Most Instagram feeds default to a grid display. It's the format Instagram itself uses, so it's familiar to site visitors, and it works well when horizontal space is available. But a grid isn't always the right format, and in some cases, a slider is a significantly better choice.

A slider presents content in a single horizontal strip that scrolls or advances through posts one at a time. It uses a fraction of the vertical space a grid requires and works naturally in confined layout areas. In the right context, it can also shape how visitors experience the content rather than just displaying it.

If you want to add an Instagram slider to WordPress, you need a tool that can handle both the Instagram connection and slider rendering, neither of which WordPress provides natively. 

Why Add an Instagram Slider to WordPress?

The slider format earns its place in specific scenarios where a grid doesn't work as well.

Space-constrained layouts. A homepage with a narrow featured section or a sidebar column can't accommodate a multi-column grid without looking cluttered. A slider fits naturally in these spaces because it uses horizontal movement instead of vertical stacking.

Sequential storytelling. Some Instagram accounts post content with a natural sequence, e.g., a trip photographed day by day. Using a slider makes it easier to advance through the content in order, giving visitors a narrative rather than a browsing experience.

Spotlight over archive. A grid invites browsing, while a slider directs attention. For a homepage hero section where the goal is to feature the most recent Instagram posts prominently rather than give visitors a full archive to scroll through, a slider keeps the focus on the current content.

Mobile experience. Sliders tend to translate better to mobile viewports than grids. A three-column grid becomes unreadably small on a phone screen if it’s not optimized for mobile viewing. Meanwhile, a full-width slider remains visually impactful regardless of screen size.

Ways to Add an Instagram Slider to WordPress

• Assembling a slider manually from Instagram embeds
• Using an Instagram feed plugin with a slider layout option

Assembling a Slider Manually

It's technically possible to add Instagram posts to a WordPress slider plugin using embed codes since most slider plugins accept HTML content in their slides. What you'd need to do is generate embed codes from individual Instagram posts, paste each one into a separate slide, and configure the slider to advance through them.

The result would function as a slider that displays content from your Instagram account. However, it wouldn't be able to update the content beyond what you manually include. The slides you add are fixed at the moment you add them. 

If you post to Instagram regularly, maintaining a manually assembled slider quickly becomes cumbersome and takes up unnecessary time.

Using an Instagram Feed Plugin with Slider Support

A dedicated Instagram feed plugin that includes a slider layout option solves the maintenance problem entirely. The plugin connects to your Instagram account, retrieves your recent posts, and renders them in a slider. New posts cycle into the slider automatically as you publish them to Instagram.

The plugin also provides proper slider controls such as autoplay timing, transition style, number of visible slides, and navigation arrows, so the slider behaves as a designed feature rather than content awkwardly forced into a format it wasn't built for.

Elevated Instagram Feed

The Elevated Instagram Feed includes a configurable slider layout as one of its display options, alongside the regular grid and mosaic layouts. This makes it straightforward to set up an Instagram slider for any location on a WordPress site.

After connecting your account, select the slider layout and configure the display parameters.

You can set how many slides are visible at once, choose whether it autoplays, configure how transitions are handled, and specify how images are sized. 

Finally, you can place it using a shortcode in any page, post, or widget area.

The slider stays current automatically, cycling through your most recent Instagram posts without you needing to manually add any.

Final Thoughts

Adding an Instagram slider to WordPress is a format decision with a specific purpose. It works best when you have limited space, want to provide a guided viewing experience for site visitors, or want to spotlight recent posts rather than present a full browsable archive.

What makes it worth adding at all is the automation. A static slider assembled from embed codes is a maintenance task that takes up valuable time. A plugin-powered slider is a site feature that automatically keeps itself current.

Elevated Instagram Feed provides a slider format with a live Instagram connection that makes it genuinely useful rather than just visually interesting.

For a broader comparison of available tools for adding an Instagram slide to WordPress, see our roundup of the best Instagram feed plugins for WordPress.