How to Schedule Your WordPress Slider and Images

Do you want your Black Friday slide to go live at midnight without you staying up to swap it in? Holiday sales, launches and limited-time deals all have start and end times, and a slider that still shows last week’s offer can confuse visitors. In this article, we’ll share how to schedule your WordPress slider and images.

We see this a lot around the holidays: a sale ends, but the slide promoting it keeps running for days. Scheduling fixes that, because each slide shows up and disappears on its own.

WordPress doesn’t include an image slider by default, so we’ll use Soliloquy and its Schedule Addon, which can schedule a whole slider or individual slides. To schedule your WordPress slider and images, you’ll need to follow these 7 steps:

• Step 1. Install and activate the Soliloquy WordPress plugin
• Step 2. Install and activate the Soliloquy Schedule Addon
• Step 3. Create an image slider in WordPress
• Step 4. Schedule your image slider
• Step 5. Schedule your images
• Step 6. Publish the image slider and copy the shortcode
• Step 7. Display your image slider

Ready to get started? Let’s go!

Step 1: Install and Activate the Soliloquy WordPress Plugin

First, you’ll need to install and activate the Soliloquy Image Slider plugin.

For help with this step, check out our guide on how to install Soliloquy.

Step 2: Install and Activate the Soliloquy Schedule Addon

Once you’ve activated Soliloquy, go to Soliloquy » Addons in your WordPress dashboard. From there, you can install and activate the Schedule Addon.

The Schedule Addon is included with the Soliloquy Multi plan or higher. If you’re on a different plan, here’s how to upgrade your license in Soliloquy.

Step 3: Create an Image Slider in WordPress

Now it’s time to create your image slider. Go to Soliloquy » Add New to create a new slider. Start by adding a title for the slider, then add your images to the Native Slider section.

Next, you can customize your settings. To learn more about each one, see our guide on how to create an image slider in WordPress.

Step 4: Schedule Your WordPress Slider

To schedule an entire slider, open the Schedule tab and check Enable Scheduling?

Next, set the start date and end date for when you want your image slider to be displayed.

Now your image slider, along with all of its slides, will appear and disappear on schedule.

Pro Tip: Scheduled times follow your site’s clock, not your computer’s. Before a big sale, it’s worth checking the timezone under Settings » General in WordPress so a midnight launch really happens at midnight for your store.

Step 5: Schedule Your Images

If you only want to schedule a specific slide, go to the Slider tab and click the pencil icon on the image you want to schedule.

This opens the Edit Item window. Check Schedule Slide?, then add your start and end date and time.

Click the Save Metadata button before closing the window. You can use the arrows at the top of the Edit Item window to move to the next slide and repeat the process.

Step 6: Publish the Image Slider and Copy the Shortcode

After scheduling your slider and slides, hit the Publish button. Then copy the shortcode from the Soliloquy Slider Code widget, since you’ll need it in the next step.

Step 7: Display Your Image Slider

To display your image slider, edit the post or page where you want it to appear and paste the shortcode where the slider should go. Then click Update to save your changes.

That’s it! Your scheduled slides will now show up and disappear on their own. If you’d like to place your slider somewhere else, our guide on adding a WordPress slider with a shortcode covers every option.

Ideas for Scheduling Black Friday and Holiday Slides

Scheduling really pays off during the holiday season, when offers change every few days. Here’s a simple plan you can set up once in November and leave running:

• A teaser slide that runs the week before your sale, so returning visitors know what’s coming
• Your Black Friday slide, scheduled to start the moment your sale goes live
• A Cyber Monday slide that swaps in when Black Friday ends
• A last-shipping-day slide that reminds shoppers when holiday orders need to be placed
• A New Year slide that takes over once the holiday rush is over

Because each slide has its own start and end time, the slider updates itself overnight while you’re busy with orders. For more ways to use sliders in an online store, check out our tips on using sliders for eCommerce.

Pro Tip: Give every holiday slide one clear button that goes straight to the sale. Our tutorial on creating a WordPress slider with a call-to-action button shows how to add one.

FAQs About Scheduling a WordPress Slider

We hope this article helped you learn how to schedule your WordPress slider and images. If you’d like to get even more out of your sliders, check out these beginner-friendly guides:

• How to Create Dynamic Image Sliders in WordPress
• How to Create an Event Slider in WordPress
• How to Add a Homepage Slider in WordPress
• How to Add an Image Slider with Captions in WordPress

Waseem Abbas

Waseem Abbas is a content writer for SoliloquyWP and Envira Gallery.

See Full Bio

Published by Waseem Abbas

Waseem Abbas is a content writer for SoliloquyWP and Envira Gallery.