# Slide duration, autoplay and transition speed

URL: https://gutenslider.org/slide-duration-example/
Published: 2026-10-07
Updated: 2026-10-07

> Autoplay, pause on hover and loop, how long each slide stays and how fast it changes, with values that work for heroes, testimonials, carousels and logo strips.

How long each slide stays and how fast the change happens decide whether a slider feels calm or busy. Here is what you can set in Gutenslider, what the defaults are, and which values work well.

### Autoplay

Select the slider and open the **Motion** panel:

- **Autoplay** moves to the next slide on its own. It is on for new sliders.
- **Pause while the pointer is over the slider** stops autoplay while a visitor is looking or reading; it also pauses while the slider has keyboard focus.
- **Loop** starts again with the first slide after the last.

Visitors who turn on “reduce motion” in their operating system get no autoplay, whatever the setting.

### Slide duration and transition time (Pro)

In the free plugin each slide stays three seconds and the change takes 0.7 seconds. Gutenslider Pro adds two sliders to the Motion panel:

| Setting | Default | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Time per slide (s) | 3 | How long a slide stays before the next one |
| Transition time (s) | 0.7 | How long the change from one slide to the next takes |

### Values that work

| Slider | Time per slide | Transition |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hero with a fixed headline, fade | 5–6 s | 1–1.5 s |
| Testimonials or text slides | 6–8 s, or about 0.3 s per word | 0.6–1 s |
| Image carousel, slide | 3–4 s | 0.4–0.7 s |
| Logo strip | 2–3 s | 0.5 s |

Any slide with text should stay long enough to be read twice. When in doubt, turn autoplay off and let visitors use the arrows and dots.

### Video slides

With **Play videos when their slide shows** on, a video slide plays while it is active, and pauses when the slider moves on. Each slide can override this in its own settings. For long videos, turn autoplay off so the slider doesn’t move on mid-video.

See every motion setting in the [settings reference](https://gutenslider.org/docs/settings/#autoplay), and the effects in [Slide transition animations](https://gutenslider.org/slide-transition-animation-for-wordpress-slider/).