FooGallery or Justified Image Grid for a filterable photography portfolio?

Choosing a grid for finding the right photos

A filterable portfolio should let visitors move quickly from an overview to a type of work: portraits, events or architecture, for example. FooGallery suits you if you want to manage identified galleries in WordPress and grow towards its advanced tools. Justified Image Grid, sold on CodeCanyon, merits examination if the priority is a justified horizontal grid and detailed source configuration. Both approaches require consistent image classification; no button can automatically correct a poorly described collection.

The need studied is a public presentation on one WordPress site, without direct image sales, private client selection or paid downloads. This scope avoids comparing a gallery licence with an unused commercial feature set. Readers must be able to install an extension, edit a page and manage the media library. On WordPress.com, check these permissions in your plan; on multisite, confirm rules with the network administrator. Procedures are documentary: no gallery or speed measurement was run here.

Before purchase, create a draft page and try the native Gallery block with a small image selection. Set columns, order and cropping, then check the result on a phone. If three clearly named project pages already meet the need, page-based navigation may suffice. Move to extensions when visitors genuinely need filters to narrow a collection or justified presentation is an important editorial choice. This decision concerns the service provided, not just the number of available effects.

Comparing the free edition at the correct feature level

FooGallery Free is a permanent extension, separate from its seven-day PRO trial. It offers galleries and an image viewer, letting you prepare a simple portfolio without immediately buying a licence. For the media-tag or category filters studied here, documentation points to PRO Expert or Commerce. Do not choose Starter assuming every paid offering includes advanced filtering. Record the exact feature needed, then find the first tier including it.

Justified Image Grid is a commercial product in this comparison; no equivalent free tier is established in its listing. Its value lies in rows adjusted to photo proportions. A justified grid aligns rows by varying thumbnail dimensions, while a column presentation does not represent exactly the same visual choice. Examine portraits and panoramas together. Documentation specifies that an overly tight height-variation setting may cause slight cropping: do not promise absolute preservation of every frame under any configuration.

A portfolio containing videos, remote sources or an ordering area changes scope. Before paying more, check whether these features are actually necessary on the relevant page. The quotation must distinguish presentation, filtering, sales and client approval. If the photographer only supplies selected local images, do not add social integration to reproduce a demo. Each external source brings rights, connections and possible changes that the photo grid does not eliminate. Retain an initial workflow limited to media you control.

Establishing a three-year budget without inventing renewals

In the November 3, 2026 record, the official page offers FooGallery Expert at 79.99 USD per year for one site. At a strictly unchanged price, three payments would total 239.97 USD: this is an arithmetic assumption, not a guaranteed price for two future renewals. Its selector also presents lifetime Expert at 299.99 USD, on promotion when recorded; this plan advertises lifetime updates and support without annual renewal. Cart taxes are not established. Check the final amount for your site count and chosen plan rather than treating a promotion as a permanent price.

The November 3, 2026 record of Justified Image Grid’s CodeCanyon listing states 69 USD under Regular licence, with future updates and six months of support. Buyer fees are included, but taxes and handling fees remain excluded. This licence covers one end product whose use is not charged to visitors, matching the public portfolio described here. Choosing a more expensive licence does not make it multisite. In the record, extending support to twelve months at purchase adds 24 USD; this does not set the price of renewal bought later. Keep these operations separate in your budget.

Ownership budgeting adds initial classification, file preparation, integration, backups and maintenance to licences. A one-time purchase at 69 USD therefore does not mean three years of work cost 69 USD. Conversely, an annual licence does not guarantee lower administrative workload. Request two quotations describing the same collection and filters, then separate installation from ongoing work. Do not subtract the publishers’ amounts before confirming comparable currencies, taxes and terms. The visible commercial-page difference is only part of the decision.

Preparing images and a naming system that remains useful

Build an acceptance-test collection representing your constraints: a vertical portrait, a very wide image, a coherent series and a photo with two classifications. Keep original working files outside the public workflow. Prepare site versions with understandable names and captions. Alternative text should describe the image usefully in context without accumulating the photographer’s name and cities. Classification and file quality must be comparable before choosing between extensions.

A taxonomy is a classification system, such as categories or tags. For the example portfolio, choose a first axis for work type and, only if needed, a second for location. Avoid mixing Portrait, Lyon and Black and white at one level without explaining the logic. Visitors must understand what combines and what replaces another choice. Also note synonyms to avoid: Wedding and Weddings should not create competing buttons for the same intention.

An image matching several categories must be tested in each relevant combination. Prepare an expected list on paper or in your acceptance-test document: which images should remain after one click, then after a second filter? This expected result distinguishes assignment errors from plugin faults. Do not reclassify the entire media library to fix one missing thumbnail. First correct the relevant media item, then repeat the journey. You retain a reusable method as the portfolio grows.

Creating the first FooGallery gallery and enabling filters

On a site copy, install FooGallery from the directory, then open FooGallery, Add Gallery to create a gallery. Give it a working name and add your selection from the media library. Choose a presentation before changing effects. Save, then insert the FooGallery block in a draft page and select this gallery. The expected result is the correct photos in the correct order. If the page remains empty, first check gallery selection and publication; do not change all global settings.

For filterable acceptance testing, use a licence or trial actually providing Expert features. In the gallery, open Manage Items, then Edit Info on an image; fill its Media Tags or Media Categories and save. Repeat only for media in the test collection. In gallery settings, open Filtering and choose Simple mode initially. Select the desired classification source, save and check the page. A category button should retain only expected images. Returning to None disables filtering, allowing the initial collection to be checked without deleting media or classification.

If one level becomes insufficient, examine Multi-level in the same tab. Documentation describes several levels and filter combinations. For your site, confirm the meaning of results with two simple classifications before multiplying them. An empty list after two choices may be correct if no image has both characteristics. Do not artificially add a tag to fill the screen: adjust navigation or explain the result to visitors. A filtering-mode change must always remain associated with a verifiable collection example.

• Create and save a gallery with the acceptance-test collection.
• Insert it in a draft page using the FooGallery block.
• Configure Filtering, check expected results, then record the selected mode and source.

Configuring Justified Image Grid without transforming every page

After purchasing from the official source, install the extension ZIP through Plugins, Add New, Upload Plugin on the copy. Distinguish the installable archive from any complete file bundle supplied with the download. Justified Image Grid’s global settings are under Settings; its Shortcode Editor configures a particular grid. Start with this local scope. You can retain the current public page while preparing a new presentation without immediately applying a general replacement to every site gallery.

Choose local images by ID. The documented Shortcode Editor opens from the classic editor toolbar or available WPBakery integration; its presence does not mean an identical button exists in the block editor. In the latter, use a Shortcode block. For an initial check, [justified_image_grid ids="12,34,56"] selects three media items: replace 12, 34 and 56 with your media library IDs, visible in their editing URLs. Global settings supply defaults, which instance parameters can override. Then check the draft’s public preview: a shortcode in the editor does not prove photos are visible.

In Shortcode Editor, open the Filtering tab and select the taxonomy already assigned to this grid’s images. Regenerate this instance’s shortcode and replace the one on the test page; initially keep one simple level. Justified Image Grid also documents two-level filtering. To undo, remove the shortcode from the test page or restore its previously saved content; do not delete photos to remove the grid. According to the publisher, the option to take over old WordPress galleries is not enabled by default. Keep it that way until you have checked a sample of other pages that could be affected.

• Keep a copy of page content before insertion.
• Using the available Shortcode Editor, generate a local instance; in the block editor, insert a Shortcode block and replace example IDs with those of selected media.
• Check the public page, then filtering; leave global replacements disabled during acceptance testing.

Checking framing, the viewer and phones

First examine difficult-image framing in the grid, then enlarged view. For Justified Image Grid, target row height and its variation influence balance; strict settings may crop despite the intention to respect proportions. For FooGallery, compare the selected presentation and available crop positions in your installation. The criterion is not identical thumbnail sizes: a face, artwork or important detail must remain understandable before opening the image.

A viewer pleasant with a mouse may be less obvious by keyboard or on a small screen. In acceptance testing, open a photo, move to the next, close the window and check return to the gallery. Also check filter readability and the number of buttons on phones. These are checks to perform, not accessibility certification assigned to either product. An official screenshot shows a possible presentation; it does not demonstrate all visitors’ use of your theme.

If the page has many photos, observe the quantity displayed initially and how to reach later ones. Choose a journey also allowing a return to a project without restarting everything. Do not declare one plugin faster based on its commercial page. Measure your page with identical images and cache conditions before concluding. If a problem occurs, first reduce the test collection to a few media items to distinguish a faulty file from a general display conflict.

Integrating project links and shared settings

Decide what a click should do: open a large photo or go to a project page presenting context and contact information. A portfolio intended to generate quote requests is more than a decorative grid. Place brief text before the gallery and clear access to useful information. Do not hide the entire description in a hover effect. For the maintenance team, record whether title and caption come from media or a particular gallery setting.

FooGallery documents direct links to a filtered state through Deep Linking in the gallery’s Advanced tab. Save, select a filter on the page and copy the resulting URL; then open it in a new window to check the result. This feature can send a client to an already filtered public selection. It is not private access control. Before changing plugins or classifications, record shared links: their filtering portion depends on the gallery interpreting them.

Global settings must remain a separate decision from each instance’s settings. FooGallery can define shared values and replace the native gallery shortcode; Justified Image Grid also has shared settings and local configurations. Make a local change for a particular series, then check other pages remain unchanged. If adopting a common rule, document its effect on existing content. Saving clicks during installation can become a hard-to-understand dependency at the next redesign.

Changing extensions while retaining media and the public page

No direct importer between FooGallery and Justified Image Grid was established in this research. Therefore prepare controlled reconstruction of the presentation. Back up database and files, then record affected pages, image IDs, order, texts and filters. Both tools using WordPress media does not guarantee identical taxonomies or interpretation of settings. Separate file-related information from gallery definitions.

On the copy, create the destination gallery with a small known set. Compare image count and order, filter combinations, enlarged view and project links. Keep the public page address when its purpose remains identical; replace its gallery component after validation without needlessly recreating all content. If shared links contain a filter state, handle them separately. Replacing a shortcode does not automatically translate URL fragments specific to the old extension.

For rollback, retain the previous page version and settings along with the backup. Do not enable full uninstall features during this phase: FooGallery describes Full Uninstall as removing galleries and their metadata, and Justified Image Grid also provides deliberate settings cleanup. Simple deactivation for comparison has a different purpose from permanent erasure. Once the new page is checked and the defined rollback period ends, the owner can organise removal of obsolete components.

• Inventory pages, images, classification and links before rebuilding.
• Validate a destination gallery on a copy while retaining the public page.
• Keep the old presentation recoverable; postpone permanent cleanup until after validation.

Choosing the simplest journey for your portfolio

For a few projects classified on separate pages, start by checking the native solution or FooGallery Free. If visitors must combine filters within a collection, then compare FooGallery Expert and Justified Image Grid with identical images. FooGallery follows a model of saved galleries inserted into pages; Justified Image Grid favours fine control of instances and justified presentation. The right choice also depends on who will add the next series, not just the provider preparing launch.

For an existing portfolio, put reconstruction cost ahead of a small licence difference. Retaining a correctly configured tool may be more reasonable than rebuilding dozens of pages and filter links. Conversely, a new collection whose classification is still open lets you compare both approaches with less rework. If sales or private approvals become priorities, reassess scope: this comparison does not assess those workflows or turn a public gallery into a client area.

Before deciding, gather a validated test page, the quotation for one site, chosen classification and renewal owner’s name. Add phone observations and remaining limitations. These make the decision verifiable and transferable. Neither publishers’ presentation images nor compatibility claims replace checking your site. Both official visuals supplied here illustrate products; they do not represent comparative testing by our editorial team.