GutenSpot – Image Gallery Hotspots for Gutenberg

GutenSpot – Image Gallery Hotspots for Gutenberg

A single glance at a static image can now evolve into an immersive experience thanks to GutenSpot – Image Gallery Hotspots for Gutenberg. This plugin injects interactivity directly into images by allowing you to place hotspots—small interactive points—over images or image galleries in WordPress, especially when using the Gutenberg block editor. Instead of traditional captions, each hotspot can reveal tooltips with rich content when hovered over, clicked, or even set to always display. It brings visual storytelling forward, letting site owners highlight product features, link to other content, or show explanatory text, all without code.

Under the hood, GutenSpot leverages modern web technologies: JavaScript to handle the hotspot triggering (hover, click, static), CSS for animations (such as pulsing effects on hotpoints) and appearance customization, and Gutenberg blocks so that layout and editing happens in the visual editor. The plugin ensures compatibility with WooCommerce and Amazon product embeds, which means the hotspots are not just for images but can overlay on images that represent product catalogs. The tooltip content can be simple text, but developers can also opt for custom icons for pins—rounded, square or even user-specified icons—to maintain branding consistency.

One standout feature is the level of control the designer has over positioning and appearance. You can drag pins to any part of the image, reposition them visually, or delete them entirely. Color pickers are included so that tooltip backgrounds, pointer colors, and text colors can match the site’s theme without conflicts. When hotspots are close together, the plugin offers logic so tooltips avoid overlapping. The triggers—hover, click, or always-on—are configurable per hotspot, giving you fine granular control over user interaction.

Performance matters: the plugin is designed to work smoothly in Gutenberg (WordPress 5+), and is optimized so that images with hotspots don’t slow down loading dramatically. Lazy loading of images, caching hotspots where possible, and minimizing JavaScript overhead help keep pages snappy. Also, it supports responsive behavior so hotspots and tooltips work well on different screen sizes, ensuring that touch events on mobile are handled (click/tap) instead of hover, for example.

For content creators, this tool opens up new use cases: you could create visual product feature tours (imagine a photo of a gadget, with hotspots over buttons that show what each button does), makeup product images with color palettes, maps or infographics where each section reveals extra info, or blog posts where photos are annotated in engaging ways. Because it integrates with Gutenberg’s visual builder, non-technical authors can set up these interactive images without touching HTML or CSS.

In summary, GutenSpot is more than just a “cool hotspot plugin.” It blends usability and technical polish: interactive behavior (hover, click, static), tooltip customization, icon options, responsive design, and support for product images (WooCommerce/Amazon). For sites that want to transform static visuals into interactive experiences—and improve engagement—this plugin is a strong choice.