The Category Carousel adds a slideshow of the latest posts from a selected category to the sidebar of your blog. This feature is a smaller version of the Post Carousel.
Adding the Category Carousel Widget
The Carousel can be added at Design > Content. Select the Widgets category. Select Category Carousel and click the Add This Module button. After choosing your settings, click OK and Save Changes to update your blog.
Category Carousel Settings
You have several settings which you can adjust for the Carousel. For more details and tips for each option, click the option in the list below to jump to the corresponding section in the article. If you have already configured the module, skip to the tips for adding images to posts.
- Carousel type
- Maximum number of items to display
- Category to display
- Auto start
- Time for display
- Time for transition
- Show pager
- Show prev/next arrows
- Sidebar module title
- Image caption
Basic Options
Carousel type
Fade - The carousel rotates to the left and right and fades from one post to the next.
Vertical - The carousel rotates up and down.
Horizontal - The carousel rotates to the left and right.
Maximum number of items to display
Set the maximum number of posts the carousel will rotate through. If you have fewer posts than the maximum number set available to be included, only the posts available on the blog or in the selected category will be included in the carousel.
The option to display only 1 post is available if you don't want the slideshow effect but do want to highlight the latest post in the selected category.
Category to display
It is required to select a category of posts to display in the carousel. You can add multiple carousel modules to highlight multiple categories.
Tip: If you want to include posts from more than one category in one module, create a new category specifically for posts you wish to highlight. For instance, you could create a category called Featured and assign any posts you wish to include in the carousel to that category.
Advanced Settings
Click Show Advanced Settings to reveal additional carousel settings.
Auto start
Choose to have the carousel start rotating automatically or not. Yes: Posts will begin rotating when the front page is loaded and continue to rotate. No: Reader will need to initiate the change of photos in carousel.
Time for display
Select the time each post will display in the carousel before rotating to the next post.
Time for transition
Select the time for transition between each post in the carousel.
Show pager
Display pager buttons on the bottom of the post to allow reader to choose which post to display in the carousel.
Show prev/next arrows
Display arrows to navigate to the next or previous post in the carousel.
It is recommended to include one of the navigation options above in carousel to give readers the freedom to jump to or go back to a post.
Sidebar module title
Enter text to display as a title above the carousel. It is optional to add a title.
Image caption
Choose how to display the title of the post and whether or not you wish to display an excerpt of the post. Excerpts available with all carousel types.
The post excerpt will be the Excerpt added to the post. If an excerpt is not entered, the excerpt will be pulled from the beginning of the post.
Tips for Adding Images to Posts
- The first image uploaded to the post is the one picked up for use in the Post Carousel. This means that the image for the post in the carousel may not be the first image displayed the post.
- For best results, each post should include one image. If an image is not included in the post, a filler image is displayed in the carousel for the post.
- Photos added should be large and clear with a good height to width ratio. Avoid very tall, narrow images and very short, wide images.
- The orientation of the photos should remain consistent. i.e. Use all vertically orientated photos or use all horizontally orientated photos.
- Only images uploaded using the Insert Image tool are available to be included in the post carousel. Images uploaded to the File Manager or linked from other sources (i.e. Flickr) included in the post will not be eligible for the post carousel.
Updated 23 June 2015
Not quite what you are looking for? Check out these other articles:
- Looking to create a new design? See the Choose a Theme article.
- For details on adding a slideshow above the main content column, check out the Post Carousel article.
- If you are looking to create a photo album, see the Photo Albums article.