<b>Creating an Image Gallery with NextGEN Gallery</b>

NextGEN Gallery is the most popular of all the WordPress plugins used to create an image gallery. It has been downloaded over nine million times and has over 2,000 positive reviews.

Creating an image gallery can be a tall task without the help of the right tool. The coding isn't exactly easy for somebody without experience with HTML and other types of website code.

<b>What Does NextGEN Gallery Provide?</b>

With the NextGEN Gallery plugin, WordPress users can easily create an image gallery, manage all their images and upload them quickly with batch upload. It also makes it easy to import meta data, rearrange, add, delete, sort, edit and group images. You can use albums to organize all your images and even create slideshows for the thumbnails.

The plugin gives any users looking to create a beautiful image gallery the power to do so and to customize the gallery to their specific needs. You can control the size, timing, style, lightbox effects, transitions and more of your slideshow and galleries. Simply put, NextGEN Gallery is a powerful way to add an image gallery to any WordPress website.

Two versions of NextGEN Gallery are available: NextGEN 2.0 and Pro.  The Pro version is an upgrade, which features six new gallery displays, includes a responsive, mobile-friendly gallery and provides the ability for social sharing and commenting within the galleries. Both versions come with one-on-one email support.

<b>How does NextGEN Compare to Similar WordPress Plugins?</b>

Just as any other top WordPress plugin, the NextGEN Gallery isn't the only gallery plugin available. Other choices include DM Albums and WP J Query Lightbox. Neither of these plugins has been downloaded as often and neither is as popular. However, they both help you create WordPress galleries in their own way.

Out of the three, NextGEN Gallery is by far the better choice. It provides may features you would need to use another WordPress plugin to get with the other two choices. NextGEN gives the user more power to customize and makes it much easier to do the many things associated with an image gallery. Compared to the other two, it's the more powerful choice, unless you enjoy playing with the code of the plugin.

<b>Learning How to Use the NextGEN Gallery Plugin</b>

One of the best things about using NextGEN Gallery is the tutorials they provide. Many plugins don't provide any help unless you contact support, and it's no guarantee even then. The tutorials and instructions provided by this top WordPress plugin make it an even better choice, especially for beginners.

The plugin will work with just about any WordPress theme you choose, which is a huge benefit. You won't have to do any coding to make it work because it's so flexible. You can even password protect your images and use watermarks on slideshows, if necessary.

<b>Installation and Getting Started</b>

Once you've decided to use the NextGEN Gallery plugin on your WordPress website, you will need to install it. You can either go to the plugin page and download it or you can go to the plugin area within your WordPress dashboard and use the search function to find it. If you download the plugin, go to "Add New", "Upload" and select the .zip file from your computer. Then, just activate it and you're all set.

If you use the search function, just click "Install Now" and activate the plugin from there.

Once activated, you can easily get started by clicking on the NextGEN Gallery icon found in the page or post editor. After you do that, you can create, customize, manage and display your gallery from there. It's also possible to manage your galleries from the gallery settings within your dashboard menu. More instructions on how to use the plugin are found at the official NextGEN Gallery website.

When it's time to add a beautiful image gallery to your WordPress website or blog, choosing the right plugin for the job is important. You can compare a dozen different plugins and the NextGEN Gallery plugin will always come out on top, for most users. You don't need to know how to code anything within your website and it's very user-friendly. If you want the best image gallery WordPress plugin for your site, use NextGEN Gallery.