If used correctly, slider templates draw the attention of new visitors while providing extra information for them to see. It puts your audience exactly where you want them to be giving you the opportunity to boost your conversion rates. With so many different WordPress slider plugins to choose from, it is hard to get what suits your needs. But don’t worry; I have done my homework and analyzed one of the best WordPress slider plugin for called Soliloquy.
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Getting Started with Soliloquy
You first have to install and activate the Soliloquy WordPress slider plugin. Once that is done, creating your first image slider is very easy. From the main WordPress dashboard menu, select Soliloquy >> Add New. Images can be added using the Images tab. You can either use the images previously uploaded to your WordPress media library, or the drag-and-drop interface. Your images will appear directly
below the drag-and-drop area, once you’ve successfully uploaded and added to the interface.
If you choose to, after uploading your images, you can edit their details by clicking on the particular image. This will bring up a window that allows you to change things like the image title, alt text, or the caption. The WordPress content slider also allows you to specify a target URL for opening the image when it’s clicked. You can also decide whether or not to the corresponding hyperlink in a new tab. It’s that simple to create a slider with Soliloquy and boost your SEO using a few clicks. There is also an option for the Instagram slider.
That is not all you can do with this slider plugin. You can also create video slides using either YouTube or Vimeo videos. Just select “Click Here to Upload Images from Other Sources.” This option is found within the Images tab where options to create Image slider, video slider, product slider or even HTML Slides will be presented. To create a video slide, simply select Video Slides and hit the blue Add Video Slide button. Insert the relevant video URL and you’ll have a video slide. You can also create a slider with captions.
Configuring the Slider Using Soliloquy
Once your images/ videos are added, the next step is to configure the slider. To access the configuration, select the Config tab. After that, you can now set the slider theme. Soliloquy WordPress content slider gives you two default options: “classic” and “base.” You can also set the dimensions, the transition style (from fade, scroll horizontal, and scroll vertically), the time between transitions, and also the transition
speed. The plugin is responsive, and you can choose how you want your slider to display on mobile devices.
This responsive WordPress slider plugin has endless possibilities, allowing you to randomize the order of your slides, stop the slider when a visitor hovers over it, or if you want to allow visitors to manually flick through the slides. You can’t get lost since the options are well explained and easy to understand what each option is all about. What makes this processes even easier, is using simple dropdowns and checkboxes.
However, what is lacking in this plugin is the preview option. You can’t preview the created slider immediately. I think it’s a small but crucial setback that the developers have to look into since it’s the only way to test out and view your final creation before publishing. That said, I think the plugin has great potential and has loads of configuration options to choose from, allowing you to get things exactly how you’d like them.
Technical users are not left out; a final Misc tab where you can add a title, a slug, and any custom CSS classes is provided. There is also the built-in importing/exporting mechanism to import/export slides to/from other sites.
See More: Smart Slider 3: Is this the best WordPress slider?
The Finished Slider
After finishing with the slider, you can add it to any post, page, or custom post. You can also add it to the widget area using a simple Soliloquy-provided shortcode or the Add Slider button appearing above the standard WordPress text editor. If you feel like you’ve not much justice to the slider and you need to edit it you can do so provided you hit the Update button when are finished. This is to ensure that the shortcode you’ve used will display the latest version of your slider.
Speed and Performance
Usually, speed is a common complaint in sliders which is brought about by the fact that the use of images, Javascript and CSS styles can have an adverse effect when poorly handled. Fortunately, Soliloquy is designed to head the pack. It’s one of the fastest WordPress slider plugins around. To make it even better it’s well coded which makes it not only loads quickly but also integrates seamlessly with the WordPress UI. Its security is also up to standard.
Soliloquy Pricing
On pricing, Soliloquy has three packages: a basic or ‘Personal’ version which goes for $19, a ‘Multi’ version priced at $49 which offers priority email support and a number of basic add-ons, and a ‘Developer’ version with a price tag of at $99. This package offers all features in the Multi version including several advanced ads on.
Soliloquy consultancy services
Soliloquy Extensions
To get most of the Soliloquy, the plugin offers several extra features via nine premium add-ons. The add-ons have the same coding sophistication for optimized performance. The Multi-license which is available at $49, offers you access to various basic add-ons. Some of these add-ons include schedules which allow specific slides to appear only at certain times of the day, 2 extra slider themes for your sliders
which look great, “Pin It” button to the image in each slide to allowing visitors to share slider images on Pinterest.
Advanced add-ons include: Dynamic – used to create sliders directly from your NextGen or WordPress galleries, Carousel slider – used to build beautiful, responsive image carousels, Lightbox slider – used to expand images by clicking on them which is great for displaying a portfolio, and Slider Thumbnails – used for displaying slider with thumbnail images of each slide below the slider. There is also an option for WooCommerce slider.
Checkout quick video review on Soliloquy
Source: WPBeginner – WordPress Tutorials
Conclusion
Soliloquy being one of the Best WordPress slider plugins, allows you to do almost anything pertaining sliders. It has the right add-ons for improved performance of both additional server requests and speed. Additionally, its user interface is great and creating a slider is extremely fast, easy, and fun. Its intuitiveness makes it easy for WordPress users of all levels feel at home.
Here are a few more topics that you shouldn’t miss:
Smart Slider 3: Is this the best WordPress slider?
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