Photo Collage

Photo Collage transforms the way you display images in WordPress. Build beautiful, magazine-style photo collages with overlapping images, custom positioning, and professional layout presets—all within the familiar block editor interface.

Built by a photographer for photographers. This plugin is specifically designed for creating compelling photo story layouts that bring your visual narratives to life. Whether you’re showcasing a wedding, documenting a journey, or telling any story through images, Photo Collage gives you the creative control you need.

Perfect for photographers, designers, and content creators who want to showcase images in creative, eye-catching arrangements without touching a single line of code.

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/ddegner/photo-collage

Source Code & Build Tools

All source code is included in this plugin and publicly available.

This plugin uses modern JavaScript build tools to compile block editor code:
* Source Files: Located in the src/ directory (included in this plugin)
* Compiled Files: Located in the build/ directory
* Build Tools: npm and webpack (via @wordpress/scripts)
* Build Configuration: package.json and package-lock.json (included in this plugin)

To build from source:
1. Install Node.js and npm
2. Navigate to the plugin directory
3. Run npm install to install dependencies
4. Run npm run build to compile the assets

Full source code repository: https://github.com/ddegner/photo-collage

Key Features

• 12 Professional Layout Presets – Choose from Side by Side, Three Columns, Overlap Left/Right, Grid, Scatter, Hero Layered, Vertical Wave, Staggered Story, Offset Gallery, and Center Overlay
• Advanced Image Controls – Fine-tune each image with rotation, opacity, padding, margins, and z-index layering
• Dual Positioning Modes – Use relative positioning with margins for flexible layouts, or absolute positioning for pixel-perfect control
• No Image Cropping – Images are never cropped, preserving your entire composition
• Mobile-First Responsive – Enable automatic stacking on mobile devices with a single toggle
• Accessibility Built-In – Full support for alt text, image titles, descriptions, and decorative image marking
• Live Visual Editing – See exactly how your collage will look as you build it
• Caption Support – Add captions to individual images within your collage
• Theme Compatible – Works seamlessly with any WordPress theme that supports the block editor

Perfect For

• Photography portfolios
• Before/after comparisons
• Product showcases
• Travel blogs
• Creative storytelling
• Magazine-style layouts
• Event galleries

How It Works

1. Add the Photo Collage block to any post or page
2. Choose a Quick Layout preset or start from scratch
3. Upload your images and customize positioning, rotation, and opacity
4. Adjust responsive settings for mobile devices
5. Publish and enjoy your stunning photo collage

Automatic Installation

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard
2. Navigate to Plugins → Add New
3. Search for “Photo Collage”
4. Click “Install Now” and then “Activate”

Manual Installation

1. Download the plugin zip file
2. Log in to your WordPress dashboard
3. Navigate to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
4. Choose the downloaded zip file and click “Install Now”
5. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen

Getting Started

1. Edit any post or page
2. Click the ‘+’ button to add a new block
3. Search for “Photo Collage” and select it
4. Choose a Quick Layout preset or customize your own
5. Click on image placeholders to upload your photos
6. Use the sidebar settings to fine-tune positioning, rotation, and other properties

0.5.3

• FIX: Fixed WordPress.org SVN tag deployment
• IMPROVEMENT: Removed obsolete development files
• IMPROVEMENT: Updated distribution configuration

0.5.2

• SECURITY: Enhanced security with comprehensive output escaping and nonce checks
• SECURITY: Added sanitization for all register_settings calls
• FIX: Fixed PHP syntax errors for better compatibility
• FIX: Fixed issue where pasting images replaced existing content
• IMPROVEMENT: Refactored caption settings for better control and placement
• IMPROVEMENT: Added composer linting to build process
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed caption spacing consistency between editor and frontend

0.5.1

• IMPROVEMENT: Refactored PHP codebase to adhere to WordPress Coding Standards
• IMPROVEMENT: Improved code organization by splitting renderer and attribute classes
• DEV: Renamed class files for better PSR-4 and WP standard compliance
• DEV: Fixed various coding standard violations (whitespace, yoda conditions, doc blocks)

0.5.0

• IMPROVEMENT: Updated Collage Image block link options to mirror native WordPress Image block
• IMPROVEMENT: Added “Link to attachment page” and “Enlarge on click” (Lightbox) support
• IMPROVEMENT: Added toggle for image captions in the toolbar
• IMPROVEMENT: Rearranged toolbar buttons to match native standards
• FIX: Fixed fallback rendering logic for images with Lightbox enabled
• COMPATIBILITY: Tested up to WordPress 6.9

0.4.0

• MODERNIZATION: Updated requirements to PHP 8.3+ and WordPress 6.8+
• PERFORMANCE: Implemented strict typing and readonly classes for better performance
• SECURITY: Switched to WordPress HTML API for safer HTML generation
• DEV EXPERIENCE: Refactored codebase with modern PHP 8.3 features (Enums, Match expressions)
• COMPATIBILITY: Full support for latest WordPress features

0.3.0

• Added 12 professional Quick Layout presets (Side by Side, Three Columns, Overlap Left/Right, Grid, Scatter, Hero Layered, Vertical Wave, Staggered Story, Offset Gallery, Center Overlay)
• Added rotation and opacity controls for individual images
• Added caption, title, and description support for images
• Images never crop – designed for photographers to preserve entire compositions
• Improved mobile stacking with complete position reset
• Enhanced positioning controls with custom margin/padding UI
• Added minimum container height for better visibility in editor
• Simplified image styles for better performance
• Enhanced editor preview to match front-end rendering exactly
• Added uninstall settings page with block conversion options
• Removed unused server-side rendering code

0.2.0

• SECURITY: Added server-side rendering and sanitization to prevent XSS attacks
• SECURITY: Implemented CSS value validation to prevent injection attacks
• Fixed deprecated API usage (__experimentalUnitControl replaced with stable UnitControl)
• Added alt text validation for accessibility
• Added error handling for failed image loads
• Removed !important flags from CSS for better theme compatibility
• Updated mobile breakpoint to WordPress standard (782px)
• Requires WordPress 6.4+ and PHP 7.4+

0.1.0

• Initial release
• Basic photo collage functionality with overlapping images
• Z-index layering support
• Mobile responsive options