Configuration
Reel is configured under a top-level Reel admin menu. Each of the three gallery features — hover zoom, the lightbox and the featured video — has its own on/off switch and its own options, so you can run any combination. Per-product video data lives on the product itself.
Hover zoom
Section titled “Hover zoom”Enable hover zoom
Section titled “Enable hover zoom”The switch for gallery magnification on the single product page. When on, gallery images magnify on hover; the transform is clipped to the gallery frame, so nothing around it shifts.
Zoom scale
Section titled “Zoom scale”How strongly images magnify. The settings screen includes a live control so you can preview the strength as you set it.
Skip hover zoom on touch devices
Section titled “Skip hover zoom on touch devices”Hover is unreliable on touch screens, so you can disable zoom there while keeping it on the desktop, where a pointer makes it useful.
Lightbox
Section titled “Lightbox”Enable lightbox
Section titled “Enable lightbox”Lets shoppers click — or press Enter/Space — on any gallery image to open it full screen. The lightbox is a fixed overlay that starts hidden, so it adds no layout shift.
Open-in-lightbox label
Section titled “Open-in-lightbox label”A custom accessible label for the control that opens the lightbox, so assistive technology announces a clear action.
Caption from alt text
Section titled “Caption from alt text”When on, the lightbox shows the image’s alt text as a caption — useful when your gallery images carry descriptive alt copy.
Featured video
Section titled “Featured video”Enable featured video
Section titled “Enable featured video”Shows a per-product video in the gallery area when the product has one set.
Video position
Section titled “Video position”Where the video sits relative to the gallery:
- After the gallery — below the image gallery.
- Before the product summary — above the summary column.
Either way the video sits in a responsive 16:9 frame that reserves its space, so the layout does not jump as it loads.
Autoplay
Section titled “Autoplay”Whether the video starts automatically. Leave it off for self-hosted files if you would rather shoppers press play.
Default heading and intro
Section titled “Default heading and intro”A default heading shown above the video and an optional intro paragraph, used when the product does not provide its own.
Per-product video
Section titled “Per-product video”The video itself is set on the product, not in global settings:
_reel_video_url— the video URL. Self-hosted files (MP4, M4V, WebM, OGV) play with WordPress’s native player; any oEmbed-supported URL (YouTube, Vimeo and similar) is embedded automatically._reel_video_title— an optional per-product video heading that overrides the default.
Placing the video elsewhere
Section titled “Placing the video elsewhere”If you want the video somewhere other than the gallery area, use the [reel_video] shortcode or the Reel: Featured video block. Both render the current product’s video in the same reserved-space, no-CLS frame.
Theming and accessibility
Section titled “Theming and accessibility”The storefront styling is driven by themeable CSS custom properties with fluid sizing, dark-mode support and reduced-motion guards, so you can re-theme Reel from your stylesheet without overriding markup. Focus styles, the named lightbox dialog and full keyboard operability are built in and need no configuration. Deleting the plugin removes its options.