Configuration

Reel is configured under a top-level Reel admin menu (capability manage_woocommerce, so shop managers reach it, not only administrators). The screen splits into two cards, Gallery zoom & lightbox and Featured video, plus a reference card for the shortcode and block. Everything is stored in a single option, reel_settings, and merged over the packaged defaults, so an unset value never breaks the form. The plugin ships with hover zoom, the lightbox and the featured video all on by default.

Gallery zoom & lightbox

Hover zoom (enable_zoom)

Magnifies a gallery image in place when the shopper hovers it. The transform is clipped to the gallery frame, so nothing around it moves. The gallery script loads whenever either hover zoom or the lightbox is on, so you can run the lightbox with zoom switched off and vice versa.

Zoom strength (zoom_scale)

The magnification factor, from 1.0 (off) to 3.0, stepped by 0.05; the default is 1.45. The settings screen pairs a range slider with a number field so you can preview the value as you set it. Around 1.4-1.6× reads well for most stores; values above 2× look dramatic but blur smaller source images. Out-of-range input is clamped on save.

Disable zoom on touch (disable_zoom_on_touch)

On by default. Touch screens have no real hover, so the zoom can fire unpredictably there. With this on, hover zoom is skipped on touch devices and shoppers rely on the lightbox instead; the desktop pointer keeps the zoom.

Lightbox (enable_lightbox)

Opens a clicked (or Enter/Space-activated) gallery image full screen over a dimmed backdrop. It is a fixed overlay printed hidden in the footer, so it reserves no space until used.

Close on backdrop click (show_backdrop_close)

On by default. Lets shoppers dismiss the lightbox by clicking the dark area around the image, in addition to the close button and the Escape key.

Image caption (lightbox_caption)

Off by default. Shows each image’s alt text as a caption inside the lightbox. Useful when your gallery images carry descriptive alt copy; leave it off if they don’t, since a missing alt renders an empty caption line.

Open-image label (trigger_label)

The accessible label assistive technology announces for each gallery image, for example Open image in full screen. Leave it blank to use the built-in default, an empty value is not stored as an override.

Featured video

Show featured video (enable_video)

Master switch for the product video. When on, any product that has a video URL in its meta shows it on its single product page at the position below. Products without a video URL render nothing.

Position (video_position)

Where the automatic video appears:

• After the gallery (after_gallery, default), hooks woocommerce_product_thumbnails and renders below the image gallery.
• Before the summary (before_summary), hooks woocommerce_before_single_product_summary and renders above the title/price column.

Either way the video sits in a 16:9 frame sized with aspect-ratio, so its space is reserved before it loads. Any value other than these two is reset to after_gallery on save.

Autoplay (video_autoplay)

Off by default. Starts the video automatically on load. For self-hosted files this sets autoplay on the native <video>; for an oEmbed URL it appends autoplay=1 to the embed. Browsers only permit unmuted autoplay after interaction, so plan for it starting muted, and use it sparingly.

Show heading (video_show_title)

On by default. Renders a heading above the video. Turn it off for a heading-free embed. At the gallery position the template also prints a small Now playing eyebrow above the heading.

Default heading (video_title)

The heading used when a product has no heading of its own. Leave it blank to fall back to the built-in Product video text.

Intro text (video_intro)

An optional short paragraph shown under the heading, for example See it in action. It renders only when non-empty.

Per-product video meta

The video itself lives on the product, not in global settings, these are post meta keys you set on the product (a custom field, programmatically, or via Reel Pro’s per-product field):

• _reel_video_url, the video URL. A URL ending in .mp4, .m4v, .webm or .ogv (querystring allowed) plays in WordPress’s native player via wp_video_shortcode; anything else is treated as an oEmbed URL (YouTube, Vimeo and similar) and embedded with wp_oembed_get.
• _reel_video_title, an optional per-product heading that overrides the default heading for that product.

The heading shown is the per-product _reel_video_title, then the Default heading setting, then the built-in Product video fallback, the first non-empty wins.

Theming, template overrides and accessibility

Reel renders its storefront markup from templates packaged inside the plugin; there is no theme template-override path (unlike some sibling plugins). Re-theme it instead through CSS custom properties: the storefront styling uses themeable --reel-*-style variables with fluid sizing, dark-mode support and prefers-reduced-motion guards, so you restyle the gallery and video from your theme stylesheet without touching markup. The named lightbox dialog, visible focus styles and full keyboard operability are built in and need no configuration.

Storage and uninstall

Settings live in the reel_settings option and a reel_db_version marker tracks the schema. Deleting the plugin runs the uninstall routine, which removes both options. The per-product _reel_video_url and _reel_video_title meta are left in place, so reinstalling (or moving to Reel Pro) keeps your existing product videos.