This is just a quick update to let you know of a couple of jQuery sliders and a jQuery Carousel plugin that I’ve found useful in client work recently.
Before you read this post, I suggest you first read why sliders (almost always) suck.
FlexSlider, Made by Muffin – a responsive and flexible jQuery slider
The FlexSlider has gotten a lot of attention recently. I think it hit the homepage of Hacker News at one time. It’s a super flexible jQuery slider plugin that is very easy to work into client sites. I like it because it’s easy to turn off/on the pager and next/previous options, and it is a mobile friendly slider. We’re using the FlexSlider on a couple of soon to launch sites at Infomedia I’ll link up when they’re ready : )
Basic Slider – a simple jQuery content slider
I like the Basic Slider because it can handle pretty much any content you throw it it – videos, images, images + content – it doesn’t matter. Like the FlexSlider, it is easy to customize and has a nice interface for controlling what’s active on a site-by-site basis. We used the Basic Slider recently for this site.
CarouFredSel – easy to implement, customizable jQuery carousel plugin
The CarouFredSel jQuery plugin, other than having an incredible name, is an easy to use and customize carousel plugin. Like the slider plugins above, it has a nice interface for enabling the pager, next and previous, and other options. This plugin can also handle pretty much any kind of content inside the “li” that you can throw at it. I also really love the examples and documentation for CarouFredSel. This will also be on a soon-to-be-finished site, and I’m excited about how it looks.
This post is the result of my effort to blog more about things I’ve got going on in web development and WordPress. Even if I don’t always have the time to draw up examples of this stuff in the real world, I figure this is better than a simple tweet. Let me know (if you don’t mind) if you find this useful!
Great list, Brian!
It’s always challenging to find the perfect fit for a client’s WordPress site. I’m impressed with how easy and flexible the Flexslider is.
Another one to add to the list is the AnythingSlider for WordPress. It takes Chris Coyier’s AnythingSlider jQuery plugin and wraps it into a powerful, yet easy to use plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/anythingslider-for-wordpress/
Thanks for chiming in, Jacob.
Yeah, prebuilt WordPress plugins would probably be a post of their own. I tend to not use them as often since requirements from one client site to another tend to vary so much, but I do have a few I like:
free and full-featured:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/meteor-slides/
free and dead simple:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-cycle/
paid:
http://nivo.dev7studios.com/features/#wordpress
paid:
http://pippinsplugins.com/sugar-slider-%E2%80%93-wordpress-sliders-manager/
And now that I mention Nivo, it was pretty deserving of the free list here as well. I forgot about the jQuery only version though since I’ve been observing the WordPress version one so much recently!
Thanks!
The link to flexslider is broken! Otherwise nice post =)
Whoops… fixed. Thanks, Tom!
I’ve built several iterations of my own slider plugins for client projects, because none of them seem to do exactly what I need. Hoping this list helps me out in the future!
Very nice post.. Keep them coming!