WordPress: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

Chapter 10. Adding Picture Galleries, Video, and Music

By now, you know that the simplest way to enhance any WordPress post is to toss in a picture or two. The Web is a visual medium, and a bit of eye candy is essential for capturing (and keeping) your readers’ attention.

But modern websites rarely stop with ordinary pictures. Today’s Web is splattered with rich media, including video clips, webcasts, podcasts, slideshows, and song players. In traditional websites, these ingredients can require hefty chunks of HTML and JavaScript code. But WordPress makes it easy to add media, thanks to two slick features you’re about to meet: automatic embeds and shortcodes.

In this chapter, you’ll use all the tools WordPress provides to add rich media to your site. First, you’ll supercharge your pictures by replacing ordinary images with slideshows and galleries, and you’ll learn how to transform your entire site into a photoblog or portfolio. Next, you’ll see how to embed a video window in a post, and how to host your video files on YouTube or your own web server. Lastly, you’ll get readers jammin’ with audio tracks, playlists, and podcasts.

Understanding Embeds and Shortcodes

You’ll rely on two WordPress features throughout this chapter. They’re called embeds and shortcodes. Both serve the same purpose: They let you slip special types of content (like slideshows and videos) into your posts and pages without forcing you to type in a bunch of JavaScript code or HTML markup. Instead, when you use embeds ...