure. Stay tuned for more exciting content and helpful tips on WordPress and web design. Happy sliding!

The post 10+ FAQs on WordPress Sliders: Everything You Need to Know appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

Alt Backgrounds: Why Alt Text Matters

Sara Humenyanszky — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 05:00:01 +0000

Creating visually appealing and captivating web designs is just one aspect of this huge field. An equally crucial part is ensuring that everyone, especially those with vision impairments or other disabilities, can access our digital products. In these situations, we use the powerful alt tag.

We’ll go through alt tag characteristics and their essential functions in web design accessibility. This guide provides practical information for everyone in the ever-changing world of web design. This post will give you the useful tips you need to make the most of alt tags. And we’ve got you covered if you’re specifically interested in using Smart Slider 3.

It will cover writing alt text that improves accessibility, the process of checking and validating alt text for images, the significance of alt tags for background images, and even setting alt tags for various Smart Slider 3 elements. Once we get to the conclusion, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to design user-friendly and inclusive websites that leave an impact.

So let’s get started and see how alt tag attributes can improve your website’s design and guarantee a more inclusive online experience for everyone.

📚 Table of contents

📱 Writing Alt Text for Accessibility
🎓 Checking the Alt Text of an Image
⚡ Adding Alt Tag to Images in Smart Slider 3
💻 Do Background Images Need Alt Tag
🏗️ How to Add Alt Tags to Background Images in Smart Slider 3
✏️ How to Add Alt Tag to Images in WordPress
💡 Conclusion

Writing Alt Text for Accessibility

Providing descriptive information about images using alt text is essential for ensuring web design accessibility. When an image can’t be displayed or is not accessible to the user, “alt text”, which stands for “alternative text”, is a to-the-point and meaningful description that takes its place.

For those who use assistive technologies, like screen readers to browse the web, creating good alt text is crucial. Their ability to comprehend the information and context that images give ensures a thorough browsing experience. Alt text is also helpful for search engine optimization (SEO) since it gives search engines useful information, improving the visibility and discoverability of the website.

Take into account the following recommendations for creating meaningful alt text:

Be descriptive: Thoroughly describe the image’s motive and content. Give relevant information that demonstrates the image’s important message.
Keep it brief: Strive for short alt text that effectively communicates the required information without being unnecessarily lengthy. Aim for a balance between curtness and descriptive precision.
Contextualize the image: Take into account the surrounding text and make sure that the text ties in naturally with the story or goal of the image.
Avoid repetition: Use empty alt text (“”) to show that the image is merely decorative or inessential if it is already accompanied by neighboring text that sufficiently describes it.
Keep in mind the purpose of the image: Make a difference between decorative and instructive visuals. While decorative ones can have empty alt text, informative images must contain descriptive alt text.

Now we can move on to how to check and verify alt text for images to ensure its accuracy and effectiveness, as we have already covered the basics of writing alt text.

Checking the Alt Text of an Image

To keep up web accessibility it’s necessary to guarantee the accuracy and the existence of alt text. Luckily, various ways are offered to us to check and verify the alt text of any image. Let’s get to the bottom of some of these useful techniques.

Manually inspect:

To open your browser’s developer tools right-click on the image and select “Inspect” or “Inspect Element”.
Find the image tag () in the HTML code and examine its alt attribute. You can locate the alt text inside the quotation marks after the “alt=” part.
If it doesn’t have an alt attribute or it’s empty, then you should add it or correct the current one.

Extensions for your browser:

There are many ways browsers can help you out with looking into alt texts.
Explore the extension store of your browser to explore supplementary tools that fully support your purpose. You should search for extensions related to accessibility.

Online checkers:

You can find various tools specifically designed to verify the alt text of your images among the many other tools they offer to check web accessibility. These tools are fully equipped to inspect a website and offer you different ideas for improvement of the alt text.
Take utilizing these accessibility checkers into consideration.

Keep in mind that the purpose of this is to make sure that the alt text correctly describes the goal and content of the given image. Therefore, users with assistive technologies can fully comprehend the meaning of it. To achieve a high level of accessibility for your website check and verify your alt text frequently.

The following section will show you how to easily add alt tags to several elements in Smart Slider 3. Which is in fact a very useful plugin that helps you to create engaging and dynamic sliders for your website. So hold on, there’s more to come.

Adding Alt Tag to Images in Smart Slider 3

It’s essential to add alt tags to separate elements in Smart Slider 3 to make certain of accessibility and convenience. This slider plugin provides you with everything you need for creating fascinating sliders, from its user-friendly interface to its wide range of tools. Let’s look into some of them a little more!

Image Layer:

Keep an eye out for the SEO section of the Content settings when you add an Image Layer to your slider. In the “SEO – Alt tag” field you can write the alt text of your image.

Create a brief, precise description of the given image so it’s fully comprehensive.
Users with visual impairments should fully obtain the meaning of the image through the alt text you provide.

Image Box Layer:

This layer can display an image or an icon and text in different ways.

It also allows you to add alt text to your image, which you can do in almost the same way as it was mentioned before.
Find the Content settings and inside its General settings, there’s the same “SEO – Alt tag” field, where you can add your unique alt text.
Create it in a way that correctly describes your image inside the Image Box Layer.

Caption Layer:

This layer can show an image, however, when the mouse enters a text overlay appears.

It’s important once again to add alt text to the image. Just find the Content settings and add the alt text to the same field as before.

Then, provide a textual representation of your image, so it perfectly portrays the image.

Image Area, Transition Layer, Before-After Layer:

All these layers provide a way for the users to apply alt text to its images.
Simply find each of their particular settings and add their individual, descriptive alt texts for better accessibility.

Don’t forget to apply all the useful techniques we’ve already discussed to make the most of your alt text. These are the essential steps you need to follow in order to guarantee a more accessible and inclusive user experience. Simply incorporate these tips into your building process in Smart Slider 3.

The following part will focus on the most frequently asked questions regarding alt text. Such as whether background images need an alt tag, and actually how crucial it is to provide alt text for such images. Let’s explore this captivating part of web design accessibility.

Do Background Images Need Alt Tag

Do background images require alt tags? This is a common question when it comes to web design accessibility. Understanding the significance and motive of alt tags for various types of images, including background images will help you find the solution.

Decorative Background Images

Alt tags are not necessary for background images that are solely aesthetic, such as patterns or design elements. This enables screen readers to pass over the image and concentrate on the content that is important.

Live Preview

Informative Background Images

It’s crucial to provide alt text for accessibility if a background image assists in understanding the page’s content or conveys crucial information.

Live Preview

Make sure that the image’s alt text appropriately describes it so that users with visual impairments can understand its content. Depending on the information it provides and its goal, background images may or may not need alt text. Maintaining the balance between ensuring accessibility and reducing unneeded distractions for screen reader users is crucial.

We will look at how to add alt tags specifically to background images in Smart Slider 3 in the following section to make sure that even these images contribute to an inclusive user experience. Follow along for some detailed instructions.

How to Add Alt Tags to Background Images in Smart Slider 3

Smart Slider makes the process of adding alt tags to your background images easy and convenient. This helps you improve the accessibility of your content for each user. Now, we’ll look at the necessary steps we need to take in order to make sure the background images we present have proper alt text.

Slide Editor

After you have entered the Dashboard of Smart Slider 3, find the slider, then the specific slide with the background image that you would like to add alt text to. Navigate to the Slide Editor which is the interface where changes to the slide itself and its elements can be made. Then locate the Style setting where you can edit the Slide’s background image.

Add Alt Text

Now, as you have already located the background image settings, further down look for the section where you can specifically set the alt text for the background image. Keeping in mind the main concepts when writing the alt text, add an appropriate description that shows the meaning and goals of the background image.

Review and Save

Finally, make sure the text you provided fully contributes to the purpose of the image and leaves no doubt in the users’ minds. To ensure your work wasn’t for nothing don’t forget to save all your changes.

Look at that! It was really this simple to complete the process of adding alt text to your slides’ background images in Smart Slider 3. Users with visual impairments or those who utilize assistive technologies can now be a part of the browsing experience if you just follow these easy but appreciable steps.

Follow along if you would like to learn more about how to set alt text for backgrounds. Let’s find out about its implementations as well, as we dive deeper into the world of accessible web design.

How to Add Alt Tag to Images in WordPress

Adding alt text to your images in WordPress is a very simple process. WordPress offers an easy procedure to guarantee that your website is accessible and inclusive. To add alt text to photos in WordPress just follow the steps below.

Add an image:

Firstly, when you are creating or modifying a page or post in WordPress, simply click on the “Add Media” button.
Then, choose an image from the media library or upload it from your computer.
Select the image once it has been added to your page or post.

Image details:

Look for the “Alt Text” field in the image options on the editor’s right-hand side.

Accurately represent your content with an alt text by providing a precise description of the image.
Think back to the helpful tips we already covered about writing powerful alt text.

Take advantage of this useful tool that WordPress provides and make the browsing experience more accessible by contributing to these factors. Embrace alt text with your WordPress website and show your devotion to an inclusive and accessible interface for all users.

In the next section, we will conclude all the things we discussed throughout this post about alt text for background images. Read on for a summary of the whole journey toward creating more accessible websites.

Conclusion

In web design, not everything is about making the website visually appealing and engaging. It’s equally crucial to ensure accessibility, which enables users of all abilities to interact with your digital products.

We covered the vital functions of alt tag characteristics in web design accessibility, especially in relation to Smart Slider 3. This post showed you how necessary it is to write alt text for accessibility, and recommended practices for creating informative descriptions. When we use alternative text (alt text) in the place of images, it helps people with disabilities to understand the meaning and context of visuals. If you follow these steps, you will give users with visual impairment the ability to access and engage in the browsing experience of your website.

It was highlighted how important it actually is to frequently check alt text as we explored techniques that could help us in examining and confirming it. In addition, we covered all the necessary tools that can be of service.

Furthermore, we looked into how to add alt tags to various layers in Smart Slider 3. This slider plugin is known for its user-friendly interface and how smoothly it integrates alt text into its sliders. Additionally, you can improve your website’s accessibility which helps you with opening it up to a larger audience.

Making a difference between background images that are only aesthetic and those that have a purpose, we also discussed if alt tags are necessary for background images. Now we can conclude that while decorative background images don’t need alt tags, informative background images should have one. Besides, we went through methods for balancing accessibility and design.

Moreover, we looked into the step-by-step guide for precisely adding alt tags to background images in Smart Slider 3. By following the instructions, you can now make sure that background images also contribute to an inclusive user experience.

All things considered, you can make websites that are accessible to all users by implementing Smart Slider’s alt tags efficiently and following the best practices for writing alt text. It’s important to ensure that everyone has access to knowledge and experiences, keep in mind that web design accessibility is not an afterthought but a crucial element of the design process.

It’s time to put your newfound knowledge and useful insights from this post to use. Start including alt tags in all your web design projects, including those using Smart Slider 3. Let’s work together to build websites that embrace diversity and celebrate it, enabling everyone to navigate our digital world.

The post Alt Backgrounds: Why Alt Text Matters appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

Articles in Design Category — Blog — Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin

11 Inspiring Slider Examples for Your Next Website

1. Hero Header Slider

2. Product Carousel

3. Blog Post Carousel

4. Logo carousel

5. Instagram Carousel

6. Fullscreen Slider

7. Landing Page

8. Full-page Slider

9. Shape Divider

10. Testimonial Slider

11. Groups of Sliders

Wrapping Up

12 Inspiring Examples of Stunning Modern Homepage Sliders

1. Monolith Boxed Slider

2. Undiscovered Universe

3. Gibraltar

4. Construction

5. Cosmetics

6. Blur

7. Greek Restaurant

8. Black Friday Slider

9. Digital Art

10. Tattoo Studio

11. Full Width Product Carousel

12. Office Exercises

Creating Your Own Beautiful Homepage Slider with Smart Slider 3

Conclusion

10 Beautiful Full Width Slider Examples

1. Advertising Agency

2. Animal Shelter

3. Winery

4. Tattoo Studio

5. Construction

6. Christmas Postcards

7. Monolith Boxed Slider

8. Blur

9. Showcase Portfolio

10. Full Width Product Carousel

11. Real Estate

How to Create a Full Width Slider in WordPress?

1. Install Smart Slider 3

2. Activate the plugin

3. Create your slider

4. Publish your slider

Why use a full width slider on your page?

Useful tips for full width slider settings

Final Thoughts

Top 10 Smart Slider Animations

📚 Table of contents

1. Main Animation

How to Enable and Customize

Bonus: Carousel Mode

2. Background Parallax

How to Enable and Customize

3. Background Animation

How to Enable and Customize

4. Highlighted Heading Layer

How to Enable and Customize

5. Shape Divider

How to Enable and Customize

6. Ken Burns Effect

How to Enable and Customize

7. Particle Effect

How to Enable and Customize

8. Layer Parallax

How to Enable and Customize

9. Animated Heading

How to Enable and Customize

10. Layer Animations

How to Enable and Customize

Grand Entrances with In Animations

Loops with Loop Animations

Exits with Out Animations

Event-Based Animations

Conclusion

Do People Still Use Sliders in 2024?

Misconceptions about sliders in 2024

1. Sliders are bad for SEO