Grace WordPress Instagram Plugin Release
The Social Stream Apps project (from the developers of Flow-Flow Social Streams Plugin) is expanding and today we present a new plugin to your attention. It is specialized in creating and managing Instagram social walls on your WordPress site or blog. Grace Instagram plugin is not just a separate part of Flow-Flow Social Streams, but it is an independent project that is aimed at satisfying a wider range of needs within the framework of streaming of one particular social network.
Today we will take a closer look at the features of the Grace Instagram plugin, as well as its key differences from the capabilities of Flow-Flow Social Stream with Instagram feed. The main feature of the Grace Instagram plugin is the availability of more settings for layouts, stylings, lightboxes and profile headers.
Even at the beginning of its journey, Grace Instagram plugin surpasses all existing analogues in terms of functionality and design style. Instagram is one of the most advanced social networks of our time, so the social streaming plugin for it must match the design and functionality settings. Grace is perfectly matched with this difficult but important task.
With this new plugin you can transfer all the best features of Instagram to your WordPress site, while gaining full control over the design of your social wall. In addition, you can unite the feeds of an unlimited number from Instagram accounts within the same social stream. This is far beyond the scope of the standard Instagram functional and opens up new horizons for you. All this and many other features will be described in detail in this introductory article.
Public Instagram Content Streaming
Grace fully supports Instagram API changes from June 1, 2016. This means that you can use Open Instagram user accounts without restrictions, and not just your own profile. Grace provides an opportunity to create thematic social walls with the connection of any number of feeds. This way you can create a constantly updated social stream even if you rarely update your own Instagram feed or do not have it at all.
Before using all the features of the Instagram API, you will need to authorize your access through the Grace plugin. However, there will be no inconvenience in authorization. You just need to go to the Auth tab and press one button. After that you will be redirected to the Instagram site to confirm authorization.
And this completes the entire authorization process. Do not believe that this can be so simple? Then make sure of this by yourself, while first time using the Grace Instagram plugin!
Instagram Feed Layouts
Grace offers 4 layouts to choose for a WordPress admin: grid, masonry, justified, slider. The last view layout is exclusive for this plugin (you will not find it even in the Flow-Flow Social Streams Plugin). Slider layout is a horizontal arrangement of blocks with photos and scrolling buttons to the right and to the left.
Classical layouts are presented in the form of grid, masonry and justified types. Each of these layouts can also be an ideal option for your Instagram social wall, since the layout of the elements in it is easy to customize using the Styling tab in the settings of the Grace plugin.
Styling tab allows you to embody the subtle settings of all elements of your social stream: colors, sizes, margins, paddings, formats and many other features are available to change in the application to every detail of the interface of Grace Instagram social feed.
New Lightbox Options
The functionality of lightboxes has been significantly improved in the Grace Instagram plugin. Clicking on the photo will call a pop-up, which contains not only a full sized photo (as it was in Flow-Flow), but also comments and likes. This element of the interface is interactive, which means users can also share the content for other social networks.. This will significantly reduce the bounce rate and increase the time users stay on your site.
Pre-Moderation
Pre-moderation can be enabled for each of the Instagram feeds that you connect to your social stream. This feature allows you to get full control over the content of your social wall. If you notice inappropriate content, you can easily refuse to use it with one click.
Pre-moderation is an exclusive feature of the Flow-Flow Social Streams and Grace Instagram plugin. This tool will save you from many unpleasant surprises, especially if you use Instagram feed as a tool for personal or corporate branding.
Content Filtering
Grace Instagram plugin improves the filtering feature and brings it to a new level. Here a user can sort the content of Instagram social wall by different feed types: account, hashtag, likes feed, location. Any feed can be sorted just by one click.
Automatic Pre-Moderation Filters
Automatic pre-moderation of the posts for your Instagram social wall is also improved. Grace has not only excluding feature (like Flow-Flow), but also including one. It means you can automatically choose not only bad content to filter, but also proven good sources to be obligatorily included.
Custom Profile Header
Custom profile header is available when using personal Instagram stream without connecting additional feeds. In this case, you can create a header with general information about the account, which is similar to the corresponding header in Instagram. Here you can place an avatar, the number of subscribers and your subscriptions and other personal information.
Custom profile header can also be an excellent tool for personal or corporate branding while using the Instagram capabilities wisely.
Grace vs Flow-Flow: How to Choose Wisely
Grace Instagram plugin can be a better choice compared to Flow-Flow Social Streams under certain conditions. First of all, one should take into account the fact that the versatility of Flow-Flow imposes certain restrictions on the use of some layouts and elements inside them.
Grace offers more options for customizing styling elements, since this plugin does not need to reckon with the variety of content types from different social networks. Using only one social network allows you to optimize the style of content design in a wider range of variations.
Another important factor in choosing a suitable plugin is its price. Flow-Flow costs $29 and along with the expansion of its functionality, the cost will increase. Grace Instagram plugin costs $19 and will always be cheaper than its more universal ancestor.
The choice of Grace Instagram plugin is completely justified if you want to use only one social network when creating your social streams within the WordPress project. If you want to capture various sources of content from social networks, only Flow-Flow will be able to meet your needs.
Conclusion
Grace Instagram plugin takes the best from Flow-Flow Social Streams and brings these features to a new level for one particular social network. If you are a professional photographer or use Instagram as the main tool to promote a personal or corporate brand, then you will not find a better tool for creating social stream on your WordPress website or blog.
Follow the updates of the Social Stream Apps project and we will try to bring you further new plugins and tools for integrating social networks into WordPress platform with passion and style.
