Filtering lets visitors narrow a Gallery down to the items they want to see. Turn it on and FotoGrids adds a filter bar to the Gallery; visitors pick a tag and the grid updates to show only the matching items. It works on most layouts and needs no extra plugin. This article covers setting filtering up — turning it on, choosing what visitors filter by, and where the controls appear. The look of the filter bar is covered in the Styling the Filter Bar article.
Location Gallery Settings → Filtering
Turning Filtering On #
Enable Filtering
| Setting | Enable Filtering |
| Options | On Off |
| Default | Off |
Switch this on to let visitors filter the Gallery’s items. The rest of the filtering settings appear once it is enabled.
The Filtering tab is available on the grid, masonry, justified, slider, and image-viewer layouts, among others. If you do not see it, check that the Gallery is set to a layout that supports filtering.
Multiple Selection
| Setting | Multiple Selection |
| Options | On Off |
| Default | On |
Allows visitors to select more than one option within the same filter group at once — for example, showing items tagged either “landscape” or “portrait”. With it off, choosing a new option replaces the previous one.
What Visitors Filter By #
Filter By
| Setting | Filter By |
| Options (multi-select) | Tags People (Pro) Location (Pro) Date (Pro) EXIF (Pro) |
| Default | Tags |
| Visible when | Enable Filtering is on |
The criteria visitors can filter by. The free plugin filters by Tags — the tags you assign to items become the filter options, and visitors pick from them to narrow the Gallery. Filtering by People, Location, Date, and EXIF is part of FotoGrids Pro; these options appear in the list with a Pro badge.
When more than one criterion is selected, each becomes its own filter group in the bar — a row of tag options, a row of people options, and so on.
Filtering uses the tags already assigned to your items. If an item has no tags, it will not appear under any tag filter — see the Adding & Managing Tags article for how to tag items.
Where the Controls Appear #
The Filter Controls group sets the position and form of the filter bar.
Position
| Setting | Position |
| Options | Top Sidebar |
| Default | Top |
| Visible when | Enable Filtering is on |
Top — the filter bar sits above the Gallery grid.
Sidebar — the filters appear in a column beside the grid.
Display
| Setting | Display |
| Options | Toggle Button Always Visible |
| Default | Toggle Button |
| Visible when | Position is set to Top |
Toggle Button — the filter bar is hidden behind a button visitors press to reveal it, keeping the Gallery clean until filtering is needed.
Always Visible — the filter bar shows at all times above the grid.
Sidebar Side
| Setting | Sidebar Side |
| Options | Left Right |
| Default | Left |
| Visible when | Position is set to Sidebar |
Which side of the grid the filter column appears on.
Style
| Setting | Style |
| Options | Dropdowns Buttons Checkboxes |
| Default | Buttons |
| Visible when | Enable Filtering is on |
How the filter options are presented:
- Dropdowns — each filter group is a dropdown the visitor opens to pick options. Compact, good for many options or tight layouts.
- Buttons — each option is its own button in a row. The most visible and tappable style, good for a handful of clear categories.
- Checkboxes — each option is a checkbox with a label, suited to longer lists where visitors tick several at once.
Each style has its own full set of appearance controls, covered in Styling the Filter Bar.
The Reset Control #
The Reset Button group controls the “show everything” option that clears the active filters.
Show Reset Button
| Setting | Show Reset Button |
| Options | On Off |
| Default | On |
Shows a control that clears all active filters and returns the Gallery to showing every item.
Reset Button Position
| Setting | Reset Button Position |
| Options | Start End |
| Default | Start |
| Visible when | Show Reset Button is on |
Whether the reset control sits at the start or the end of the filter group.
“All” Label
| Setting | “All” Label |
| Default | All |
| Visible when | Show Reset Button is on |
The text on the reset control. The default is “All”; change it to suit your wording, such as “Show all” or “Everything”.
Item Counts #
Show Item Count
| Setting | Show Item Count |
| Options | On Off |
| Default | On |
Shows the number of matching items next to each filter option, so visitors can see how many items a filter will return before they pick it. The count badge has its own appearance settings in Styling the Filter Bar.
Advanced Filtering (Pro) #
The free plugin filters by tags. FotoGrids Pro extends filtering with:
- People & Location filtering — filter by recognised people or locations, suited to event photography, family albums, and location-based collections.
- Advanced EXIF & metadata filtering — filter by camera settings such as ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, and by file properties.
- Smart filter presets & dynamic filtering — save filter combinations as presets, and update results in real time as visitors type or select.
These options appear in the Filter By list with a Pro badge on free installations.
