Four steps: get photos in, describe them, save a display, paste the shortcode. About five minutes for a small batch.

1UploadDrag photos in2DescribeFill your fields3Build a displayPick photos + layout4PasteShortcode on a page
The whole workflow. Everything else in these docs is a detail of one of these four steps.

1. Upload some photos

Go to JMGallery › Upload and drag a folder of photos onto the drop zone. They upload two at a time with progress bars.

Before you drag anything in, fill the panel on the right with whatever these photos have in common — the album name, the year, the place. Every photo in the batch is saved with those values, so a hundred photos from one trip get described once instead of a hundred times.

Photos already in your Media Library can be pulled in from the picker further down the same screen. More in Adding photos.

2. Check your fields

JMGallery › Fields is where you decide what a photo record holds. Six fields are set up for you. Rename them, reorder them, delete the ones that do not fit your collection, add your own.

For each field you choose four things: whether it shows as a column in the library, whether it becomes a filter, whether it appears on the item page, and whether it can go in a caption. More in Custom fields.

3. Build a display

A display is a saved answer to two questions: which items, and what they look like. Go to JMGallery › Displays and click + New display.

  • Under Which items, filter on any field. Leave everything blank to show the whole library.
  • Under Layout, pick grid, masonry or list, then columns, spacing and corner radius.
  • Under Captions, tick the fields you want under or over each photo.
  • Click Preview to see it, then Save display.

4. Put it on a page

Saving gives the display a shortcode. Copy it and paste it into any page, post, or widget:

100 items
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Cat helping owner paint
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Cute poodle puppy
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5 kittens huddle together
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Welsh Corgi in a field
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Vizsla Dog with a Beanie
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Dog and a Cat Looking at Camera
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Australian Shepherd “smiling”
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Pug mix puppy
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Border Collie and Cat
Border Collie and CatPets / May 30, 2026 / Photo
Orange and White Tabby Cat
Orange and White Tabby CatPets / May 30, 2026 / Photo
Dog with sunglasses with sunset in the background
Dog with sunglasses with sunset in the backgroundPets / May 23, 2026 / Illustrated
Multiple pets
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Collage of Dogs and Cats
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Kitten on top of a dog’s head
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2 dogs and 2 cats running in a field
2 dogs and 2 cats running in a fieldPets / May 23, 2026 / Illustrated
2 puppies in a basket
2 puppies in a basketPets / May 23, 2026 / Illustrated
3 cats and a dog on a couch
3 cats and a dog on a couchPets / May 23, 2026 / Illustrated
Dog and cat looking forward
Dog and cat looking forwardPets / May 23, 2026 / Illustrated
Collage of dogs and cats
Collage of dogs and catsPets / May 23, 2026 / Illustrated
Puppies and Kittens in a field
Puppies and Kittens in a fieldPets / May 23, 2026 / Illustrated
Cat, Rabbit, Dog & Parrot
Cat, Rabbit, Dog & ParrotPets / May 23, 2026 / Illustrated

That is the gallery live. You can override any layout setting for one page without touching the saved display:

100 items
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Where to go next