How to add a slideshow to SharePoint Site

In case you are not impressed by the dull look and feel of the Out of the Box SharePoint sites, there are things that can be done to spice things up. Today I will explain how to add a slideshow to SharePoint Site. This could be a great addition to an Intranet Homepage and provide an awesome way for your employees to connect and adopt to SharePoint/Office 365.

How to add slideshow to SharePoint Site

Below is an example of the end result once all is set and done. The image in the center is not a static image, but rather a rotating slideshow of images. (the particular image below depicts a skyline of my favorite city in the world – Boston, MA).

The way Slideshow works in SharePoint is as follows:

1. Picture Library Web Part stores slideshow images
2. Another web part, called Picture Library Slideshow Web Part displays images on the chosen page.

So let’s begin and build this together!

Step 1: Create a picture library Web Part

Go to Gear Icon > Site Contents > Add App

From the list of available out of the box web parts, choose Picture Library. Picture Library is sort of like Document Library, except it is designed specifically for images. It has special views and metadata built in, related specifically to photos and images (i.e. picture preview, thumbnail views, image size, etc.)

Give the Picture Library some name. Hit Create

Step 2: Add images to the library

This works exactly the same way as with documents. You can either upload one by one or drag and drop a bunch together. Very Important: Do not create folders in the library, otherwise slideshow won’t work. Just drag and drop images into the picture library

Step 3: Insert the Picture Library Slideshow web part

Now that we completed the first major piece of the puzzle, we are ready to create our slideshow. The first thing we need to do is add another web part to the page where we want slideshow to appear. To do this, go to Page > Edit Page > Insert Tab > Web Part

From the list of available web parts that appears, click on Media and Content > Picture Library Slideshow Web Part. Click Add button

This will add the web part to our page. The only thing left is its configuration

Step 4: Configure Slideshow

To configure slideshow, click on small drop-down in the upper right-hand corner of the web part, then Edit Web Part

The configuration menu will appear on the screen. You have control over several features of the slideshow. Let’s go over them:

• Duration to Show Picture: # of seconds each picture will appear on the page
• Picture Library: drop-down shows all available picture libraries on your site. If you have 1 – only 1 will appear. If multiple – all of them will appear so you can choose the one from which you want to display images
• Library View: shows all available views from the chosen picture library. This might be handy when you have lots of images in a picture library and want to only display certain ones in the slideshow. Just create a view in the picture library, filter by some metadata such that only certain images appear in that view and you can use that view in the slideshow. It is like creating different albums/themes for your slideshow!
• Picture Display Mode: you can alter between sequential and random. Sequential means that slideshow will display images in the same order they appear in the picture library view
• Display with: you can alter between different modes. If you have Title and Description metadata filled out in the picture library and they make sense – you can display them in your slideshow. I usually do not display them, but it is up to you.
• Show toolbar: If you mark the check box, users will have ability to pause or go forward/back in the slideshow via the toolbar <<  ||  >>. I usually do not display the toolbar

Once you set the desired settings, click OK at the web part menu and then Save at the page level. That’s all – your slideshow will now appear on the page!

Things to be aware about:

1. Image dimensions and aspect ratio have to be the same for all images. For example, if one of your images is 430 px X 250 px and another is 500 px X 300 px, this won’t work. The slideshow will still display, but won’t look pretty and your slideshow dimensions will constantly change and content on SharePoint page will jump around all the time. All your images have to have same pixels in terms of width and height
2. Be aware of overall image size and space on page. If your image is 700 px wide, that’s how it will be displayed (it will pretty much take over your whole screen). So choose appropriate size and ratio for more pleasing look
3. Choose appropriate duration in seconds. Remember, SharePoint is a working site, not a Hollywood blockbuster with special effects. You don’t want rotating images to annoy site users when they work with the document library located by the side of the slideshow.