Soliloquy – The best responsive jQuery slider plugin for WordPress

Every once in a while we come across a WordPress plugin that we wish we had built. Soliloquy is one of those plugins. It’s extremely elegant, flexible, powerful, and most importantly…easy. If you meet any of the following then you need to get this plugin.

• You want to add an image slider to your website
• You want a responsive slider for your website
• You want to be able to add multiple sliders throughout your site, even on the same pages
• You build client sites that require image sliders
• You simply like to have awesome WordPress plugins in your toolbox

Really I find it harder to think of a reason you wouldn’t want to have a copy of Soliloquy. Like maybe you don’t use images at all on your website, but who are those people?

The slider below is obviously included using Soliloquy but just after that I’ll share how the plugin works and a screenshot or two.
[soliloquy id=”78″]

Getting Started

I’m assuming everyone here knows how to install and activate a WordPress plugin so we’ll skip that. Once activated Soliloquy will add a new menu item in your admin just under the Settings menu. When you ready to create your first slider just click “Add New” under that menu item. What you will find is a page reminiscent of your normal posts or pages with some great modifications.

I’m not going to go through all the settings available but trust me when I say you have all the options you will need. Creating a slider is also very easy. In fact you can do it in three easy steps.

1. Give your slider a title.

This isn’t displayed on the front-end but gives you a reference when adding you slider on the post or page editing screen.

2. Upload and Customize Images

This uses the built-in WordPress media uploader so you should be pretty familiar with it. Just upload your images and close the pop-up. Thumbnails of your images will then appear and give you the option to delete or edit them individually.

Individual image options include:

• Image Title
• Alt Tag
• Image Link – You can easily search for internal pages or simply type any link you like here
• Caption – This will show up in a translucent box at the bottom of the slider

3. Soliloquy Settings

Like I said earlier, I’m not going to give you an exhaustive list of the options you have available but I’ll give you some highlights.

• Select a custom max size for your slider or use dimensions that have already been registered by your theme or other plugins
• Adjust transition type, speed, and duration
• Options for image navigation and slideshow. Prev/next arrows, paging bullets,  control with keyboard or mouse
• Image slider order, looping, pausing options

Make a few choices and click publish. That’s it, you’re done.

Adding a Soliloquy Slider to your website

Now that you’ve created your slider you can now place your new slider absolutely anywhere you want. You have three options.

1. Use the shortcode soliloquy id=”SLIDER_ID”. You can copy and paste this from the sidebar of the slider you just created or use the Soliloquy embed button next to the media upload button on any post, page or custom post type that supports the editor.
2. Use the function soliloquy_slider( ‘SLIDER_ID’ ). You can place this anywhere within your theme files. It’s a good practice to wrap this in a if( function_exists( ‘solilquy_slider’) ) { soliloquy_slider( ‘SLIDER_ID’ ); }call so if you deactivate the plugin for some reason you site will still load properly.
3. Use the Soliloquy widget. Just drag the widget to the area you want it and select the appropriate slider from the drop down.

In Conclusion

This is simply a great plugin that you need to add to your arsenal of WordPress tools. It’s extremely easy to use and in all honesty this is the tool I’ve been wanting for a long time but never thought to build myself. Soliloquy is a paid plugin with options for a single license at $19.00 or a developer license at $99.00. Checkout the payment options to see what comes with each package.

Get Soliloquy Now!

On a personal note, I met Thomas, the developer of Soliloquy, at WordCamp Atlanta a couple months ago and there he showed me what he had at that point and I knew immediately that it would be great. Thomas is a great guy who has created a great product. It gives me great pleasure to recommend products like Soliloquy and people like Thomas.