Elementor background slideshow with acf gallery
Elementor background slideshow with ACF Gallery lets you create dynamic, rotating image backgrounds using Advanced Custom Fields for a visually engaging website.Creating a dynamic background slideshow on your WordPress site can elevate its visual appeal and engagement. With Elementor and the power of Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), you can easily create a custom image gallery to use as a background slideshow, offering a more immersive experience for your visitors. Whether you’re a designer or a beginner looking to add interactive design elements to your site, this guide will show you how to integrate Elementor with ACF for a seamless background slideshow.
In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through every step— from setting up ACF to configuring the background slideshow with Elementor, all in simple, beginner-friendly language.
What is Elementor and ACF?
Before we dive into the technical steps, let’s quickly define the tools you’ll be using:
- Elementor: This is one of the most popular page builders for WordPress. It offers drag-and-drop functionality to design visually appealing pages without needing to code.
- Advanced Custom Fields (ACF): ACF is a powerful plugin that lets you add custom fields to your WordPress pages and posts. These fields can store custom data like images, videos, text, etc., which you can then display anywhere on your site. In this case, ACF will be used to create a gallery that feeds images into your background slideshow.
By combining these tools, you can create highly customized content on your site with minimal effort.
Why Use a Background Slideshow?
A background slideshow can serve various purposes, such as:
- Enhancing Aesthetics: Slideshow backgrounds add an interactive and visually stunning element to your website, making it more attractive.
- Showcasing Visual Content: If you’re a photographer, artist, or business, a slideshow is an excellent way to showcase your portfolio or products.
- User Engagement: Background slideshows can keep visitors engaged and improve the overall experience of your site.
Step 1: Install and Set Up Required Plugins
Before we start, you’ll need to install the following plugins:
- Elementor: Install the Elementor plugin from the WordPress repository. You can get the free version, but for more advanced features, Elementor Pro is recommended.
- Advanced Custom Fields (ACF): Install the ACF plugin, which allows you to create custom fields (like image galleries) for your WordPress content.
Step 2: Create a Custom Field Group with ACF
Now, we’ll create a custom field group to store images for the background slideshow.
- Navigate to ACF Settings: In your WordPress dashboard, go to Custom Fields > Field Groups.
- Create New Field Group: Click on the Add New button.
- Add a Gallery Field:
- Click on Add Field and select Gallery from the field type options.
- Name the field (e.g., “Background Slideshow”).
- Under the “Return Value” option, select “Image URL” so that the gallery images are ready to be used in the slideshow.
- You can also set a “Maximum number of images” if needed.
- Assign the Field Group: Choose where this field group will appear (for example, a specific page or post) under the Location rules.
- Publish the field group.
Step 3: Add Images to Your ACF Gallery
- Navigate to the Post or Page: Go to the WordPress page or post where you want the background slideshow to appear.
- Upload Images: In the ACF Gallery field you created, upload the images you want to use for the background slideshow.
- Update the Post/Page: Once you’ve added the images, be sure to update or publish your page.
Step 4: Set Up the Background Slideshow with Elementor
With the images now stored in your ACF gallery, it’s time to bring them into Elementor.
- Edit the Page with Elementor: Open the page you want to add the background slideshow to and click Edit with Elementor.
- Add a Section: In Elementor, add a new section where you want the background slideshow to appear.
- Go to Section Settings: Click the section handle (the six dots) to open the section settings.
- Set Background Type: Under the Style tab, go to Background and select the Slideshow option.
- Connect ACF Gallery to Background: To pull the images from the ACF gallery, you’ll need to use dynamic tags.
- Click on the image field under the Background options.
- Select the Dynamic Tags icon (the database symbol).
- Choose ACF Gallery from the list.
- This will link the gallery images to the section background.
- Adjust the Slideshow Settings: You can now customize the slideshow’s speed, transition, and duration under the Background Slideshow settings in Elementor.
- Image Size: Choose the image size that fits your design (e.g., Full, Large, etc.).
- Overlay: You can add a dark overlay to enhance text visibility on top of the slideshow.
Step 5: Preview and Fine-Tune
After setting up the background slideshow, preview your page to make sure everything is working as expected. Adjust the speed, image size, and overlay to get the desired look.
Step 6: Publish Your Page
Once you’re happy with how the slideshow looks, hit Publish to make your changes live.
Additional Tips for Customizing Your Background Slideshow
- Mobile Optimization: Ensure your background slideshow looks great on all devices. Elementor offers mobile-responsive settings that allow you to adjust the slideshow’s behavior on smaller screens.
- Speed and Performance: Background slideshows can be heavy on page load times. Consider optimizing your images for faster loading speeds by using a tool like Smush or Imagify.
- Adding Text or Overlays: You can enhance your slideshow by adding text, buttons, or other widgets over the background section in Elementor. This can be great for call-to-actions.
Conclusion
With Elementor and ACF, creating a dynamic background slideshow is a straightforward task, even for beginners. By using custom galleries, you can transform your website’s background into an engaging, interactive experience that enhances your visitors’ journey.
Now that you know how to integrate ACF galleries with Elementor, you can take your design skills to the next level and create stunning, personalized websites for your clients or projects.
If you’re looking for more Elementor tutorials or need help with customizing WordPress sites, don’t hesitate to check out Elementor’s official blog or ACF documentation for more advanced techniques.
