MW Quick Gallery - Joomla 5/6 Plugin

MW Quick Gallery 1.2.2 – Release Notes

MW Quick Gallery is a lightweight Joomla content plugin that turns any image
folder into a fully responsive, professional gallery using a single shortcode
in your article: {gallery path='images/my-folder'}.

Version 1.2.2 is a major evolution of the plugin. It introduces an optional
Premium license system, ships five new gallery layouts, and fixes several
important rendering issues in modern Joomla templates.

What's new since 1.1.0

New – Premium license system (optional)

• New License section in the plugin configuration with a license-key field and a live status indicator (valid / missing / wrong domain / expired).
• Fully offline verification using cryptographic signatures (RSA-2048, SHA-256, PKCS#1 v1.5). The plugin never contacts an external server at runtime.
• Licenses are bound to a single domain and are permanent – no subscription, no yearly renewal.
• New "Buy premium license" button in the backend that opens the purchase page directly.
• Without a valid license, the plugin remains fully functional: premium layouts silently fall back to the free Standard grid.

New – Five additional gallery layouts

Selectable per gallery via the style attribute or globally in the plugin
options:

• Masonry – true Pinterest-style staggered column layout that adapts to images of varying heights.
• Polaroid – instant-photo look with a white frame and a subtle rotation, with an optional filename caption.
• Cards – elegant cards with a 4:3 crop and a caption below the image.
• Minimal – clean, borderless five-column grid.
• Cinema – widescreen 16:9 banners for a cinematic look.

The classic Standard grid remains free and 100 % compatible with all
existing galleries – no shortcode changes required.

Fixed – Layout rendering

• Masonry now uses a real CSS multi-column layout instead of a rigid grid, eliminating the empty gaps between images of different heights.
• Cinema (16:9) now reliably keeps the correct aspect ratio and fills each frame with object-fit: cover. Duplicate all: revert rules that broke the layout in some browsers have been removed.
• Standard grid now renders correctly inside Nicepage-generated Joomla templates, where a global .u-post-content img { height: auto } rule was overriding the gallery's image sizing.

Improved – Backend and update experience

• Adds a Joomla changelog URL to the manifest and update server, so the Joomla Update Manager displays the full changelog when an update is available.
• Uses the official Joomla 5 changelog schema (addition, fix, change, security, note, remove).
• Backend links to product page, changelog, and license portal.

Fixed – License verification hotfix

• The public verification key embedded in the plugin was mismatched to the private signing key in the portal. Version 1.2.2 ships the correct key; existing license keys verify without regeneration.

Compatibility

• Joomla 5.0 and later, Joomla 6.0 and later
• PHP 8.1 and later
• No external dependencies at runtime
• Existing shortcodes from 1.0.x and 1.1.0 continue to work unchanged

Upgrading from earlier versions

• Update through Joomla's Update Manager – no manual steps required.
• Clearing the Joomla cache after the update is recommended.
• Premium layouts require a valid license key; without one, they fall back to the Standard grid so nothing breaks.

Support

• Product page: https://mertsch-web.com/backend/produkte.php?slug=mw-quick-gallery
• Documentation and changelog: https://mertsch-web.de/plugins/quickgallery
• Support: [email protected]

Developed by Mertsch-Web · Licensed under GNU GPL v2 or later.

A powerful Joomla 5/6 plugin for dynamically displaying image galleries from folders.

Developed by Mertsch-Web

Version: 1.0.5
Date: January 4, 2026

Quick Start

After installation, add the following code to your article:

{gallery path='images/my-folder'}

That's it! The gallery will automatically load and display all images from the specified folder.

Features

• Automatically loads all images from a specified folder
• Responsive grid layout with configurable columns
• Professional lightbox with glassmorphic design
• Keyboard navigation (arrow keys, ESC)
• Touch/swipe support for mobile devices
• Uniform thumbnail display (square 1:1)
• Configurable thumbnail size
• Lazy loading for optimal performance
• Elegant hover effects with shadows and transforms
• SVG icons for crisp display
• Image title and counter in lightbox (optional)
• Loading spinner when switching images
• Accessibility support (prefers-reduced-motion)
• Supports JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP
• Fully configurable via plugin parameters
• Automatic updates via Joomla update system

Installation

1. Create a ZIP file with all plugin files
2. Go to: System -> Extensions -> Install
3. Upload the ZIP file
4. Activate the plugin at: System -> Plugins -> Content - MW Quick Gallery

Usage

Basic Usage

Add the following code to your articles:

{gallery path='images/my-folder'}

Important: Replace images/my-folder with the actual path to your image folder relative to the Joomla root directory.

Advanced Options

{gallery path='images/my-folder' columns='4' title='My Gallery'}

Parameters:

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|-----------|----------|-------------|
| path | Yes | Relative path to the image folder from Joomla root |
| columns | No | Number of columns (overrides plugin setting) |
| title | No | Title above the gallery |

Examples

{gallery path='images/projects/2025'}

{gallery path='images/team' columns='5' title='Our Team'}

{gallery path='images/products/category-a' columns='3'}

Plugin Configuration

In the plugin backend, you can set the following default values:

| Setting | Description | Default |
|---------|-------------|---------|
| Number of Columns | 2-5 columns in the grid | 3 |
| Thumbnail Size | Thumbnail size in pixels (square 1:1) | 200 |
| Gap | Gap between images in pixels | 10 |
| Lightbox | Enable/disable lightbox function | Enabled |
| Show Image Title | Show/hide image title in lightbox | Enabled |

Lightbox Features

• Click on image opens fullscreen view
• Navigation with arrow keys (left/right)
• Close with ESC key or X button
• Glassmorphic design with blur effect
• Touch-friendly for mobile devices
• Image title and counter in lightbox (optional)
• Loading spinner when switching images

Automatic Updates

The plugin supports Joomla's integrated update system:

1. Go to: System -> Update -> Extensions
2. Click "Check for Updates"
3. Available updates will be displayed automatically
4. Click "Update" to install the latest version

Technical Details

• Joomla Compatibility: 5.0 - 6.999
• PHP Version: 8.1 or higher
• Layout: CSS Grid (no framework required)
• JavaScript: Vanilla JS (no jQuery dependency)
• Performance: Lazy loading, optimized images
• Design: Mobile-first, responsive

Changelog

Version 1.0.5 (January 4, 2026)

• New backend option: Show/hide image title in lightbox
• Improved thumbnail display for all image formats (16:9, 4:3, 1:1)
• Fixed gray bars on widescreen images

Version 1.0.4 (December 28, 2025)

• Completely redesigned professional look
• SVG icons instead of emojis
• Image title and counter in lightbox
• Touch/swipe support for mobile devices
• Loading spinner when switching images
• Improved hover effects and animations
• Accessibility improvements

Version 1.0.3 (December 9, 2025)

• Thumbnail size now correctly applied to width and height (square 1:1)
• Improved grid display with fixed thumbnail size
• Optimized responsive adjustments
• Code optimizations and bugfixes

Version 1.0.2 (November 27, 2025)

• Improved thumbnail display with uniform square sizes
• Optimized lightbox navigation with glassmorphic design
• Update server integration for automatic updates
• Confirmed compatibility with Joomla 5 and 6
• Performance optimizations
• Donation button added in backend

Version 1.0.0 (November 2025)

• Initial release
• Basic gallery functionality
• Lightbox integration
• Responsive grid layout

Support Development

MW Quick Gallery is a free open-source plugin. If you would like to support development, we appreciate a small donation:

Support

For questions or issues, please contact Mertsch-Web.

Author

Mertsch-Web
- Website: https://mertsch-web.de
- Email: [email protected]

License

GNU General Public License version 2 or later

Copyright (C) 2025-2026 Mertsch-Web