﻿=== Carousel - Image Carousel, Post Slider, Product & Video Gallery ===
Contributors: Themepoints
Tags: carousel, slider, image carousel, post slider, product carousel, video carousel
Requires at least: 5.8
Tested up to: 7.1.2
Requires PHP: 7.4
Stable tag: 2.0.0
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Build responsive image carousels, post sliders, video galleries, and product carousels with zero layout shift and blazing fast speed.

== Description ==

**Carousel** is a lightweight, responsive, and developer-friendly WordPress carousel plugin built to create high-converting image sliders, blog post carousels, video showcases, and WooCommerce product galleries.

Re-engineered from the ground up in version 2.0.0, Carousel utilizes modern PHP architecture to deliver maximum performance, optimized CSS/JS enqueuing, and **zero Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)**. Whether you are building a simple brand logo carousel, a portfolio showcase, or a dynamic blog post slider, Carousel gives you full control over layout, responsiveness, and autoplay settings without slowing down your website.

### 🚀 Key Free Features
* **Unlimited Images & Slides:** Add as many slides, images, and captions as you need—no artificial limits on the free version.
* **Custom Image Carousel:** Easily create image sliders with drag-and-drop ordering, custom links, and lightbox previews.
* **Dynamic Post Slider:** Display recent posts, filter by categories, and toggle post titles, dates, authors, excerpts, and "Read More" buttons.
* **Video Carousel:** Embed responsive YouTube, Vimeo, and self-hosted MP4 videos inside your sliders.
* **WooCommerce Product Carousel:** Display featured, top-rated, on-sale, or category-specific products with live "Add to Cart" buttons.
* **Zero Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS):** Pre-calculated aspect ratios keep your site layout stable during page loads.
* **Smart Asset Loading:** Enqueues scripts and stylesheets only when a carousel or shortcode is actively present on the page.
* **Full Responsive Breakpoints:** Custom controls for columns and spacing across Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile devices.
* **Page Builder Ready:** Seamlessly works with Gutenberg blocks, Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, and classic shortcodes.
* **Touch & Drag Enabled:** Smooth touch-swipe navigation optimized for mobile devices and tablets.
* **Customizable Controls:** Toggle autoplay, autoplay speed, hover pause, infinite loop, navigation arrows, pagination dots, and slide transition effects.

### 💎 Pro Features
Upgrade to **Carousel Pro** to unlock advanced layouts, multimedia support, and dynamic ecommerce integrations:
* **Standard Grid & Masonry Layouts:** Switch seamlessly between smooth sliders, structured grids, and fluid masonry layouts.
* **Content Overlay Design Style:** Display title, meta, and button content as modern hover overlays on top of images.

---

== Installation ==

1. Log into your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Go to **Plugins > Add New**.
3. Search for **Carousel**.
4. Click **Install Now** and activate the plugin.
5. Navigate to **Carousel > Add New** in your sidebar to create your first slider!
6. Copy the generated shortcode and paste it into any post, page, widget, or page builder element.

---

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Is Carousel responsive? =
Yes! You can specify exact column counts and spacing for Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile devices individually.

= Can I use Carousel with Elementor or Gutenberg? =
Absolutely. Carousel provides shortcode compatibility across all major page builders, as well as native integration components.

= Does the free version limit how many images I can upload? =
No. The free version allows unlimited images, slides, and post sliders.

= How do I upgrade to Pro? =
You can upgrade directly from your WordPress admin dashboard under **Carousel > Account** or via our official website.

---

== Screenshots ==

1. **Carousel Manager:** Clean interface to build image carousels, video carousels, product carousels, and post sliders.
2. **Settings Panel:** Full control over responsiveness, autoplay, loops, and navigation.
3. **Frontend Image Slider:** Responsive image carousel with touch-swipe enabled.
4. **Post Slider Layout:** Dynamic post query settings with title, category, and date toggles.

---

== Changelog ==

= 2.0.0 - September 30, 2026 =
* **Major Release:** Complete codebase rewrite using modern PHP OOP architecture.
* **Performance:** Introduced conditional frontend asset loading (scripts load only when shortcode/block is present).
* **UX Fix:** Added CSS aspect-ratio placeholders to eliminate Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).
* **Feature:** Refactored metabox settings UI with visual option selectors.
* **Feature:** Added Video, WooCommerce Products, Grid, and Overlay layouts.
* **Fix:** Resolved jQuery dependency conflicts and improved script initialization on dynamic page loads.
* **Security:** Hardened shortcode output sanitization and metabox nonce validation.

= 1.8 =
*Release Date - 03 Jan, 2018*
* Fix Color Picker Issues.
* Update Css File.

= 1.7 =
*Release Date - 24 Sep, 2017*
* Update Option Page.
* Update Css File.
* Added New Options.
* Added New Options Page.
* Remove Old Options page.
* Change Admin Interface.

= 1.6 =
* Update Option Page.

= 1.5 =
*Release Date - 23 May, 2017*
* Fix loading unnecessary fonts Issues

= 1.4 =
*Release Date - 14 Feb, 2017*

* Added Shortcode generation option.
* Added new themes.
* Auto play Enable/Disable option.
* Auto play Stop On Hover option.
* Enable/Disable Pagination option.
* Enable/Disable Navigation option.
* Align Pagination ( left, center, right).
* Multiple post query.
* Display Carousel/post By Multiple Category.
* Carousel Post Excerpt Length.
* Carousel from post with Read More.
* Enable/Disable Read More Option.
* Show/Hide Carousel or Post title option.
* Carousel / Post Title Font Size option.
* Carousel / Post Title Text Align option.
* Carousel / Post Title Color option.
* And many more option.

= 1.3 =
*Release Date - 03 Jan, 2017*

* Update Post Columns Filter

= 1.2 =
* Added New Post type called "Carousel Free"
* Fix Multiple Carousel in same page/post or widget.
* Added Post into carousel option.
* Added Internal or External Link Option.
* Added Slider option.
* Added Category Option for display Multiple carousel by ID.
* Fix Some Css Issues.
* Update Visual Tinymce Editor.
* Added New Option In Tinymce Editor.
* Change Tinymce Icons. 

= 1.1 =
* Check latest version compatibility

= 1.1 =
* Fix shortcode issues
* Update Option Page
* Fix css issues

= 1.0 =
* Initial release