Tiled Galleries

By default, image galleries are inserted as a thumbnail grid style.

You can extend the types of image galleries you insert into posts and pages to include tiled mosaic, square mosaic or circular grid using the Tiled Galleries module in the Jetpack by WordPress.com plugin.

Here are examples of each:

Please note:

• You must be using either “Allow search engines to index this site” or “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” in Settings > Reading to use Tiled Galleries.
• You can’t use Tiled Galleries if your blog is using one of the private options in Settings > Reading.

Enable Jetpack Plugin

To get started you first need to activate the Jetpack plugin as follows:

1. Enable Jetpack using existing WordPress.com account
2. Enable Jetpack by creating a new WordPress.com account

Adding a Tiled Gallery

Once you’ve activated the Tile Galleries module it adds a Type option to your Gallery Settings and you just need to select the Gallery type you want to insert when adding an image gallery to your post.

Here’s how to add a tiled gallery:

1.  Go to Posts > Add New.

2.  Place your cursor in your post/page editor where you want the tiled gallery to appear.

3.  Click on the Add Media icon.

4.   In the Add Media window click on the Create Gallery and then Select Files.

5.  Locate the images on your hard drive using your Shift or Crtl key to select more than one image then click Open.

6.  While your images are uploading you will see a progress bar.

7.  Once uploaded click on Create a new Gallery.

8.  This takes you to the Edit Gallery window.

9.  Click on each image to edit it’s title. caption, alternative text and description under Attachment details.

• Title:  The title displays on the image attachment page.
• Caption: Image caption displayed directly below the image.
• Alt Text:  The text displayed when image is not available.

You can change the order of photos by choosing Reverse order or using Random order.  Alternatively, you can reorder photos by clicking on the photo and then dragging them to a new location.

10.  Choose how you want the gallery to be displayed in the Gallery Settings area.

• You selected Tile gallery type using the Type option. 

• Link to:
  • Attachment page:  links the thumbnail image to a page set up specifically to display the image with all image details.  Appearance of the attachment page varies depending on your theme.
  • Media file:  Links to the thumbnail image directly to the full size uploaded image.
• Random Order: select this option if you want the image order to change each time the page loads.
• Type:
  • Thumbnail Grid – default gallery of thumbnail images
  • Tiled Mosaic – gallery with rectangular tiles
  • Squared Tiles – gallery with square tiles
  • Circles – gallery with circular tiles
  • Tile Columns 

11.  Click Insert Gallery.

12.  Your Add Media window will close and your image gallery will appear in your post/page editor as shown below.

13.  When you view your post you’ll see your gallery displayed.

Tiled Galleries Option

You can change your default gallery option from thumbnail Grid, gallery of thumbnail image, to a tiled mosaic gallery, gallery with rectangular tiles, by selecting “Display all your gallery pictures in a cool mosaic” in Settings > Media.

Choosing this option makes this the default layout for all image galleries including those you’ve already inserted.  This means if you’ve previously inserted the default image gallery it will now display as a tiled mosaic gallery instead of a thumbnail grid gallery.

Other options

Other options include:

• You can add tiled galleries to your sidebar using the Extra Sidebar Widgets module in the Jetpack by WordPress.com plugin.
• You can add slideshows to posts and pages using the Slideshow Embeds module in the Jetpack by WordPress.com plugin.

Troubleshooting

The tiled galleries module is automatically activated if you clicked on Activate Recommended Features under Jump Start Jetpack when you set up Jetpack.

If you don’t see the tiled gallery options under Types in Gallery settings you need to:

1.  Go to Jetpack > Settings

2. Click on the Writing tab.

3.  Scroll down to Media module and activate the module.

• If the module is not activated yet, it will be grayed out, and a blue “Activate” button will allow you to activate the module.