In Drupal 7, you can create a catchy slideshow with virtually any content type or even field, from images to text, to video, and to do this you will need Views Slideshow module (http://drupal.org/project/views_slideshow).
The most common type of slideshow is with images, and in this tutorial we will focus on exactly this type.
We assume that you already know how to create a content type and/or fields. If you need to see how it is done go to: http://nood.org/support/faq/how-work-fields-drupal-7
When you have all the content you want to use in your slideshow, go to administration menu: Structure → Views and click “Add new view”.
In the appearing screen you see number of fields and settings. Let’s review them focusing on the crucial ones. We will not review each and every setting, because some of them are obvious, and the other ones are too advanced or irrelevant for our purposes.
View name: Give your view a logical name, and add a description (optionally) to help other people working on your site.
In Show field choose “content” and the name of the content type you want to use in your slideshow (in our case it is “Slideshow”, the content type we created specifically for the slideshow). Then choose how you want your content be sorted: newest/oldest first, by title, etc.
In Create a page you see that “Page title” and “Path” are the same as the “View name” (and this is exactly why you should give your view a logical and SEO-friendly name).
In Display format choose “Slideshow of fields” to display a certain field containing images. Or you can choose teaser or full post, but note that page generation in this case will be slower comparing to displaying just a field.
Select number of items to display; un-check “Use a pager” (unless you want to have a standard Drupal pager in your slideshow) and check “Create a menu link” to include this slideshow page in a menu.
If you want to use your slideshow in a block region, create a block instead of page.
When done click "Continue & edit” to get to the settings screen.
- You may want to save your changes in top of the screen before proceeding to the settings.
- Start with Fields. By default, Views setup wizard adds only Title field, but you need to add an image field: click “add”, search for this field, check the box and “Apply.”
- Move to Sort Criteria. By default, the content is sorted by post date, but we prefer random, and therefore we first remove the default setting, and then add Global: Random.
- In Pager, choose “Display a specified number of items” and set the number of images to be displayed in your slideshow.
- At the bottom of the page you can see the preview of your slideshow, and if needed make changes before you click “Save.”
Now you can choose either to hide Content: Title (Exclude from display) or remove it completely.
Click the image field, in the appearing screen un-check “Create label”, choose “Image” in Formatter and set image style to the one you prefer. You may also link your image to its node. Click “Apply”.
Now, let’s review the slideshow settings in Format section. In Cycle Options below choose the effect for your slides and also check “view transition advanced options” to see how fast they change (1000 milisec = 1 sec).
Use Widgets to show pager, controls and/or counters. TIP: You can use the smaller version of the image as a pager. To do that, go to Fields in the views main screen and add the same image one more time, but this time choose smaller image style and make it hidden. Then go to Format - Slideshow settings - Widgets - Pager and select the second instance of your added image field.
To have your slideshow as front page go to the administration menu: Configuration → Site information and type in the URL for front page.
