FooBox and NextGen Plugins – Easy Integration! [VIDEO]
So this is LONG overdue!
I had removed my portfolio page a while ago when I was having hosting issues and have taken far too long to get it back up! The truth is that I hadn’t used the NextGen Gallery in a long time and not since it had been acquired by Photocrati (by the way, you’ll notice that the NextGen website is run on Genesis… 😉 nice!). What inspired the decision to go back to NextGen was that it integrates with FooBox by FooPlugins (you’ll hear an interview with Adam W. Warner, one of the founders of FooBox on the podcast next week!). So of course I had to test it out on another site and was THRILLED with how easy it was to integrate.
Needless to say I knew that would be my solution of choice to get the portfolio back up on the site!
I did a post and video a while back on another gallery plugin (premium) and while I loved the way it looks it takes too long to load (and doesn’t currently integrate with FooBox, which I wanted to use). So here I am, back to NextGen Gallery and finally integrating the uber cool FooBox plugin with it (which enables sharing and is mobile responsive! NICE!).
A few things to look for and consider when deciding which gallery plugin to use:
[icon name=icon-camera]Ease of use [icon name=icon-camera]Styling (does it have different styling options?) [icon name=icon-camera]Is it responsive? Does it work on different devices? (This is a question you should be asking about all plugins) [icon name=icon-camera]Does it integrate with other plugins? (In this case, FooBox) [icon name=icon-camera]Is it updated and supported? (This applies primarily to free plugins. Most premium plugins are supported)I also love the built-in social sharing that comes with FooBox. In case you haven’t noticed, sharing pics and images is quite the ‘thing’ to do these days (*I said something to my 16 yr. old 
daughter about Facebook and literally got a “No one really uses Facebook anymore. Everyone is on Instagram”… of course we know there’s still power in Facebook. Fortunately for me her friends aren’t my audience*). You can choose to have social sharing buttons appear at the top of your images when they open in the lightbox, making it that much easier for people to share your content.
Gotta love it!
You can watch the video to see how easy this is to use and integrate, but you’ll want to start with downloading NextGen and installing it first, then install FooBox.
I’ve already installed everything and set it up on this site, so you’ll be watching me do this on a development URL.
Here’s the video, enjoy!
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