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An image gallery with thumbnails fits a lot of photos into a small space. Visitors scan the little previews, tap the one that catches their eye and see it full size.
The free WordPress Gallery block makes a basic one. A plugin adds a thumbnail strip in the lightbox (the full-size photo pop-up), or a slider with thumbnails under the big photo. In short:
- Gallery block: Columns 4+, Resolution Medium, Link set to Enlarge on click.
- Modula grid: Uniform grid, Square tiles, Image file size left on Medium.
- Modula lightbox strip: Lightbox → Show thumbnail strip.
- Modula slider: Type Slider, with Show thumbnails already on.
Three layouts for an image gallery with thumbnails
An image gallery with thumbnails can mean three layouts, and only the grid works without a plugin. Say you’re an interior designer:
- A grid on the page: one small tile per finished room, each opening a bigger view.
- A strip in the lightbox: a client opens the kitchen remodel and jumps between all 40 shots without closing it. Wedding photographers with 300 proofs love it too.
- A slider with a thumbnail row: the living room big at the top, every other angle below. Shops use it for product shots.
Many sites pair the first two: a grid on the page, then the strip once a photo is open. For video, Modula’s Video gallery shows a playlist of clip thumbnails on the right or at the bottom (Starter plan and up).
WordPress Gallery block or Modula?
The free Gallery block and Modula both build a WordPress gallery with thumbnails, but they differ after the click and on phones.
| What you need | WordPress Gallery block | Modula |
|---|---|---|
| Grid columns | 1 to 8 | 1 to 12 |
| Columns on phones | Always 2 under 600 px | Your choice, 1 to 6 |
| Bigger view on click | Enlarge on click, with previous/next since WordPress 7.0 | The Modula lightbox |
| Thumbnail strip in the lightbox | No | Left, Bottom or Right (Modula Pro, any plan) |
| Slider with a thumbnail row | No | Slider type (Trio plan and up) |
| Cost | Free, part of WordPress | Free version, Pro plans on the pricing page |
If a tidy grid is all you need, the block does it with nothing to install. For a thumbnail strip in the lightbox, or a slider with thumbnails, Modula comes in.
Create a thumbnail gallery with the WordPress block editor
The WordPress Gallery block builds a thumbnail gallery in seven steps, with no plugin. Here’s an interior designer’s portfolio page:
- Open the page in the block editor, click + and add a Gallery block.
- Upload photos or pick them from the Media Library.
- In the block settings, set Columns to 4 or more.
- Set Resolution to Medium. Most layouts stretch the 150 px Thumbnail file, and it looks soft.
- Leave Crop images to fit on. For square tiles, set Aspect ratio to Square.
- In the block toolbar, click Link and choose Enlarge on click, or visitors can’t see the full photo. Since WordPress 7.0 it works like a slideshow, with arrows, arrow keys and swipe.
- Publish.
That’s a working thumbnail gallery. It stops there, though: no thumbnail strip, no slider, and always 2 columns on screens under 600 px.
Create a thumbnail gallery with Modula
Modula builds a thumbnail grid in four steps; Modula Pro adds a lightbox thumbnail strip. We make Modula: the free version has 160,000+ active installations and installs in under a minute.
Create the gallery and add your images
Go to Modula → Content, click New gallery and name it after the project. + Add above the preview opens your Media library; its arrow has Upload files. Photos keep the order you add them (drag-and-drop Sort is Pro), so lead with your strongest shot: it’s the one people see first.
Good to know
There’s no Save button. The editor saves as you go, and the top bar shows All changes saved.
Turn it into a thumbnail grid
Open Layout in the left rail and set up the thumbnail grid:
- Type: Uniform grid, so every tile matches.
- Columns: 4 to 6. The default is 3 and the maximum is 12.
- Shape of each image: Square, or Portrait for tall interior shots.
- Image file size: leave it on Medium, the default. The tips below explain why.
- Spacing: 10 px by default. Try 4 px for a contact-sheet feel.
Prefer a looser look? Masonry and Justified grid work too, and this guide to tiled layouts compares them.
Add a thumbnail strip to the lightbox
A lightbox with thumbnails is where Modula pulls ahead.
In the Lightbox section, On click is already Open in lightbox, so every tile opens the big view. Switch on Show thumbnail strip (it’s off by default) and pick its Position: Left, Bottom (the default) or Right. Left and Right put a vertical column beside the photo.
To let visitors hide the strip, switch on Thumbnails button under More settings → Lightbox & Links → Buttons.
The strip needs Modula Pro, on any plan; the free version opens a lightbox with arrows and swipe.
Want a tile to open a page instead? Give it its own link.
Add the gallery to a page
Click Embed in the top bar and copy the shortcode, which looks like [modula id="89"]. Paste it into any page or post. In the block editor, the Modula Gallery block does the same job, and Elementor users get a Modula widget.
Create a slider with thumbnails
To create a slider with thumbnails in Modula, set Layout → Type to Slider: Show thumbnails is already on, so a thumbnail carousel appears under the big photo. Click a thumbnail and the big photo changes. For an interior designer, that’s the project page. The Slider type needs the Trio plan or higher.
Then tune the Thumbnails group:
- Thumbnail file size: Auto keeps each photo’s shape, so mixed tall and wide shots make a ragged row. Custom dimensions evens it out.
- Visible thumbnails: up to 20, or 0 to let Modula decide.
- Space between thumbnails: 10 px by default.
- Border color: frames the thumbnail of the photo that’s showing.
For Custom dimensions, go to More settings → General, enter a width and height, and switch on Crop thumbnails to fit. Modula makes each thumbnail at that size and at double size, so it stays crisp on Retina screens.
Good to know
Keep Visible at once on 1. It’s the default, and the row only appears when the slider shows one photo at a time.
The rest is taste: Show arrows is on by default, and Show page dots or Fade between slides is one switch away. You embed the slider just like the grid, and our image carousel guide covers autoplay.
One honest limit: the row always sits under the slide. For a vertical column, use a grid with the lightbox strip set to Left or Right, or the Video gallery’s playlist.
Tips for better thumbnail galleries
Thumbnails go soft when a small file stretches to fill a big tile. Five columns in a 1,200 px area make tiles about 230 px wide, and a 2× (Retina) screen wants a file twice that wide (web.dev). In the Gallery block, the 150 px Thumbnail usually has no bigger copy, so it stretches three times. Modula’s Medium default is enough: Modula sends bigger copies to the screens that need them. Skip Full: it just slows the page.
Raise the phone columns. By default Modula shows 2 columns on tablets and 1 on phones, so your grid turns into a stack of big photos. In Layout → On phones and tablets, try Tablet 4 and Mobile 3. Phones made up 49.1% of US web traffic in September 2026 (StatCounter), so it’s worth the minute.
Modula counts any screen under 600 px as a phone (change that with Treat as a phone under). Check with the Mobile preview; our mobile gallery guide has more.
Write alt text. Click an image in Modula’s preview to edit its alt text. “Kitchen with green cabinets” beats “IMG_4031” for screen readers, and Google reads it too.
Add titles or filters when they help. Short titles suit projects and products. Past a few dozen thumbnails, let visitors filter by room or style (Starter plan and up).
Frequently asked questions
The default WordPress thumbnail size is 150 × 150 pixels, cropped. Medium fits within 300 × 300 and Large within 1024 × 1024, which is why gallery tiles look sharper on Medium. Change the sizes in Settings → Media; they apply to new uploads, so regenerate existing images.
No: the lightbox thumbnail strip needs Modula Pro, on any plan, and the slider with thumbnails needs the Trio plan or higher. The free version builds the thumbnail grid and a lightbox with arrows and swipe. See the pricing page.
Yes, in Modula’s lightbox: set the strip’s Position to Left or Right. In a slider, no: the thumbnail row always sits under the slide. The Video gallery’s playlist of clip thumbnails sits on the right by default, or at the bottom.
Yes: Modula’s Video gallery type (Starter plan and up) plays YouTube or Vimeo clips with a playlist of their thumbnails. Modula pulls each thumbnail from YouTube or Vimeo, and Video thumbnail URL swaps in your own. Our multimedia gallery guide walks through it.
