WP GIF Player – Play & Pause

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.

Shortcode

If you’re still using the WordPress Classic Editor you must use the next shortcode:

[gif-player id="gif_id"]

If you don’t know the GIF ID you can add a GIF player using the “Add GIF Player” button next to the “Add Media” button.

When you click the “Add GIF Player” button the Media Library window will open and you will be able to select or upload your GIF.

When you save and view the post, the plugin will render the GIF Player according to the selected GIF Method in the plugin options page.

Gutenberg Block

You can use the GIF Player as a Gutenberg block. Check the wiki for more details.

Is compatible with Lazy Load?

Some Lazy Load plugins are compatible with the three GIF player methods in the plugin but there are other plugins that won’t allow you to reproduce the GIF player.

In case the GIF player cannot reproduce you can use your Lazy Load plugin filters to skip Lazy Load by using the GIF CSS classes.

The CSS classes for every GIF player are:

• GIF: wp-gp-pp-gif
• Canvas: wp-gp-pp-gif-canvas-player
• Video: wp-gp-pp-video-player

If your Lazy Load plugin ask you to add a custom CSS class into the GIF asset to avoid Lazy Load you will have to use the GIF player custom filters in your functions.php file. Check the custom filters to avoid Lazy Load for the GIF players.

GIF as Video – Fallback

If for any reason your current GIF Player as Video doesn’t have any video source the plugin will render the default GIF Player (GIF) as fallback.