Shaping the Future of the Product Gallery (Beta) Block: Your Feedback Matters

[kmanijak]

With the upcoming release of WooCommerce 9.8, we are making significant updates to the Product Gallery (Beta) block. This block, currently available in the Single Product Template for block-based themes, has been in Beta for about a year, and we’ve gained valuable insights from your feedback. However, we recognize the need for further refinement to ensure it meets your expectations for quality, usability, and performance.

Why are we updating the Product Gallery (Beta) block?

While the block has potential, we’ve identified key areas needing improvement. The current version is overly complex and lacks the polish required for an exceptional user experience, particularly on mobile devices. Our goal is to simplify its functionality, make it more intuitive, and enhance its adaptability across all devices.

What’s changing?

Here are some of the updates we’re introducing:

• Revamped thumbnails - all thumbnails will now be displayed consistently, ensuring a complete visual representation of the gallery.
• Pager replacement - the existing pager functionality will be replaced with a simplified “current image / total images” indicator for improved clarity and usability.
• Mobile optimization - we’re prioritizing a seamless mobile experience, making the gallery more user-friendly and responsive on smaller screens.
• Display all images by default – Currently, the gallery displays only a subset of images, limited by the number of thumbnails. We plan to display all images by default.
• Full page gallery improvements - display all images vertically for easier navigation. (EDIT: to be confirmed, your input is welcome!)

What does this mean for you?

These updates come with some significant changes that may affect how the block functions in your stores:

• Breaking changes - due to the revamped structure and settings, the block’s feature set will change significantly. This may require adjustments in how you use the block.
• Frontend compatibility - if you’re already using the Product Gallery (Beta) block, we’ll ensure it continues to function on the frontend. However, you may notice changes in available features.
• Editor adjustments - in some cases, you may need to re-add the block in the editor to resolve compatibility issues caused by the updates.

Let’s shape this together!

We value your feedback and want to ensure this block meets your needs.

• What do you think about these planned changes?
• Are there any specific pain points or features you’d like to see addressed?
• Do you have ideas for additional enhancements or feedback on the current functionality?

Please share your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions in the comments below. Your input is critical in shaping the future of the Product Gallery block and WooCommerce as a whole.

Together, we can create a better experience for developers, store owners, and customers alike. Thank you for your continued support!

[Marc-pi]

Hello,

display all images vertically for easier navigation

hum, what about aspect ratio ?
#47924 > WordPress/gutenberg#66197

is there a design mockup or an EPIC issue ?

it is this one #52976 ?

[drbuk]

It would be good to integrate video playback into the gallery - local and Youtube/Vimeo plus and not rely on an external plugin

[kmanijak]

display all images vertically for easier navigation

To be fair, that's only about the full page gallery and simply to remove the slider but just display the images one by one on top of each other with vertical scroll. That simplifies the UX drastically and potentially removes the need for aspect ratio setting (in a full page gallery) as they simply adjust to the screen size.

what about aspect ratio ?
#47924 > WordPress/gutenberg#66197

This specific issue (adding aspect ratio and other settings to Product Image) won't be a part of Product Gallery work. But we're still trying to find a right solution how to approach the aspect ratio in a Product Gallery block. Once established, we'll let you folks know in this discussion.

is there a design mockup or an EPIC issue ?
it is this one #52976 ?

Ah, we didn't use an epic for the last few weeks, apologies.
Here's a list of issues we tackled recently:

• Product Gallery: Introduce gestures
• Product Gallery: Remove Pager settings from parent block
• Product Gallery: Replace Pager with current/total label
• Product Gallery: Remove Next/prev buttons settings from parent block
• Product Gallery: Remove Thumbails block off option
• Product Gallery: Remove thumbnail settings from parent block
• Product Gallery: Thumbnails - Remove position settings
• Product Gallery: Remove template-part for full screen gallery
• Product Gallery: Remove Off option for next/prev block
• product-gallery-large-image-next-previous.block_theme.side_effects.spec.ts is broken
• [Flaky Test] if available, should display the same image when pop-up is closed
• Product Gallery: optimise zoom in

We're planning the next steps, once we nail them down I'll publish it in form of epic! Again, your input is welcome!

It would be good to integrate video playback into the gallery - local and Youtube/Vimeo plus and not rely on an external plugin

That's a great input! Thank you!

cc: @tjcafferkey , @ellenbauer

[Marc-pi]

It would be good to integrate video playback into the gallery

yep ! it's needed, agreed, good catch

[MagnusOxlund]

I've just enabled the Product Gallery (Beta) block on an existing site, and it's a very welcome improvement to the existing product image gallery.

One feature I'm missing that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere is displaying a variant-specific product image when a variant is selected.

For context, variant images are single images tied to specific variants when configuring a variable product on the product editor admin page. Images do not have to be included in the product gallery section to be used as variant images. The old gallery block automatically displays the variant image if one is available once a variant is selected.

[MagnusOxlund]

On a second look, it appears to be addressed by #46396.

[kmanijak]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I reopened the issue as it's indeed addressed but only partially (image must be included in gallery in order to work). As I answered in the issue, we should be able to tackle it soon 🙌

[MagnusOxlund]

I've opened three new bug reports for the 9.7.1 version:

#57042 Product Gallery (beta): placeholder image shown even if product has gallery images
#57047 Product Gallery (beta): "next" button enabled when product image identical to only gallery image
#57048 Product Gallery (beta): placeholder image missing if configured as URL instead of media ID

[kmanijak]

Thanks for raising those! Appreciate the testing and taking time to report them 👍 I see one of them has been marked as fixed by @dinhtungdu, there other two have contributions with fixes. One has been merged already and I'll review the other one.

Nice collaboration here, I must admit 🙇 🙌

[MagnusOxlund]

Definitely, @kmanijak. That was an impressive turnaround! Thanks for reviewing #57053 👍

[Lucian06]

Hi! One important feature I believe should be included in the Product Gallery is native video support, whether locally hosted or embedded from YouTube/Vimeo, or at least an API that makes it easy to add videos to the gallery and lightbox. Nowadays, videos are essential for product presentation: they show details that static images can’t convey, increase customer trust, and often boost conversions.

Platforms like Shopify already provide video support out of the box in their product galleries, and it has become an expected standard. It would be great to see WooCommerce offering a similar built-in solution without relying on external plugins that often remain outdated or are not tested on all devices.

[kmanijak]

Thanks for feedback and sharing your opinion!

Videos is definitely a feature we'd like to add. I've even made some initial research and POC on this (issue / POC). While the frontend part of displaying videos is fairly easy, there's a whole backend/admin area that would require major adjustments to better support videos (compression optimisation, extensibility, etc.)

This is currently not on our roadmap but comments like that help to better prioritise efforts. CC @ellenbauer (what's your take on videos support in gallery?) and @SantosGuillamot (I remember you wanted to play around videos support in scope of iAPI so tagging you in case you made some progress on this and have anything to share) 🙌

[MagnusOxlund]

I just had a client request this at a meeting, so there's definitely demand for this.