Are you looking for ways to make your website more engaging? Look no further! In this blog post, we’ll be sharing the top 10 animations that will keep your visitors hooked and turn your website into a real crowd-pleaser.

So, grab your coffee, maybe a snack, get comfy, and let’s explore the amazing world of Smart Slider animations. You can be a web designer or a beginner, these animations are sure to add that extra flair to your website.

Intrigued? Well, you should be! Let’s get started on this exciting journey.

📚 Table of contents

🎬 1. Main Animation
🌌 2. Background Parallax
🖼️ 3. Background Animation
🌟 4. Highlighted Heading Layer
✂️ 5. Shape Divider
🎥 6. Ken Burns Effect
✨ 7. Particle Effect
🔮 8. Layer Parallax
🚀 9. Animated Heading
🎨 10. Layer Animations
💡 Conclusion

1. Main Animation

Dynamic websites rely on animations to keep things entertaining, and the slider’s Main Animation is a key player in this. It’s the leader of all animations, setting the mood during slide-switching and ensuring your slider flows smoothly from one slide to the next.

Imagine this, instead of a static first impression, your website greets visitors with a mesmerizing blend of images and information. The Main Animation guarantees a seamless visual experience, instantly captivating your audience.

How to Enable and Customize

Go to the Animations tab and voila, you will find an entrance to a whole new world of possibilities. Need a different animation type? It’s just a click away! Adjust the duration to control the animation speed or add a delay for a grand entrance.

To add a little more smoothness, change the easing settings. With the Main Animation, you have the power to create a perfectly fine-tuned sliding with each transition.

Bonus: Carousel Mode

But wait there’s an extra setting! Let us introduce you to the carousel mode, a fantastic feature that brings elegance to your website. It’s like pressing the replay button, but with a touch of sophistication. Once you reach the end of your slides, bam, you’re right back at the start, creating a smooth and captivating loop of content.

2. Background Parallax

Have you ever thought about adding a touch of three-dimensional magic to your website? If yes, then your answer is the Background Parallax, a captivating feature, that can mesmerize your audience with depth and dynamism.

Picture this, as your visitors scroll, the content on your slides moves at a different speed compared to the background. This is what we call parallax scrolling. It adds a mesmerizing touch, that truly captivates your audience.

How to Enable and Customize

So how do you create it? Go to the Slides tab where all the magic happens. Then, simply enable the “Background Parallax” option at the bottom. That’s it, now your slides will be transformed with a sense of captivating depth.

There’s more! The Background Parallax provides a wide range of customization choices. You can increase the intensity of the effect and also make sure that visitors from tablets and mobiles also get to experience the effect. This feature also offers you the ability to personalize it to perfectly match your website’s vibe.

3. Background Animation

Why stick to the boring static when you can add a touch of animated charm to your slides? Background Animation is the key to creating visually captivating sliders, where every transition is transformed into a beautiful sequence.

How to Enable and Customize

Go to the Animations tab, and that’s where you can find a whole bunch of captivating background animations. Simply click on the Background Animation field, and all the options will appear right before you.

Pick an animation that matches the vibe of your website. You can go for all kinds of animations, the choices are endless. To make it even more unique, you can select a background color that compliments your overall theme.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Want to add an extra element of surprise? Choose multiple animations and watch as each slide change brings a new burst of excitement. Customize the animation speed, choose when your background Animation takes center stage, and watch your slider come alive with fresh energy.

And if you are someone who wants even more customization, then you can explore the world of unique Background Animations for each individual slide.

4. Highlighted Heading Layer

It’s about time you give some attention to the text elements on your website with the Highlighted Heading layer! If you’ve ever thought that your headings could use a little something extra, this feature will make them truly stand out, and make an impact on your visitors.

The Highlighted Heading layer can turn boring headings into eye-catching elements with a simple layer. Just imagine text that not only delivers your message but does it with style. Let’s explore how you can actually make it happen.

How to Enable and Customize

To unlock the full potential of this feature, you need to begin by adding a new Highlighted Heading layer. Once you’ve done that, a whole new world of customization options becomes available. Firstly, start by exploring the Before text, as it appears before your highlighted text setting the stage for it.

Coming up next is the After text, which is the text that comes after the Highlighted Heading layer. You can make your message complete with it.

Select the Type, Width, and Color that matches your website’s look and feel. Feeling adventurous? Give them all a shot! The Highlighted Heading layer’s charm lies in its adaptability, enabling you to customize it to suit different moods and styles.

And of course, let’s not overlook the width, the thickness of the line that will make your highlight stand out. Looking for something extra? Boost the width for a statement that can’t be ignored. And for those who want to go even further, activate the Bring Front option to make sure your highlight steals the spotlight.

Let’s explore the colors as well! Choose the one that best represents your vision. With countless options available, you can blend your heading with your website, or create striking contrasts that will grab everyone’s attention.

However that’s not all, the animation options are like the icing on the cake. You can add some delay, set the duration, and looping it can also add an extra touch of brilliance.

5. Shape Divider

With the Shape Divider feature in Smart Slider, you can add animated dividers that give your sliders a special touch. In addition, a slider isn’t only about the content, it also offers the chance to display your creativity and design skills.

A Shape Divider not only adds a touch of elegance but also brings in dynamic shapes that blend perfectly with your design. Let’s explore how they can enhance your slider!

How to Enable and Customize

To kickstart it, go to the Animations tab. Then simply scroll down to the Shape Divider effect and decide if you’d like to add it to the Top or the Bottom of your slider. You can adjust it in the upper right corner.

Here you can choose from a wide range of shapes available and let your creativity flow. Whether you prefer waves, rectangles, or curves, each shape has its unique charm. To see your selected shape come alive, preview it.

But the customization doesn’t end here. Pick a color that matches the overall vibe of your slider. Play around with the width and height, to find a balance, and make sure that the shape complements your slider, without stealing the spotlight.

Are you up for smothering even cooler? Try flipping the shape to see things in a whole new way. And why not keep going by animating it too? Adjust the animation speed to match the flow of your slider transitions, and watch as it unfolds right before your eyes.

Shape Dividers not only improve the visual appeal of your sliders but also allow you to decide how they behave as your audience scrolls. With this feature, you can ensure smooth switching between slides, keeping your slider captivating from beginning to end.

6. Ken Burns Effect

The Ken Burns Effect can add a touch of movie effect to your website. Do you know what it does? This awesome animation gives your background images a zooming effect that brings a captivating element to your sliders.

How to Enable and Customize

First, you need to go to the Slide layer, and inside it spot the Content tab. There you’ll find the Ken Burns effect just waiting to wave its magic touch on your background images. However, it doesn’t need to be just one slide, right? You can enable it on all of them if you select it in the Animations tab. This would make it more consistent for the viewer.

You can personalize it in any way you want. To do this try out the different presets available and find the one that matches your unique style. Preview it to make sure, and see your backgrounds in action.

Wanting to adjust it even more? Simply click anywhere on the image, to set where the zooming should start from. There’s another way of doing it, by setting the exact starting place in the top right corner of its editor. To achieve the desired results, set its speed and strengths as well in the Animations tab.

7. Particle Effect

Have you ever imagined particles gracefully dancing and adding a touch of playfulness to your slider? Let’s explore how the Particle Effect can magically transform your website.

How to Enable and Customize

To get this awesome feature up and running, just go to the Animations tab. There you’ll find a bunch of cool presets to choose from, each with its own mesmerizing particle show. Once you’ve picked your favorite, it’s time to add a pop of color. To match your overall design you can change the colors of the lines that connect the particles.

However, the possibilities for customizations are endless. Adjust the speed of the particles, choosing whether they dance on your slider with grace or quickly. Are you looking for more interactivity? Take control of the particles’ behavior, and set how they react to the mouse when your audience hovers or clicks on them.

And if you are looking for a way to bring this effect to mobile view, you have the option to enable the particles on them as well. By default, it’s turned off to save resources, but once you activate it, you can enjoy their magic not just on desktop but also on your phone or tablet.

8. Layer Parallax

Let’s dive into the amazing Layer Parallax effect. It’s the perfect way to turn your website’s layers into interactive wonders. With Layer Parallax you can add depth and movement, making your elements come alive, this way ensuring an engaging experience for the visitors.

How to Enable and Customize

To unlock the power of Layer Parallax, simply select the layer you wish to bring to life. Go to the Style tab and there you’ll find the Parallax option for your layers. The intensity of the effect is completely up to you, ranging from 1 to 10.

There’s no end to the customization options. You can dive deeper to experiment with different strengths and edit your layers to react in subtle or bold ways to user interactions. Then let your slider transform into a dynamic canvas where layers glide along as your visitors view your content.

9. Animated Heading

Are you ready to add some excitement and energy to your text? Smart Slider’s Animated Heading is here to help. If you’ve ever wanted your headings to be more than just plain text, this animation is exactly what you need. Let’s discover how the Animated Heading can bring creativity and movement to your website’s messaging.

Headings are like the foundation of your content, and with the Animated Heading layer, you can elevate them from basic to brilliant. This awesome layer lets you modify certain parts of the text, turning your headings into captivating elements that grab everyone’s attention.

How to Enable and Customize

To get things rolling, include a new Animated Heading layer into your slide. You can find some customization options opening up, allowing you to edit different aspects of it.

Start by changing the Before text, the text that is before the animated one. After this, you can explore the various text options for the animation and create one that connects with your audience.

The text that follows it is the After text, this is the text that comes after the animated text.

But the truly charming part comes after this when you explore the Type choices. Whether you fancy a timeless Typewriter effect or a daring Rotate type, each option adds its unique touch. Don’t hesitate to try them out and discover the perfect fit for your content.

Looking to have full control over the speed, timing, and duration? Smart Slider has got you covered. You can create a looping animation, increase the speed, add a delay for precise timing, and customize the duration for each line of the Animated text field.

10. Layer Animations

If you’ve been on the lookout for the ultimate method to make your layers more energetic, this feature will take your design skills to unexpected levels.

Layer Animations offer a whole new level of customization that surpasses the usual. With these animations, you have complete control over every detail of how your layers come in, loop, and exit, resulting in an incredibly captivating user experience.

How to Enable and Customize

If you’re ready to start your design adventure, just go to the Animations tab in the layer. Get ready to discover a whole bunch of settings that will open up a whole new world of possibilities. Whether you want to create an impressive entrance, mesmerizing loops, or a graceful exit, Layer Animations provide you with the tools to unleash your creativity.

Grand Entrances with In Animations

Start with the ‘In’ tab, where you can customize the animations for when your layer enters the slide. The choices available here are quite varied, giving you the freedom to select animations that can range from gentle fades to captivating reveals. Just imagine your layers gracefully revealing themselves, creating a captivating user experience.

Jump into the settings, and discover animations such as Reveal, and unleash your imagination. Every animation comes with its own distinct settings, allowing you to customize the entrance to match the mood and design of your website.

Loops with Loop Animations

Hold tight for the Loop animations. They start playing once the incoming animations are finished, and boy, do they love to flaunt their looping skills. This brings an energetic and uninterrupted vibe to your design, making sure your layers stay captivating throughout.

Exits with Out Animations

When it is time to move on to the next slide, the ‘Out’ animations steal the show. You can pick animations that say goodbye to your layer in a graceful way, guaranteeing a smooth transition from one slide to the next.

Event-Based Animations

But the fun doesn’t end there, Layer Animations also let you make animations that respond to user actions or specific events. Just think about how cool it would be to have animations that react to what the user does, adding an extra touch of interactivity to your slider.

Conclusion

Wow, you’ve just gone on an exciting adventure into the magical world of Smart Slider’s animations. Each one of these animations you’ve discovered will unlock endless possibilities for creativity and engagement in your design.

From the subtle elegance of the Slider Main Animation to the mesmerizing effects of the Ken Burns zoom, and the dynamic interactivity of Layer Animations – Smart Slider empowers you to go beyond the ordinary. We encourage you to roll up your sleeves, dive into the world of animations, and let your creativity run wild.

Don’t forget, Smart Slider’s charm doesn’t only come from its features, but your skill in using them. Your website is a reflection of your brand and with Smart Slider, it becomes a masterpiece that captivates and delights your audience.

In addition, we understand how exciting it is to see these animations in action, it can truly be a game-changer! That’s why we’ve created a YouTube video guide that serves as a vibrant companion to what you’ve just experienced. Picture the same amazing content but with the added magic of video.

The post Top 10 Smart Slider Animations appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

If you’ve been thinking about adding a video background to your WordPress site, this post is for you. We’ll look at how them to your site, along with tips on the best ways to use video.

Why Use a Video Background?

So why use WordPress video backgrounds for your website? Aside from the fact video backgrounds look really cool, they are engaging. Visitors will stop to watch your video background rather than just scroll past, whether it’s a hero video header, a landing page, or a fullwidth section on a page.

Another great thing about background videos is that they’re quick and easy for users to consume when you want to highlight an important aspect of your business. They’re also ideal for visual learners and very shareable, which is great when you’re looking to drive traffic to your site.

How to Add Video Backgrounds in WordPress

First things first: you need to source your video. You might already have some video footage you’ve uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo, or even to the media library of your WordPress website. Alternatively, you may want to download stock video from a site like Pixabay, Vimeo Stock, or Storyblocks.

Once you’ve got your video, there are a few simple options available to you for adding a WordPress background video to your site:

• Use a video background plugin.
• Use a theme that features easy video backgrounds.
• Use a page builder.

Let’s look at these options in more detail!

WordPress Video Background Plugins

Plugins can help you add WordPress video backgrounds to your site, whether you want a hero header for your home page or a fullscreen video for a page. Most plugins give you options to use MP4 video (self-hosted on your WordPress site), YouTube and Vimeo.

Smart Slider 3

With Smart Slider 3, creating beautiful fullscreen video backgrounds is really simple. The plugin lets you create video blocks, which you can add to your site as a hero header or simply as a section on a page with a parallax scrolling effect.

Check out this stunning still from this example video block:

If you have your own video, you can upload it to your WordPress website as an MP4 and then insert it into your video block. Alternatively, simply enter the URL for your YouTube or Vimeo video.

You can add any number of layers to your video block, including text, buttons for video players, logos, thumbnails and, of course, your video background. In the settings there are options to add opacity, mute sound, and loop the video.

You can then insert your video into any page or post using the provided shortcode or by pasting a short snippet of PHP code directly into your site’s template file (don’t forget to use a child theme!).

Video Background

Video Background is a simple, free plugin which allows you to add HTML5 video backgrounds to any element on your WordPress site. It’s pretty easy to use, just specify the CSS container you want to use (i.e. give it a name), link enter an URL for an MP4 or WebM file, and enter an URL for a fallback image.

If you want more advanced options, such as YouTube, page builder and playback features, you’ll need to upgrade to the pro version of the plugin, which starts at $19 for a single site license. However, for YouTube creators looking to improve their channel’s design, using a free YouTube banner maker could be a wallet-friendly alternative.

WordPress Video Background Themes

Video backgrounds have been a popular feature in WordPress themes, going back to the default Twenty Seventeen theme, which featured a fullscreen hero header video background. Two years on, the trend hasn’t slowed down, and most themes you’ll come across now will at least offer a hero video header.

There are many places to find good quality multipurpose WordPress themes with video backgrounds, but here are a few top picks:

• WordPress Theme Repository – Search the free repository for “video background.”
• ThemeForest – Simply search the WordPress themes for “video background.”

There are also many independent theme shops that offer themes with video background. Before purchasing or downloading a theme, make sure to check with the theme author whether the theme includes a video background.

WordPress Video Background Page Builders

A page building plugin will give you drag and drop capabilities, allowing you to insert your WordPress background video anywhere you like on your website. This means you don’t have to know HTML or CSS to update your site’s design, and you don’t need to use a video background theme or plugin. While the Visual Composer plugin has been a popular page building options for many years now, the two most popular page builders are Elementor and Divi.

Elementor

Elementor lets you create video backgrounds using MP4 files and YouTube videos. There are further options for start and end times, fallback image, overlay, and blend modes. Smart Slider 3 is compatible with Elementor. To learn more, check out Smart Slider 3 and Elementor.

Divi

Divi is another popular page builder plugin that includes the ability to create video backgrounds. You can use self-hosted MP4 and WebM files, YouTube and Vimeo videos for your background. There are plenty of options for overlays, customizing the play button, and more.

Smart Slider 3 is compatible with Divi. Find out more in our guide, Give the Divi Slider an Upgrade with Smart Slider 3.

How to Create a WordPress Video Background with Smart Slider 3

With Smart Slider 3 you can easily add a video background to your slider with a few steps.

1. Download and install Smart Slider 3 Pro
2. Create a new slider
3. Select the Slide and go to the layer window → Style tab
4. Choose the video option and upload your video

If you have the free version, you can create a video slider, but in this case you can’t use a self-hosted mp4 video, however you can create a Vimeo or YouTube slider.

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Tips for Adding a Video Background to Your WordPress Site

Here are some tips to consider when creating a video background for your site:

• Make sure your video is good quality and has a decent resolution.
• Compress video for faster page loading.
• Use videos that are short in length. Looping video ensures it runs smoothly without having to pause for buffering.
• Ensure your video background has a fully responsive design so it looks great on all screens, including mobile devices.
• Set a fallback image background for visitors whose browsers don’t support video.
• Don’t autoplay with sound. Give visitors the option to enable sound.
• Create an overlay for any text you want to place over the top, and ensure they’re enough contrast so it can be easily read.

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Lights, Camera, Action with WordPress Video Backgrounds

When you want to create a fullscreen background video for your header or simply add a YouTube video background to a section of a page, WordPress video backgrounds are really easy to implement.

There are many WordPress plugins that can help you do it, but you can’t go wrong with Smart Slider 3. It’s simple to set up and features many options for adding overlays, text and other elements on top of your video. This is especially useful for hero headers!

The post 3 Ways to Add a Stunning WordPress Video Background to Your Site appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

]]> https://smartslider3.com/blog/youtube-slider/ Wed, 29 Apr 2020 18:15:10 +0000 https://smartslider3.com/?post_type=blog&p=16288 Many people use YouTube videos in their WordPress site, because they can call the visitors’ attention and can make a visual impact. It is simple, because YouTube hosts the video, you don’t need to download it and upload to your site. All you need is to copy the video’s link or the video id, and […]

The post Everything You Need To Know About YouTube Slider appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

]]> Many people use YouTube videos in their WordPress site, because they can call the visitors’ attention and can make a visual impact. It is simple, because YouTube hosts the video, you don’t need to download it and upload to your site. All you need is to copy the video’s link or the video id, and in Smart Slider 3 you can easily create a nice looking, fully responsive YouTube slider for free.

Before I explain what you need to know about a YouTube slider, you can check the video slider Examples and import them from the Template Library.

A YouTube slider gives a nice visual impact

A YouTube Slider is great to make something noticeable. With motion pictures you can make a lot more, than using CSS and JavaScript codes. So a video can have a big influence on the design of your website.

You can combine the YouTube layer’s functionality with the autoplay of your slider. The autoplay can stop when the video plays and continue when it’s done. It gives a nice visual impact to the visitor and makes the user watch the video. The video player is fully customizable, you can hide the play icon or the controls, or you can even give a default volume to it.

You can not only use a YouTube video as a layer, in Smart Slider 3 Pro there is an option to open your YouTube video in a lightbox. With a lightbox slider you can save space, improve your loading time and make an interaction with the visitor. You can trigger the lightbox from a play icon and the visitor will click on that to watch the YouTube video.

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Create a video slider

Smart Slider 3 is a responsive WordPress slider plugin which you can easily create unlimited number of YouTube sliders with. If you want to create a video slider, simply create a blank slide first. Then from the Add panel you can select the YouTube, Vimeo or Video layer and enter the URL you want to load.

The best usage for a video gallery is to create a thumbnail slider. The thumbnails help you navigate to other slides, because you can see a small preview of the slides. And the video thumbnails can have a small play icon on them which lets the visitor know about the video on the slide.

Some tips to create a stunning YouTube slider

• If you use the YouTube layer, let the users make the choice to handle the videos: play, pause or mute them.
• If you automatically start your YouTube slider, set the volume to mute.
  Have you ever visited a website which started to “scream” on your speaker? There is nothing more annoying when you go to a website and it starts to play music or other sounds. And because of the browsers’ autoplay handling you should mute the videos, too.
• You can create a YouTube slider gallery where your goal is that the visitor watches the videos, but you can use it as a design element as well.

Have the design of the video reflected the design of your website as everything you see is connected. If you don’t have one that you think would be okay, search for “royalty free videos” on the internet. There are tons, and a lot of them are really nice looking, so I’m sure, you will find one or more appropriate ones to your website.

So if you would like to use a YouTube video for your design, you can download a royalty free video, upload it on your channel, and use it.

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Most important settings of the YouTube layer

Cover image: Smart Slider 3 creates automatically a cover image for your YouTube layer from the link you gave it, but if you want another image to appear, you can upload an image which will cover your YouTube video. And if your video starts, the cover image will disappear.

Volume: If you want your video not to start with the default volume, you can change this value. And if you want to autoplay your slider because of the browser’s limitation you should mute the video.

Start/End time: You can set the Start and End time, which you can set when the video should start and end.

Centered: This option can be useful if the video and the slider ratio are different. With this setting you can set the video to be centered and cover the slide. This option can also be useful if you want to focus on the center of the video on your phone.

Controls: You can hide the controls and the time bar from the bottom of the video.

Autoplay: You can set the videos to start automatically but you should take care that you have to mute the video, because some browsers have a limitation and the video can’t play if the video isn’t muted.

YouTube generator

Do you have a YouTube channel? Have you ever thought that you display your videos in a slider, and the content will refresh automatically? With Smart Slider 3 Pro you can create dynamic sliders as well. You can even create a YouTube slider with the YouTube generator which shows the videos of your channel.

If your videos are not on your channel, you can display search results of a certain keyword. The YouTube dynamic slide generator will automatically update your slider after the given time. This means your YouTube slider will be up to date without you having to make any changes.

On the dynamic slides you can use variables which will change. So for example you can put a dynamic url on your layer which will navigate you to the actual video.

Limitation of creating a YouTube slider

Older mobile devices and tablets have a limitation, that is you can’t autoplay videos on them. This limitation happens because of the common usage of mobile internet. On mobile devices only a user’s action can start a video in your YouTube slider. Because of this, even if you set your YouTube video to play automatically, it won’t start until the user taps on the play button. But the latest browsers and devices support autoplaying videos on them, if your video is muted.

Also it’s worth mentioning that YouTube notes your latest volume setting on its own site. If the user muted the video on YouTube, YouTube will automatically play the video without sound and you can’t override that.

Final Thought

A YouTube Slider is great choice to make something noticeable, it calls the visitors’ attention and makes your page more powerful. And the best is that the YouTube layer is available on the Free version of Smart Slider 3! Give it a try, use our sample sliders or create a new version one. If you have any questions about how to create a YouTube slider with this WordPress plugin, leave a comment below or write us a support ticket!

The post Everything You Need To Know About YouTube Slider appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

]]> https://smartslider3.com/blog/video-slider/ Tue, 28 Apr 2020 12:14:02 +0000 https://smartslider3.com/?post_type=blog&p=16395 Every WordPress website tells a story. The problem is that this story isn’t so interesting for the visitor without a visual impact. No matter how great your website is, if it can’t catch the visitor’s attention, it won’t convert. Web designers love using images to grab attention when they create amazing sites. Images help you […]

The post Why do You Need a Video Slider on Your Website? appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

]]> Every WordPress website tells a story. The problem is that this story isn’t so interesting for the visitor without a visual impact. No matter how great your website is, if it can’t catch the visitor’s attention, it won’t convert. Web designers love using images to grab attention when they create amazing sites. Images help you tell your story, but they have a big downside: they’re static design elements. While a nice looking image slider does help, a video slider is what’s going to make the biggest impact.

What is a video slider?

A video slider is a slider which contains mostly, or only videos instead of static images. These videos can cover any topic your site can take advantage of. YouTube, Vimeo and MP4 videos are the most popular videos you can find in a video slider.

You can use your video slider to show online lessons, cooking tutorials or user testimonials. Using a video slider instead of a single video has many advantages. You can separate your content to smaller parts, giving the user control over it.

For instance, if you create a video slider to show testimonials, make a video for each testimony. This way your soon-to-be customers can:

• learn how many testimonials you have,
• learn more about those who use your product, and
• watch the videos in the order they prefer.

Why are video sliders so powerful?

The human eye reacts to movement almost immediately. Since videos move, they make the user focus on the video’s content as soon as possible. Additionally, a video is one of the best demonstrating tools at your disposal.

Let’s say you’ve created the best product ever, and you want to show your visitors how great it is. What’s the best way to do so? Add a video to your site where you show this product and talk about it. Even if it’s just a one minute video, it makes a better impact than written texts or images would. Unless your visitors read quickly, they can’t read many words within a minute. But they have no trouble focusing on a one minute video where you can not only talk, but take things visual.

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How to find the best video slider plugin for your WordPress site?

The easiest way to add an HTML video slider to your site is to find a great slider plugin. There are hundreds of slider plugins out there, and it’s hard to find the best one. It’s important to figure out what do you need the plugin to do. For instance, where are your videos hosted? Do you use YouTube, Vimeo, or are you planning to host your videos on your site?

If you plan to show videos from YouTube, you need to select a slider which supports that. Customization options are also important features to consider. For example, does it matter to you how your video slider looks? Do you need arrows, thumbnails or other fancy features?

It’s important to find a video slider plugin that suits your needs and your budget. If you don’t have money to spend, it’s important for the slider to have a free version. Smart Slider 3 has an excellent free version, which you can use to create a beautiful video slider. It supports adding videos from Vimeo and YouTube, so it’ll suit most people’s needs. Smart Slider 3 is a great tool to create a stunning video slider without programming skills. In fact offers a drag and drop interface to create your content. Additionally, you can create fully responsive sliders.

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How to make a video slider?

Using Smart Slider 3 you can add videos to your sliders easily. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Download and install Smart Slider 3
2. Create a new slider
3. Click on Add slide and select Blank
4. Go to the Slide Editor of your new slide and add a YouTube or Vimeo layer
5. Paste the link of your video to the URL field
6. Adjust the Aspect Ratio if needed.

Where to put my video slider?

Finding the perfect place for your video slider isn’t as easy as it seems. For instance, you can use the video as a hero header. In this case, it’s important to let this video be the first thing the visitor sees on your site. If you have a product to sell, it’s also a good idea to put the video above the fold.

But there are video sliders which are best to remain below the fold. For instance, a testimonial slider would look odd as a hero header. The visitor needs to learn more about the product or service from the author first. They’re only interested in testimonials when they’re ready to buy the product or service.

Create a dynamic YouTube slider

When you decide to add video sliders to your site, usually you need to add all videos one by one. This is a time consuming process if you have many videos. Not to mention you need to replace the videos by yourself if you no longer need them. This all sounds very time consuming in the long run.

Fortunately, Smart Slider 3 Pro has a solution for you: the YouTube video generator. After a quick Google API set up, you can start creating dynamic slides from your playlists. If you put a new video to your playlist it will appear on the slider as soon as the generator’s cache refreshes. If you don’t have a playlist you want to use, you can also create a dynamic slide by searching for a keyword.

Create an automatic Vimeo slider

You can create a video slider automatically from your Vimeo videos as well. All you need is the Pro version of Smart Slider 3 and a Vimeo account. You’ll need to spend a few minutes to set up a Vimeo App, then you can start creating beautiful sliders. Good news are that you only need to set up the app once, then it will work forever, just like the Vimeo generator. Unless you want to change the Album where your videos come from, you won’t need to do anything.

Add video from local source

Hosting videos on 3rd party websites are not suitable for everybody. People who host their own videos don’t depend on a 3rd party website to show the content to their visitors. Self hosted videos don’t have ads, and allow more control.

In Smart Slider 3 there are three ways to use a self hosted MP4 video on your site. You can use this video as a layer, slide background or slider background. Slide and slide backgrounds cover the whole slider, regardless of its size. Unfortunately, layers might not be able to do that on all possible screen sizes. So MP4 video sliders are more versatile than YouTube or Vimeo ones.

How to use video in slider?

Creating a stunning video slider is a challenging task. We’ve gathered the best video slider examples you can easily create using Smart Slider 3. What’s even more, you can import these samples with just a couple of clicks.

Yoga Hero Block

This slider uses a minimalist approach to create an amazing hero slider. There’s a shape divider at the bottom, which covers part of the video background with a white color. This makes the row stand out creating the effect of a broken grid layout.

Vimeo Slider

People like knowing what they get when they interact with any website. Showing the title and a short description of the video they’re going to watch gives them this experience.

YouTube slider

A stunning YouTube slider doesn’t have to have fancy features. A simple, minimalistic slider with thumbnails can do the job, too. Just look at the example above! Visitors can navigate fast and easily and watch the videos in the order they would like to.

Video Block

A full page hero slider is also a great choice to add video to your website. The slider above takes a minimalistic approach with a few lines of text only. The video catches the visitor’s attention, while it has a handy one page navigation at the bottom.

Video Showcase

A showcase slider is not the obvious choice to create a video slider, but it does the job well. This Video Showcase slider, for instance, shows the next and previous videos. The actual video opens up in a lightbox when the visitor choses to view it.

Static Testimonial

Video sliders are great to show testimonials, even if they’re not about the actual testimony. As this example shows, they’re great to support your message with a visual impact.

Conclusion

Smart Slider 3 is the best video slider plugin for WordPress. It lets you create responsive sliders with videos, using a simple drag and drop interface. Additionally, it offers beautiful video slider templates to start with. What more could you ask for?

The post Why do You Need a Video Slider on Your Website? appeared first on Smart Slider 3 — WordPress Plugin.

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