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WP GIF Player
Insert GIFs that can be played and paused into your WordPress posts and pages using shortcodes and Gutenberg blocks.
The facts
- Rating
- 5★ from 1
- Active installs
- 300+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 11 Apr 2021
- Added
- Apr 2020
- Requires WP
- 5.0
- Tested up to
- WP 5.7.0
- Requires PHP
- 7.0
- Downloads
- 8,382
Our analysis
AI-assistedWP GIF Player is a WordPress plugin that allows you to play and pause GIFs in different ways. You can choose from three methods for displaying GIFs: the default GIF method, a canvas method that converts GIFs into a playable format, and a video method that converts GIFs into WebM or MP4 formats for better performance. The plugin also generates a thumbnail preview from the first frame of the GIF, which is saved alongside the original file.
This plugin is suitable for users who want to improve their website's performance by using video formats instead of GIFs. It is particularly useful for those who frequently use GIFs in their content and want to manage them more efficiently.
Best for: This plugin suits website owners who use GIFs and want to enhance performance.
What it does well
- ✓Offers three methods for displaying GIFs
- ✓Converts GIFs to video formats for improved performance
- ✓Generates thumbnail previews automatically
Where it falls short
- •Limited information on additional features
- •Directory score indicates potential issues
Verdict
WP GIF Player provides a straightforward solution for managing GIFs, with options that can help optimise website performance. However, the limited information may leave some users wanting more details.
From the developer
Roel Magdaleno's own description of WP GIF Player, lightly tidied.
You can select one of the three GIF player methods in the plugin options page.
GIF
This is the default method.
When a GIF is uploaded in your Media Library it will create an image thumbnail to use it as the GIF player preview and when the user clicks on the GIF player the original GIF will be loaded once.
Canvas
With this method every GIF will be loaded in your post and then converted into a playable canvas. A thumbnail image is created as well when uploading the GIF in your Media Library.
For this process we’re using the libgif.js JavaScript library by BuzzFeed.
Video (Recommended)
Every GIF file will be converted to these video formats:
- WebM
- MP4
Why videos?
It is known that GIF files sizes are bigger than a video so using a video instead of a GIF file will help your website performance.
Want more details about converting GIF to video? Check the GIF as Video wiki.
Thumbnail Preview
The plugin will grab the GIF file and extract the first frame as JPEG image and use it as thumbnail preview. This file will be saved in the same folder of the original GIF.
The thumbnail image always generate once and doesn’t matter the selected GIF method.
Tagged as
industry
Library & Archive
purpose
Performance & Speed
platform
Gutenberg & Block Editor
feature
Shortcodes
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