Most of my clients are using the classic editor for their pages and posts on wordpress.com.
Here is a brief tutorial on adding a simple WP gallery of images on a classic editor page (not block editor).
- Open your page or post with classic editor.
- Use the button for “Add media” and either upload images from your computer or select images from your current media library. (Note, if you are selecting multiple images from your media library, you’ll probably need to hold the control or command button while selecting.)
- Once you have the images you want selected, click the link on the left for “Create gallery”.
- In next window, click on “Create new gallery” in lower right corner.
- Add captions to each image if desired.
- Select where you want the images to link to as they are opened. I suggest using “Media File”.
- Select number of columns of images you want. Usually 2-3 is best.
- Select image size, usually medium or large is best.
- Select type – this will be how the gallery displays on the page:
- thumbnail grid: very basic grid, images are reduced to fit the same size box
- tiled mosaic: this is an attractive layout, very “puzzle” like but some images will be smaller than others
- square tiles: all images same size squares, will be cropped to fit
- circles: circles, edges will be cropped
- tiled columns: similar to mosaic but even-width columns (I think has to be 3 columns)
- slideshow: automatically display slideshow, set image to large or full size (Note, if you use slideshow, after you’ve saved the gallery, you can set the slideshow/carousel background color to white or black under the WordPress / Settings / Media – Image Gallery Carousel.
- Hit button “Insert gallery”
That’s it! It’s a good idea to preview the page as you are editing so you can see the different gallery display options. Keep in mind that using “preview” of the page will open a separate window. Make sure you only have one preview window/tab open at a time or things can get confusing.