How to Install and Activate WP Social Media Gallery

You can install WP Social Media Gallery in under five minutes using the WordPress plugin uploader. The plugin requires WordPress 6.2 or higher and PHP 7.4 or higher. Activation creates the database tables, sets default settings, and flushes rewrite rules. After activation, the WP Social Media Gallery menu appears in the admin sidebar.

Before You Start

Confirm your site meets the minimum requirements before uploading the plugin.

• WordPress 6.2 or higher
• PHP 7.4 or higher
• A zip archive of the WP Social Media Gallery plugin files
• An administrator account with permission to install plugins

Upload and Activate

1. Go to Plugins > Add New.
2. Click Upload Plugin.
3. Click Choose File and select the plugin zip archive.
4. Click Install Now.
5. Click Activate Plugin.

WordPress unpacks the zip, copies the files to wp-content/plugins/wp-social-media-gallery/, and runs the activation hook. On activation, the plugin creates four database tables — wp_ccpwpsmg_galleries, wp_ccpwpsmg_analytics, wp_ccpwpsmg_analytics_summary, and wp_ccpwpsmg_notices — and writes default settings to the ccpwpsmg_settings option.

Confirm the Admin Menu

After activation, look for the WP Media Gallery menu item in the WordPress admin sidebar. Hovering it reveals two sub-pages: Gallery Builder and Settings. Clicking either opens the React-based admin SPA.

What to Check

Verify the installation succeeded by confirming each of the following.

• The plugin appears as Active on the Plugins screen.
• The WP Media Gallery menu item is present in the admin sidebar.
• Clicking Gallery Builder loads the builder interface without a white screen or JavaScript error.
• Clicking Settings opens the settings tabs.

Troubleshooting

If the plugin does not activate or the menu does not appear, check the following.

• White screen on activation: Your server may be below the PHP 7.4 minimum. Check Tools > Site Health > Info > Server.
• Database table error: The dbDelta call requires the WordPress upgrade file. This error usually means another plugin has corrupted the upgrade include path.
• Missing admin menu: Your user role may lack the edit_posts capability. The menu requires at least Author role.

Next Steps

With the plugin installed and active, create your first gallery from the WP Media source. Learn how to create your first gallery in the Gallery Builder.