Top 10 Content Slider Plugins for WordPress

June 30, 2010 87 Comments
Topics]Web Design / Wordpress / WP PluginsAuthor]

No web design trend has become as wide-spread and as popular recently as the content slider, they are everywhere! And rightly so, not only do they offer a marvelous method for displaying a lot of content in such a minimal space, they are also a great way to highlight your best and most popular articles and content.

And on top off all that, with the correct image selection and well chosen content they look great as well.
When you take the most popular current web trend (the sliders) and mix it with the most popular CMS (WordPress), you just know there is going to be a bunch of free plugins you could easily use. And that is what we focus on in this post, 10 of the best free Content Slider WordPress Plugins.

Front Slider WordPress Plugin

Front Slider WordPress Plugin
Front Slider, with its smooth sliding effect, will allow you to display an unlimited number of posts including images and thumbnails. You can set the speed, duration and whether or not to allow it to auto-rotate. Overall its very easy to customise and can be integrated into most WP themes with ease.
Front Slider WordPress Plugin »
View the Demo »

vSlider – WordPress Image Slider Plugin

vSlider – WordPress Image Slider Plugin
vSlider is a jQuery based image slide show script that can display specific images on your WordPress based website with fading or sliding transitions. It makes use of the core WordPress jQuery library, making it very tiny, about 20 kb, and you don’t have to have any knowledge of coding for using it!
It can use images from your posts using custom fields or scanning for images in the post to feature your latest posts from a specific category (for example a featured category), this way with every new post the slider will automatically update it self.
vSlider – WordPress Image Slider Plugin »
View the Demo »

SlideDeck WordPress Slideshow Plugin WP

SlideDeck WordPress Slideshow Plugin WP
SlideDeck is a new way to display rich content on websites and blogs. It delivers a better user experience by removing the information overload and providing a fun, quick and beautiful slider for users to interact with your blog posts and other content.
The SlideDeck WordPress plugin allows you to easily create a content slider widget or slideshow on your WordPress blog without having to write any code. Just create a new slider with the SlideDeck control panel tool and insert the widget into your post via the WYSIWYG editor with the TinyMCE plugin SlideDeck picker.
You can also create a dynamic slider by using the Smart Slider function. Just choose your blog post criteria (recent, popular, featured), select a theme, set your options and viola, you have a dynamically updated slider in seconds! Users can now visually experience your blog posts.
SlideDeck WordPress Slideshow Plugin WP »
View the Demo »

EasyRotator for WordPress

EasyRotator for WordPress is a free plugin that allows you to easily create sliders in a visual editor. Sliders can display static photos, text and links, or dynamically display recent posts or posts from a certain category or tag. The plugin comes with many attractive, customizable templates. Sliders can be inserted in posts and pages or used as widgets. The editor is simple enough that clients can easily make updates.
EasyRotator for WordPress »
View the Demo Video »

WP Slideshow Gallery

WP Slideshow Gallery
WP Slideshow Gallery is a flexible and easy to configure JavaScript powered slideshow gallery showcase for WordPress.
WP Slideshow Gallery »
View the Demo »

Featured Content Gallery Plugin

Featured Content Gallery Plugin
Completely customizable, the Featured Content Gallery is very easy to integrate. Choose to automate the plugin and simply add a custom field to each post or page you want to display and the gallery will show the image, an auto-generated thumbnail in the upper carousel, and the title and first few lines of page/post text. Advanced options allow inclusion of custom thumbnail images, text, gallery styles and transitions.
Featured Content Gallery Plugin »
View the Demo »

Frontpage-Slideshow for WordPress

Frontpage-Slideshow for WordPress
There are no limits to how many slides Frontpage-Slideshow will allow, it will automatically start when images are preloaded and will retrieve automaticaly all information to show depending on global parameters. All aspects can be easily customized: sizes, colors, background-images, transitions, durations, parts to show and preload animations.
Frontpage-Slideshow for WordPress »
View the Demo »

Featurific, The Terrific Featured Item Slideshow!

Featurific, The Terrific Featured Item Slideshow!
Featurific, The Terrific Featured Item Slideshow! »
View the Demo »

Smooth Slider – Slideshow Of Featured Posts

Smooth Slider - Slideshow Of Featured Posts
Smooth Slider is a free, feature rich and easy to customise and style WordPress Plugin that assigns a post as featured posts on a blog and then create a slideshow with them to show at any location on a blog.
Smooth Slider – Slideshow Of Featured Posts »
View the Demo »

WordPress Content Slide Plugin

Wordpress Content Slide Plugin
Content Slide a WP plugin to create fully customizable jQuery fading image slideshows/sliders anywhere within your WordPress site. Custom options include slideshow size, color, style and more, much more.
WordPress Content Slide Plugin »
View the Demo »

Coin Slider 4 WordPress

Coin Slider 4 WordPress
Coin Slider 4 WP will show your featured posts as an image slider and rotate them using unique effects provided by jQuery’s Coin Slider. Implementation is very easy, after you download and activate this plugin, just paste one line of code in your template and Coin Slider 4 WP is ready to use.
Coin Slider 4 WordPress »
View the Demo »

Featured Posts Slideshow WordPress Plugin

Featured Posts Slideshow WordPress Plugin
This basic, yet smooth, slider plugin can be easily incorporate into your WP theme. In the admin overview you can set the category, the number of posts, and easily customise it.
To view the images in the slideshow, you must create a custom field with the key "thumbnail" and with the direct link to the picture as value.
Featured Posts Slideshow WordPress Plugin »
View the Demo »

SlideDeck have kindly donated three free licenses for there Pro Version version of Slidedeck for WordPress (worth $49), to our readers. All you have to do for a chance of wining a license is leave a comment below with the URL of the blog you would like to use Slidedeck.
The competition will end on the 31st of July 2010.

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About the Author: (552 Articles)

Paul Andrew is the editor and founder of Speckyboy Design Magazine. You can follow Speckyboy on Twitter, on Facebook, on Digg or you can subscribe via RSS.

Comments and Reactions

  • http://magplazza.com Mike

    Thank for this awesome list. I have known some of them since I need to search for one slider that is compatible with jquery 1.2.6. That’s a pain in a b… because my theme runs jquery 1.2.6. I switched to a new theme already though :)

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  • http://trimbakeshwar.in/ trimbakeshwar

    waw,tats really nice list of sliders…

    thanks for the post…

  • http://www.darrenhuskie.com/ Darren

    Some nice examples here, I am most impressed with the Featured Content Gallery, but will also try out vSlider, Content Slide Plugin and the Coin Slider too.

    Wouldn’t mind a license for the the SlideDeck Pro version either ;)

  • http://persocon.org Pedro Costa Neves

    NICE! :o
    I always do my own sliders :\
    Maybe next time i’ll use one of that

  • http://www.organizedthemes.com Bill Robbins

    The WP-Cycle plugin by Nathan Rice is also a great content slider for WordPress. It has a built in image uploader, plus the ability to display images as links, or not to. That’s great for photographers who want to display some portfolio samples but don’t necessarily need them to link to anything

  • http://www.yourwaytomagic.com Yourwaytomagic

    Thanks for this nice sliders!

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  • http://designingwitheve.com/blog/ Eve @ Designing WIth Eve

    love these, thanks for listing them all like this. I would love one of the licences too- would put it in the new design of my DWE blog (linked above) when I finally redesign it!

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  • http://www.betatown.com Charlie

    Good to see a list of working sliders all in one place. I find many of the sliders and carousels in the market are out-dated and require too much effort for users. Some of these are plug n’ play, so the Average Joe should be able to get them working quite easily. Cheers.

  • Hugo Ribeiro

    Would love to put the SlideDeck Pro in this website: http://www.lemansportugal.com/

    ;)

    Can you give me one?

    :)

  • http://irongates.wordpress.com/ irongates

    It’s a great opportunity, love that very much, i’ll be more then happy to get it.

  • http://silvertoes.wordpress.com/ Rachel Morris

    I’d love for people to be able to look through my image-focussed posts more easily.

  • http://avemariayouthgroup.org Andrew Guernsey

    Great article! Out of these I would love to get slidedeck pro. Sign me up!

  • http://bigimprint.com Ethan

    Hello! Thanks for this great post. I don’t even want to think about the number of hours I’ve spent researching featured content sliders for WordPress.

    I’d use the SlideDeck Pro at http://bigimprint.com which I’m transitioning to WordPress.

    Thanks!

  • http://facebook.com/olziinaa olziinaa

    Thanks man. Nice post.

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  • http://StudioD.tv Jarrod Skeggs

    In the past we have selected WordPress Themes that had a Content Slider integrated for our clients that wanted or needed that feature. We are working on a few things at the moment that I believe would benefit from use of a couple of the options you shared here.

    We were going to use the Slidedeck plugin for a project about a month ago, however we ended up having to part ways with the client due to some unrealistic expectations. We’d really like to have the opportunity to utilize Slidedeck soon.

    Thanks for Sharing this great information.

  • John

    Excellent list. I like WordPress content slide as it is simple and easy to use plugin. I used it on my various wordpress sites.

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  • http://featurific.com Rich Christiansen

    Hi! My name is Rich Christiansen, and I’m the author of the Featurific for WordPress plugin. It’s great to see such a comprehensive list of so many wonderful plugins here. Great work! Please let me know if you have any questions about our plugin – I’d be happy to answer!
    -Rich

  • http://intonasi.com Andre Kardinale

    This is a great post. I already use SlideDeck Lite version at http://intonasi.com and it was very easy to set up.

    I’d be very happy to have Pro version :)

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  • http://ebsoft.web.id ebta

    Thank you
    really nice collections
    I hope get the SlideDeck Pro

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  • http://www.bebridges.org Tom Smith

    I would love to use slidedeck at http://www.bebridges,org! thanks for the info in this post.

  • http://onlineadvertisingagency.com.au Johanna

    I’m using the free version of SlideDeck at Kerri Follett Photography and I’ve been really impressed with how user-friendly the interface is. I tried playing around with a few different sliders that used shortcodes before I tried out SlideDeck, and it definitely makes life easier with it’s well designed user-interface. The Pro options look great so I’d like to be in the running for a licence too, to upgrade :)

  • http://SiteSubscribe.com/ SiteSubscribe

    Nice list. I’ve been working on a list of about 27 different sliders that I’ve been evaluating. I’ve rated most of them and taken some notes, but no time to write a review at this time (if anyone is interested in the list let me know).

    The key factor for me is the option to pull automatically from various sources like featured posts, or to select an image. Slidedeck nailed this one on the head!

    For my money Slidedeck looks like the top of the heap. Featured Content Gallery (which I use now) and Dynamic Content Gallery are also very good, but don’t offer the optios of Slidedeck.

    I just installed the free version of Slidedeck, and intend to put Slidedeck on several sites (although Slidedeck doesn’t currently offer an Unlimited version of the WordPress plugin).

    But I’d still be interested in a free copy of the Pro version until then, or better yet a discount on the Unlimited WordPress :)

    ~Jeff

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  • http://hiteshjoshi.com Hitesh Joshi

    Hello, I would like to use the slide deck for wordpress plugin at my blog. i.e. http://hiteshjoshi.com

    Thanks

    • Replier

      Well, go on then.

      I truly don’t see the point of content sliders. “Look at all these topics that you can also see in all the other places where recent posts are listed! Yay!”

      Pointless reason to include jQuery, if you ask me. Use the space for something more creative. Like actual content.

  • http://www.pawarpower.com Sohum Pawar

    Thanks for the wonderful guide to WP slider plugins! Just what I need to put the finishing touch on the school website I’m building!

    As for SlideDeck Pro, it would certainly be a welcome addition – I can only imagine how much more room for creativity it would lend me!

    • http://www.pawarpower.com Sohum Pawar

      I forgot the URL! Oops! The site I’m building for my school’s student council is currently hosted on my own website, at http://www.pawarpower.com/ehmsstudentcouncil.
      However, I hope to have it running on the school’s server in the near future!

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  • http://winampskin.ru MoMx

    These are so nice, I really enjoy using them on my blog, thank you! ^_^

  • http://www.fhakim.ir rezaict@yahoo.con

    hi
    send me plugins for e-shop word press
    thank u

  • http://wpclubs.com WPClubs

    Front Slider WordPress Plugin its just what i was looking for. Thanks!!

  • http://www.internethaberoku.com Online Son Dakika Güncel Haberleri internet Haber oku

    Very Thanks..

  • http://sandbox.trilogicllc.com Andrew

    I just wrote a WordPress plugin based on the bxSlider plugin for jQuery. You can see it in operation here: http://sandbox.trilogicllc.com/etc/wpslider-for-wordpress/

    It allows you to define a fairly complex slider using just a single shortcode and you can define multiple sliders per page or post.

  • http://www.djavupixel.com djavupixel

    For me Slidedeck Lite is a bit too light for my needs. Slidedeck Pro is one of the top sliders out there.

    Featured Content Gallery is also very good, Frontpage-Slideshow for WordPress I will give it a try.

    Thanks both speckyboy and slidedeck even if I don’t win ;)

  • http://www.itanum.com/webdesign Till |iTanum

    The slider “Front Slider wordpress plugin” by IWEBIX has already convinced me in WordPress several times and I can recommend this, especially since he is free and is administered as a plugin in the template.

  • http://www.anythinggraphic.net Anything Graphic

    Thanks SB! The vSlider was a perfect solution to my needs. So much better, easy, and faster, than implimenting your own jQuery to achieve a similar effect!

    You rock :-)

  • marcelo

    there one another very useful: meteor slides

  • http://www.mexzhouse.com max

    thanks for reduced my work alot.

  • mae

    totally awesome plugins
    thanks for sharing!

  • mae

    wow! totally awesome plugins
    thanks for sharing!

  • http://www.genepeng.cn oldbaby

    great great post

  • http://www.webmasteradvance.com Tantan

    Really awesome share! :)
    I look for these plugins. I think the Front Slider WordPress Plugin fits my need, I would like to try it.

  • http://www.gvlab.info Guido

    i back and back and back on this page…tnx

  • http://yeumaytinh.info Unlimited

    Great. I’ll be use on my website

  • http://popstache.com/ Pop ‘stache

    We currently use SlideDeck Pro on the homepage of our site: Pop ‘stache | New Music

  • http://mediachandler.com/ MediaChandlerDesign

    I do dig that slidedeck.. I thought it was a bit high for us small time guys… I may get it though.. very tempting…

  • http://www.tropik-arts.com/ Tropik’ Arts

    I am using Smooth Slider – Slideshow Of Featured Posts. Very usefull and I like very much !

    Great jog guys. Thank you for all.

  • http://www.snappromotions.com/blog/ Jason

    Silly me. Had never thought about putting a slider on my blog until this morning. I hope these are as simple as they sound. Thanks for providing the list!

  • http://5angelsaccessories.com/ brian Abella

    im looking for seo friendly content slider in wordpress . Please advice. thank you

  • http://nsbcnews.com/ nsbcnews

    thanks for the list…I will use the featured content gallery plugin…

  • Tim Ellis

    Hi Paul, We’re actually looking for a vertical image slide for a vertical column position – A bit like Front Slider WordPress Plugin, but er… vertical :-) Any ideas ? Many thanks

  • http://blogominded.com Ujjwal Kumar

    i am using the smooth slider plugin for my blog
    i have the Genesis framework which i have customized as per my needs and looks and i am really loving it :)

  • ArkDev

    Nice !!!

  • http://creatologie.com Leeah Otis

    Thank you so much! Just what I was looking for :)

  • http://twitter.com/unwiredtech Patrick

    What Featured Thumbnail Slider for WordPress can you suggest?

  • http://www.justwebdevelopment.com/blog/ Rahul

    Great Collection
    I think all option we can find here for image slider
    Thanks for nice collection

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for sharing this, i’ve been looking for this.

  • http://www.mommaneedscoffee.com Erin

    I am currently using the smart slidedeck on my blog.  Presently am having difficulties as it keeps jamming up. 

  • http://www.bloggerzcafe.com Rohith

    I liked the Frontpage slideshow… thanks for the list :)

  • Andrew

    The bxSlider plugin for jQuery allows you to create sliders, faders and tickers.  I liked it wnough to write the WP-BxSlider plugin.  With WP-BxSlider you can create multiple sliders, faders, and tickers anywhere you can use a shortcode – so pretty much anywhere.

    http://www.andrewfriedl.com/wp-bxslider/

  • http://lakewooditsupport.co.uk Adam

    I use Nivo slider even though i had to pay a little for it, its well worth it.. a great plug-in and easy to use.

  • Brent Mitchell

    I’ve tried a bunch of these and just can’t make up my mind which works best…would like to find one that doesn’t have the php additions, as I’m not that good at it!

  • http://bagibagi.co.de Fuad Yusuf

    awesome, i’ll try later..
    currently i’m using slider from template..

  • Dedy Izham

    nice info…, thx…

  • http://www.thednetworks.com Dhawal D

    Great, i was really looking for a place where I could find a few plugin and i found it, keep the great work going!

  • http://bestsexpositions.com Melinda Hagen

    Thanks for the great post, Paul. The Featured Content Gallery plugin did exactly what I needed without having to hassle with a whole lot of code. Perfect!

  • http://designermelanie.com Melanie Reyes

    i have my favorite free wordpress slider, easing slider. :)

  • Surej Darshent

    thx 4 the post
    coin slider + thesis = awesome!!!!

  • Hari Haran

    Featured Posts Slideshow WordPress Plugin not supported in both IE8 & IE9

  • Genpac Cal

    The Facebook Slider Plugin is the best tool for WordPress Sites to link up with your Facebook page and harvest likes, fans and spread your word easily and effortlessly!!  Make your website/blog/online business one with your Facebook page!  

    http://www.sliderplugin.com
     

  • http://www.totaltab.com Nick Reuter

    I’m looking for a slider that will automatically take images from an RSS feed and display (for example) the most recent six or something. Anything like that? 

  • http://www.travelideen.de/ Nikki

     I am lucky that I found this page, best WP Slider in one place.
    Thanks!!!

  • http://www.trendfy.com/ Prateek

    thank you so much……wil use front slider :)

  • http://www.andreramalho.com afcramalho

    Nice Post, thanks.

  • http://www.trendztime.com/category/showbiz/lollywood/ Trendztime

    Amazing collection. It’s really hard to believe that some
    of these really quality templates are being shared for free. Thanks a lot for
    this post, bookmarked it.

  • http://www.Smashious.com/ Smashious.com

    Thanks for the share!

  • Derek

    I’ve used Smooth Slider, Meteor Slides and SlideDeck all with success. however, I now need something different. Does anyone know of a slider that will allow the transition of images one by one rather than in a group? Let me explain. I’ve got a slider that has dimensions of 900 x 200. There are approximately 50 thumbnail images with a link for each to a certain page that I’d like to show. The problem is the dimensions only allow for the display of 10 at a time. So I need a slider that will transition  thumbnails individually. So when a visitor clicks the “Next” arrow button thumbnails 1 through 10 now become thumbnails 2 through 11, then on the next click of the arrow thumbnails 3 through 13 & so on. Here is a website with what I’m talking about on the front page – http://BlackmonMooring.com

    Thanks for any tips anyone can give ahead of time. 

    Thanks,

    Derek

  • http://jooomla-templates.blogspot.com/ joomla templates

    nivo slider is the best choice :)