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You’ve got the photos. Now you’ve got video too: the first dance, a walk through a listing, a bowl taking shape on the potter’s wheel. You want them side by side, without sending people off to YouTube.
That’s what a video gallery in WordPress is for. WordPress handles one video at a time just fine, but its Gallery block only takes images. For a grid that mixes photos and clips, with one lightbox (the viewer that opens over the page) for both, you need a gallery plugin.
I’ll walk you through building one with Modula, whether you’re a beginner, a working photographer or a travel blogger. You’ll also see when you don’t need a gallery at all, and where your videos should live.
What is a photo and video gallery?
A photo and video gallery (some call it a multimedia gallery) is one gallery that holds photos and video clips, in the order you choose. Photos open full size. Videos show a play icon on their thumbnail and play in the same lightbox.
Here’s the short version in Modula:
- Install Modula and switch on the Video extension.
- Create a gallery and add your photos.
- Click the arrow next to Add, choose A video and paste a YouTube, Vimeo or MP4 link.
- Pick one of 14 gallery types, set how the videos play and add the gallery to a page.
When a photo and video gallery makes sense
Mix photos and videos when a clip shows something a photo can’t: movement, sound, a space you walk through. For example:
- Weddings and events: 40 stills from the day, with the first dance as the one clip everyone plays.
- Real estate and rentals: a photo of every room, plus a two-minute walk-through that shows the layout.
- Travel blogs and tour agencies: the views as photos, the boat ride or the hike as a short clip.
- Products: a potter’s 12 product shots, plus a 20-second clip of a bowl on the wheel.
- Clubs and teams: an ice-skating club’s competition photos, with the programs on video.
- Filmmakers: stills and a showreel in one portfolio. Our video portfolio guide takes that further.
Chances are the clips already exist: about nine in ten businesses use video in their marketing, according to Wyzowl’s yearly video marketing survey.
How to add one video to WordPress without a plugin
WordPress doesn’t need a plugin for one video on one page:
- A YouTube or Vimeo video: paste the link into an empty line in the block editor, and WordPress embeds it.
- Your own file: add a Video block and choose Upload, Media Library or Insert from URL.
The Video block has Autoplay, Loop, Muted, Play inline, Playback controls, a Poster image and Preload (set it to None for the fastest page). Out of the box, WordPress plays mp4, m4v, webm, ogv and flv files. MP4 is the safe choice.
Here’s where it stops. The Gallery block is built for photos: every item in it is an Image block. Stack Video blocks under it and you get two layouts and two viewers. For photos and videos in one grid, use a gallery plugin.
YouTube, Vimeo or your own server: where should your videos live?
My rule of thumb for where your videos should live: YouTube or Vimeo for most of them, your own server only for loops of a few seconds.
- YouTube: free, and it streams from YouTube’s servers, not yours. The trade-off is a player with YouTube’s branding.
- Vimeo: a clean player, popular with photographers and filmmakers. You can also limit a video to your own domain.
- Your own server (MP4): full control, but your host stores the file and serves it every time someone presses play.
How big is big? YouTube recommends 8 Mbps for 1080p uploads. By our math, that’s roughly 60 MB a minute, so a three-minute wedding highlight comes to about 180 MB.
So yes, you can upload a video to WordPress. For long clips, you usually shouldn’t.
What you need
A WordPress photo and video gallery needs three things, and no code:
- Modula, free from wordpress.org, for the gallery and the photos. It has 160,000+ active installations. (Full disclosure: we make Modula.)
- Modula Pro with the Video extension, for the videos. Video comes with the Starter plan: $39 for the first year ($78/year after), with a 14-day money-back guarantee. See pricing.
- Your videos: YouTube or Vimeo links, or MP4 files in your Media Library.
How to create a video gallery in WordPress, step by step
In the new Modula 3.0 gallery editor, a video gallery in WordPress takes seven steps. Prefer to watch first? This walkthrough covers adding videos and building a Video gallery:
<video controls preload=”none” poster=”https://wp-modula.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/kb3-4525-walkthrough-poster.jpg” src=”https://wp-modula.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/kb3-4525-walkthrough.mp4″></video>
Step 1: Install Modula and switch on Video
In your dashboard, go to Plugins → Add Plugin, search for “Modula” and click Install Now, then Activate.
For videos, add Modula Pro too (the extensions guide shows how). Then open Modula → Extensions and switch on Video.
Step 2: Create a gallery and add your photos
Go to Modula → Content and click New gallery. If Modula asks which editor you want, click Try the new editor.
Give the gallery a name you’ll recognize in six months: “Lake Como wedding, June” beats “Gallery 14”. Click the pencil next to the name to change it.
Click Add to open your Media library and pick photos you already have. To upload new ones, click the arrow next to Add and choose Upload files. Sort your library into folders? See the Real Media Library integration.
To drag the tiles into a new order, use Sort (Modula Pro). There’s no Save button: the editor saves every change on its own.
Step 3: Add YouTube, Vimeo or MP4 videos
Click the arrow next to Add. Under From a link, choose A video.
Paste the link into Video or playlist link and click Add. The video joins the gallery with a play icon on its thumbnail. Repeat for each clip, then drag everything into place, like the first-dance clip right after the ceremony photos.
For a self-hosted clip, upload the MP4 to your Media Library, click Copy URL to clipboard and paste that link into the same field.
Tip
Turn a photo into a video. The trick from our old YouTube and Vimeo tutorials still works. Click a photo, open Video under More settings and paste the link into Video URL. The photo stays in the grid as the thumbnail, and the clip plays on click: perfect for an aerial shot with the drone footage behind it.
Step 4: Pick a layout
Click Layout and open Type. Modula has 14 gallery types, 7 of them free. For mixed media, four free ones work well: Masonry, Justified grid, Uniform grid and Custom grid.
I like Custom grid. You drag a tile’s corner to make it wider or taller, so the clip that matters can be twice the size of the photos around it. Our tiled gallery guide compares the grids.
When the videos are the main event, choose Video gallery: one large player with a playlist beside it or under it.
Step 5: Set how the videos play
Click Video in the left rail. These settings apply to every video in the gallery:
- Autoplay in lightbox: the video starts as soon as the lightbox opens.
- Repeat when it ends: the video starts over. Nice for short loops.
- Show the play icon: keep Modula’s icon or switch on Use a custom image, then set its color and a Size for desktop, tablet and phone.
- Preview on hover: the thumbnail plays while the mouse is over it, for the seconds you set in Preview length.
A Video gallery also gets Playlist position: Right or Bottom.
One thing no setting changes: on iPhone and iPad, Apple only lets muted video start by itself. So autoplay works there only for self-hosted clips, played muted.
Step 6: Turn on the lightbox
Click Lightbox and set On click to Open in lightbox. Photos open large, videos play in the same window, and visitors move between them with the arrows, the keyboard or a swipe.
The same section covers looping, the toolbar, a thumbnail strip, a share button, and the title and caption. A slideshow comes with Starter, fullscreen with Trio and zoom with Business. A Video gallery uses its own player, so it has no Lightbox section.
Step 7: Add the gallery to a page
Check that the status next to the gallery name says Published. Click Embed at the top right and copy the shortcode (a short tag that displays the gallery), like [modula id="89"], into any page or post. In the block editor, you can also add the Modula Gallery block and pick your gallery.
It can go a few other places too:
- Page builders: Elementor, Divi and Beaver Builder each have a Modula widget or module. The guide to inserting galleries covers each.
- A sidebar: in a classic theme, add the Modula Gallery widget under Appearance → Widgets. In a block theme, put the block in a template part in the Site Editor.
- A theme template: Embed also gives you a PHP snippet for template files.
Make a YouTube or Vimeo gallery in WordPress
YouTube and Vimeo clips can share one Modula gallery with your photos. You paste a link, they host the video, and Modula shows their player when someone presses play.
YouTube gallery
Copy the link from the address bar or the Share button. Watch links, youtu.be short links and Shorts links all work. Paste it with Add → A video, as in step 3.
It can be your video or someone else’s. The catch: owners can turn off embedding, and those videos won’t play on your site.
Want a whole YouTube playlist? First, connect your YouTube account in Modula → Settings → Connections. The YouTube connection guide walks you through it.
Then choose A video playlist in the same menu and paste the playlist link. Every video in it joins the gallery: one link instead of 30.
Vimeo gallery
Many photographers, artists and filmmakers keep their work on Vimeo. Instead of sending people there, let them watch it on your site, next to your photos. Paste the link with Add → A video, like a YouTube one.
For lots of videos at once, choose A video playlist and paste a Vimeo channel or a public Showcase link. You’ll need a Vimeo app connected in Modula → Settings → Connections (Vimeo connection guide).
Vimeo video won’t play on your site? Check its privacy settings on Vimeo. If it may only be embedded on certain domains, your domain has to be on that list.
Video gallery or mixed gallery: which layout to use
If photos are the main thing, use a grid and drop the clips in. If videos are, use a Video gallery. The grids are free for photos. The clips, and the Video gallery itself, need the Video extension (Starter and up).
| Layout | What visitors see | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Masonry | Photos and video thumbnails in columns, each at its natural height | Portfolios with mixed shapes |
| Justified grid | Rows of equal height, with a play icon on each video | Event and travel galleries |
| Uniform grid | Tiles of one shape, like a neat product grid | Product photos with demo clips |
| Custom grid | Tiles you size by hand, so one video can be large | A featured clip with photos around it |
| Video gallery | One large player with a playlist beside or under it | Courses, showreels and video-first pages |
Slider, Showcase and Story have no Video section, so skip them for clips.
Here’s a live Video gallery from our Modula Video page. Pick any clip:
<!– Live demo: gallery 4245 (Video gallery). Single brackets on purpose. –>
Keep a video-heavy gallery fast
Good news first: a Modula grid shows only thumbnails, and the video player loads when someone presses play. A Video gallery loads one player, not one per clip. That matters: in Chrome’s YouTube example, a click-to-load stand-in weighs 3 KB, while the player it holds back weighs about 540 KB.
A few habits keep it that way:
- Use hover previews sparingly. Preview on hover plays video in the grid, and Start playing by itself plays every preview as the gallery loads. Keep them for two or three short clips.
- Keep self-hosted clips small. A 10-second loop doesn’t need 4K.
- Mind the photos too. Pick a sensible Image file size in Layout. On Trio and Business, Modula can also compress images and serve them from an image CDN.
- Check it on a phone. Switch the bar under the preview to Mobile, and size the play icon so it doesn’t cover a small tile.
More ways to customize your gallery
Five more Modula settings help a mixed gallery feel finished: captions, hover effects, filters, passwords and watermarks.
- Captions (free): say who’s dancing or where you shot it, in Layout → Captions.
- Hover: add movement in Motion → Hover effects, or keep it calm with Darken on hover.
- Filters (Starter and up): “Photos” and “Videos” buttons, so people who came for the clips find them fast.
- Password protection (Trio and up): a wedding gallery for the couple and nobody else.
- Watermark (Business): your logo on the photos before they travel.
Still shopping around? Our best WordPress video gallery plugins roundup compares the alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
Paste a YouTube or Vimeo link into an empty line in the block editor, and WordPress embeds it. For your own file, add a Video block and upload the MP4. You only need a gallery plugin like Modula for several videos, or for photos and videos in one grid.
By default, WordPress plays mp4, m4v, webm, ogv and flv files. MP4 is the safest pick. Keep your own uploads short: at YouTube’s recommended 1080p bitrate, one minute of video comes to roughly 60 MB.
Use Vimeo, or host the file yourself. Upload the MP4 to your Media Library, then add it with a Video block, or paste its link into Modula’s A video dialog to put it in a gallery. Keep self-hosted files short.
Yes, with Modula’s Video extension. Connect your account in Modula → Settings → Connections first. Then choose A video playlist under Add and paste a YouTube playlist, Vimeo channel or public Showcase link. Every video in it joins the gallery at once.
Yes. In the Modula editor, click the video, open Video under More settings and add your image in Video thumbnail URL. Without one, Modula uses the YouTube or Vimeo thumbnail.
Partly. Modula Lite, free on wordpress.org, builds the gallery and handles the photos. The videos need Modula Pro’s Video extension, which comes with the Starter plan: $39 for the first year ($78/year after), with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Final thoughts
A Modula photo and video gallery keeps your stills and clips in one grid, so nobody leaves for YouTube to watch the first dance. Build the photo side free, add the clips with Starter ($39 for the first year), and et voilà!
Try one on the Modula Video page, and keep the Video extension guide handy.
