Description
Lexiata XSlider is a tiny, blazing-fast image slider plugin built from scratch. Total footprint: under 200KB on disk, with a frontend payload around 8KB (CSS + JS combined). No bundled libraries, no jQuery on the front-end, no third-party services.
Why XSlider?
Most slider plugins ship with hundreds of templates, layer animations, and features you will never use — and your visitors pay for every kilobyte. XSlider keeps only what you need:
- Clean image sliders with optional click-through URLs
- Horizontal slide and fade animations
- Autoplay, drag, keyboard navigation
- Arrows + bullets, fully customisable
- SEO-friendly markup with proper alt text and ARIA roles
- Lazy initialisation (the slider boots only when scrolled into view)
- Custom CSS field for fine-tuning
- Shortcode + PHP function for use in any builder (Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi, classic editor, etc.)
Built for WordPress agencies and freelancers by Suresh L. Bamunusinghe at Lexiata.lk — battle-tested in production sites.
Key features
- Up to 8 settings tabs — General, Size, Controls, Animations, Autoplay, Optimize, Slides, Developer
- Image and Blank slides — Blank slides support a custom background colour
- Clickable URL per slide — Set link, choose target tab, optional
nofollow - Drag-to-reorder slides in the editor
- Duplicate slide with one click
- Live preview in the slide editor
- Click-to-copy shortcode and PHP code
- Fully accessible — keyboard navigation, ARIA roles, focus rings
- Mobile, tablet, desktop arrow visibility controls
- No external dependencies — pure vanilla JS frontend (~5KB)
Installation
- Upload the
lexiata-xsliderfolder to/wp-content/plugins/(or install directly via WordPress’ Plugins screen). - Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen.
- Click the new XSlider menu item in your admin sidebar.
- Click New project, configure name/width/height, and click Create project.
- Click ADD SLIDE, choose Image or Blank, configure the slide, and save.
- Copy the shortcode (e.g.
[lex_xslider id="42"]) and paste it into any post, page, or builder.
FAQ
-
How do I add a click-through URL to a slide?
-
Open the slide editor, scroll to the Click action section, paste the URL, choose whether it opens in the same tab or a new tab, and toggle
nofollowif needed. -
Where do I paste the shortcode?
-
Anywhere shortcodes work: Gutenberg shortcode block, Classic Editor, Elementor shortcode widget, Divi text module, theme template files (use the PHP snippet from the General tab), etc.
-
Is the plugin translation-ready?
-
Yes. All strings use the
lexiata-xslidertext domain. Place.mo/.pofiles inwp-content/languages/plugins/or under the plugin’slanguages/folder. -
Does the plugin store data outside the WordPress database?
-
No. Slider projects are stored as a custom post type, and slides + settings are stored in
wp_postmeta. No external requests, no analytics, no tracking. -
How can I customise the slider visually?
-
Use the Developer tab to add CSS classes to the wrapper or paste custom CSS that’s printed inline on pages where the slider appears.
-
Does it work with caching plugins?
-
Yes. Frontend assets are static files with cache-friendly versioning, and the slider markup is fully server-rendered.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“Lexiata XSlider” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Lexiata XSlider” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- Initial public release.
- Custom Post Type for slider projects with private admin-only visibility.
- 8-tab settings editor: General, Size, Controls, Animations, Autoplay, Optimize, Slides, Developer.
- 4 slide animations: Horizontal, Vertical, Fade, Zoom fade.
- 4 arrow styles: Default, Circle, Square, Minimal — with adjustable size, colour, and per-device visibility.
- 4 bullet styles: Dot, Bar, Pill, Square.
- Border-radius control (0–100px) with 5 presets — Sharp, Subtle, Soft, Rounded, Pill.
- Image and Blank slide types with click-through URLs (target tab + nofollow support).
- Touch swipe and mouse drag navigation that works across all animation types.
- Keyboard arrow navigation (activates on hover, focus, or viewport visibility).
- Drag-to-reorder slides in the admin editor with mobile touch support.
- Duplicate slide, delete slide, live preview.
- Vanilla JS frontend engine — no jQuery dependency, ~5KB minified.
- Lazy initialisation with IntersectionObserver — slider boots only when scrolled into view.
- First-slide LCP optimisation via
fetchpriority="high". - Multisite-aware uninstall — cleans up all sites’ data on plugin deletion.
- Accessibility: ARIA roles, focus-visible outlines,
prefers-reduced-motionsupport. - Translation-ready — all strings use the
lexiata-xslidertext domain. - Shortcode
[lex_xslider id="X"]works in any builder (Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi, Classic Editor, theme templates).