Easy FancyBox – WordPress Lightbox Plugin

Description

Easy FancyBox is the most popular lighbox plugin for WordPress, active on over 200,000 WordPress installations. It adds a lightweight and flexible lightbox for viewing images and other media on your website.

After activation, links to images, galleries, and other media will be automatically opened in a new lightbox that floats over the web page.

LIGHTBOX FEATURES
– Automatic detection of images
– Automatic detection of galleries
– Customize options for Lightbox appearance, style, and behavior
– Opens all common image formats including webp and svg
– Opens WordPress core galleries (“Link to” must be set to “Media File”)
– Opens videos from Youtube, Vimeo, and Dailmotion
– Opens PDF files (embed with object tag, iframe, external Google Docs Viewer)
– Opens NextGEN galleries (instructions)
– Opens content from external web pages (instructions)
– Create easy modals and popup boxes (instructions)
– Open image maps (instructions)
– Open lightbox from WordPress menu items (instructions)
– Support for Jetpack Infinite Scroll
– Support for WordPress Multsite (see Installation instructions)

See FAQ’s for instructions to manage YouTube, Dailymotion and Vimeo movies (and similar services) and tips to make inline content display in a FancyBox overlay.

Get support on the Easy FancyBox web page or WordPress forum.

PRO LIGHTBOX FEATURES

For advanced options and priority support, there is a pro lighbox plugin extension available. See Pro lightbox features below.

  • Priority support
  • Slideshow effect for galleries (autorotation)
  • Spotlight effect for the light box overlay
  • FacetWP, Gravity Forms and TablePress compatibility
  • More lightbox styling options: rounded corners, inline content background and text colors
  • More automatic popup options: triggered by URL hash, first link by media type, hide popup after first visit
  • Pass dedicated light box setting per media link via link class (see Metadata instructions)
  • More elastic (easing) popup effects on open and close
  • Show/hide image title on mouse hover
  • Fine-tune media link and gallery autodetection to match your theme source markup to allow galleries per post for example

For these additional features, you need to install the Pro lightbox plugin alongside the free lightbox plugin.

GDPR / EU Privacy

This plugin does not collect any data and does not set any browser cookies. However, the PRO version offers an option to disable the automatic popup after the first visit, which needs a browser cookie. This cookie stores the visitors first website visit timestamp and path on the client side. It is not shared nor is any data stored server side or elsewhere.

Contribute

If you’re happy with this plugin as it is, please consider writing a quick rating or helping other users out on the support forum.

If you wish to help build this plugin, you’re very welcome to translate Easy FancyBox into your language or contribute bug reports, feature suggestions and/or code on Github.

Known conflicts & issues

See Easy FancyBox Troubleshooting.

Screenshots

  • Example image with Overlay caption. This is the default way Easy FancyBox displays images. Other options are Inside and the old Outside.

  • Example of a YouTube movie in overlay.

Installation

WordPress

Quick installation: Install now !

… OR …

Search for “easy fancybox” and install with that slick Plugins > Add New back-end page.

… OR …

Follow these steps:

  1. Download archive.

  2. Upload the zip file via the Plugins > Add New > Upload page … OR … unpack and upload with your favorite FTP client to the /plugins/ folder.

  3. Activate the plugin on the Plug-ins page.

Done! By default, any images that are linked to directly (not to a WordPress page) from within your posts and pages, should now be opening in a FancyBox overlay 🙂

Not happy with the default settings? Check out the new options under Settings > Media.

WordPress MU / WordPress 3+ in Multi Site mode

Install as above. You can activate the plugin per site, or network wide.

When activating the plugin per site, each site will have the Images media type activated and Easy FancyBox will immediately try opening image links in the light box.

When activated network wide with Network Activate, each sub-site will not have any media type activated. The options will be there for individual site admins, ready to either activate or leave deactivated.

FAQ

What’s FancyBox?

Basically, it is a fancy way of presenting images, movies, portable documents and inline content on your website. For example, if you have scaled-down images in your posts which are linked to the original large version, instead of opening them on a blank page, FancyBox opens those in a smooth overlay. Visit FancyBox for more information and examples.

Which version of FancyBox does this plugin use?

This plugin uses an updated version of the original FancyBox 1.3.4, better adapted to the mobile era.

I installed the plugin. What now?

First, make sure that image thumbnails in your posts and pages are linked to their full size counterpart directly. Open any post with thumbnail images in it for editing and select the first thumbnail. Click the Edit Image button that appears and choose Link To: Media File. From now on, clicking that thumbnail should open the full size version in FancyBox.

The same thing goes for WordPress Galleries. Choose Link To: Media File when inserting a gallery tag.

Where is the settings page?

There is no new settings page but there are many options you can change. You will find a new FancyBox section on Settings > Media. To see the default, check out the example under Screenshots

Help! It does not work…

Please follow the trouble shooting steps to determine the cause. If that fails, ask for support on the Easy FancyBox WordPress forum or go to the development site

I have another question…

See the advanced Easy FancyBox FAQ’s.

Reviews

March 18, 2024
I have been using this plugin for many many years (longer than I can remember). It is and has always been one of the best and most reliable plugins I have ever used. And if there has ever been an issue the author jumps on it almost instantly. You can tell they really care about their project.
October 15, 2022 8 replies
I went back to version 1.8.19, because the dropping of SWF support is unfortunate. I know that Adobe's Flash is deprecated and not supported anymore, but I use Easy Fancybox to display an animated Flash clock with the help of scripts by Ruffle. Please consider adding SWF support again. Update 15-10-22: plugin developer Rolf helped me out on this issue. Flash clock is ticking again. See his reply below. Back to 5 stars rating. 😉
March 30, 2022
such a useful plugin! and thank you so much for the great support
January 15, 2022
This is one of my favorite plugins, I use it on every site I create where images are an integral part of the messaging (and even some where they're not), because it makes for an elegant visitor experience when site visitors wish to view a larger version of the image. It's very lightweight, and adding it's Settings to the Media overview is very sensible. The free version is packed with features but the premium version adds even more sophistication for those websites that may need more.
Read all 175 reviews

Contributors & Developers

“Easy FancyBox – WordPress Lightbox Plugin” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

“Easy FancyBox – WordPress Lightbox Plugin” has been translated into 14 locales. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.

Translate “Easy FancyBox – WordPress Lightbox Plugin” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

2.0.4

  • Fixed: Issues on new setting page

2.0.3

  • Remove overlay background check

2.0.2

  • Fixed overlay background settings

2.0.1

  • Fixed some PHP errors

2.0

  • Added new options screen
  • Consolidate options for lightboxes
  • Use Settings API for saving
  • Remove unused files

1.9.9

  • Added .jpeg to autodetect extensions
  • Added plugin activation timestamp

1.9.8

  • Removed unused scripts and files
  • Updated WordPress required version to 5.0

1.9.7

  • First small release by FirelightWP
  • Updated author, readme, plugin meta

=1.9.6 =
* Updated author
* Updated links to new site

=1.9.5 =
* FIX: ARIA attributes
* FIX: jQuery.fn.click() shorthand deprecated

1.9.4

  • FIX: Classic large content scroll
  • FIX: Classic gallery overflow flicker
  • FIX: Legacy float title position
  • FIX: upgrade notice
  • FIX: overlay opacity ignored (classic)
  • FIX: onStart not a function (legacy)
  • FIX: Passing event parameters failing
  • FIX: Case insesitive selectors failing
  • FIX: Admin message display issue

1.9

  • NEW: Swipe support
  • NEW: Optional fancyBox 2 or Legacy scripts
  • Fixed background
  • Dropped IE6-8 support
  • Dropped SWF support (only availbale in Legacy)
  • Accessibility improvements

1.8.19

  • Admin settings links
  • Pro compatibility message for VideoPress
  • NEW: Exclude selector option
  • FIX: border 0 ignored sometimes

1.8.18

  • FIX: Jetpack Tiled Gallery block compatibility
  • Don’t include mousewheel script by default
  • SECURITY: fixed failing color value sanitization + added inline styles output filter, issue reported by Jakob Hagl sba-research.org

1.8.17

  • Pro compatibility messages
  • Support forum link

1.8.16

  • FIX: Trying to get property ‘ID’ of non-object
  • mark WordPress 5.2 compatible

1.8.15

  • FIX: inline wrapper nesting issue
  • Revert to file names without version

1.8.13

  • FIX: version constant issue
  • Prepare Visual Composer Masonry Grid Gallery compatibility option

1.8.11

  • FIX: Vimeo player direct links breaking

1.8.10

  • Force default autoselector for galleries

1.8.9

  • Prevent gallery next/prev links to show dud target
  • FIX: allow youtube url parameters before v=

1.8.7

  • Autoplay Youtube/Vimeo/Dailymotion
  • FIX: Exclude Vimeo user pages from autodetect
  • FIX: Exclude facebook/twitter share link
  • FIX: PDF embed tag

1.8.6

  • Gutenberg file block download button compatibility
  • Gutenberg gallery block compatibility
  • FIX: Missing argument in easyFancyBox::add_video_wmode_opaque()
  • Remove version URL parameters
  • FIX: jQuery 3+ e.indexOf is not a function

1.8.5

  • FIX: prevent Inline content title

1.8.4

  • Improved center on scroll behavior with title outside
  • FIX: Pro options compatibility

1.8.3

  • FIX: AutoScale option restored
  • FIX: outline issue in Firefox
  • Prevent SiteGround Optimizer warning about break outside loop

1.8.2

  • FIX: main method not returning true in some cases
  • Force all hosted video to https
  • FIX: video iframe needs allow=”autoplay” on modern browsers
  • FIX: default enqueue priority not 10
  • FIX: possible infinite loop in prev/next and image preloader
  • Move main method (back) to init, position 9
  • Introducing easy_fancybox_enqueue_scripts action hook

1.8

  • NEW: Google Docs Viewer for PDF
  • NEW: Youtube privacy-enhanced embed
  • NEW: Compatibility options: late script inclusion, jquery exclusion, no wp_add_inline_script
  • FancyBox: Improved mobile viewport height detection
  • FancyBox: now skips subsequent double links in gallery
  • FancyBox: new PDF content type
  • FancyBox: improved error messages
  • Dedicated IE8 stylesheet
  • jQuery Easing update to 1.4.1

1.7

  • NEW: Aspect ratio for video frames on smaller screens
  • NEW: Global minimum screen size
  • NEW: Loading icon for video/iframe content
  • NEW: Resize light box on device orientation or browser window size change
  • NEW: Modal window class and close button class
  • FIX: pre PHP 5.4 compatibility
  • FIX: iPhone iframe scrolling
  • FIX: Autoptimize compatibility
  • Switch to wp_add_inline_script() script printing, thanks @szepeviktor

1.6.3

  • FIX: inline js minification incompatibility, thanks @alexiswilke

1.6.2

  • FIX: line breaks hidden on options media admin page since WP 4.9, thanks @garrett-eclipse

1.6.1

  • Nolightbox class in menu also for other media types than images
  • FIX: CSS color code
  • Spelling fixes, thanks @garrett-eclipse
  • FIX: Pinterest button compatibility
  • FIX: Double load plugin text domain

1.6

  • Add webp to default Autodetect image types
  • Exclude more rel attribute values from galleries
  • BUGFIX: gallery preload
  • Update jquery.easing.js and jquery.mousewheel.js

1.5.8.2

  • BUGFIX: use dirname(FILE) instead of relying on DIR to be available
  • Explicit transparency for gallery navigation links

1.5.8

  • FIX: variable variable php 7 compat
  • FIX: obj undefined in minified js
  • FIX: nofancybox in menu ignored, thanks Trishah
  • Color value sanitize
  • NEW: auto popup delay
  • NEW: pro extension version compatibility check routine
  • NEW: margin option
  • NEW: iFrame alow full screen option
  • Dropped mu-plugins support
  • Added support for universal nolightbox class
  • Set focus on iframe after load
  • FIX: No center on scroll on touch devices
  • FIX: Allow fullscreen videos

1.5.7

  • FIX: Pro extension link update
  • NEW: WebP support and class=’image’ to force image media type
  • IE 6-8 css rules optional
  • iframe embed for Youtube, Vimeo and Dailymotion
  • Croation translation
  • HTML5 players allowfullscreen default

1.5.6

  • iPad positioning patch
  • Don’t unregister scripts that are not ours even for conflict prevention
  • box-sizing: border-box issue in Firefox fixed
  • Allow mousewheel scrolling page in the background again

1.5.5

  • Prevent mousewheel scrolling page in the background
  • New stylesheet IE alphaimageloader path fix approach
  • Czech translation added
  • Updated Indonesian translation

1.5.2

  • BUGFIX: easy_fancybox_handler() in combo with trigger(‘click’) causes Uncaught Exception script error

1.5.1

  • FIX: jQuery 1.9+ compatibility
  • Dropping support for gForms again — “Cannot convert ‘c’ to object” error in combination with some older gForms version 🙁
  • NEW: support for Infinite Scroll by Jetpack

1.5.0

  • FIX: CSS3 box-sizing issue (Twenty Thirteen) misplacing close button
  • NEW: Added SVG support. Thanks to Simon Maillard.
  • Pre WP 3.6: jQuery 1.9+ compatibility
  • JQuery Mousewheel extension update to 3.1.3
  • NEW: Elegant Themes compatibility
  • Some small Touch device compatibility improvement hacks to the 1.3.4 script
  • Major plugin overhaul: Class implementation
  • NEW: Disable hide on overlay click
  • NEW: Allow automatic resizing to large image size set on Settings > Media during media upload via the hidden WordPress function media_upload_max_image_resize()
  • NEW Options: iFrame scrolling, autoScale, key navigation/close, cyclic galleries
  • Metadata custom parameters and Mousewheel gallery scrolling scripts optional
  • Basic RTL languages/text direction support (gallery navigation inversion, title position)
  • BUGFIX: https in stylesheet on Windows IIS
  • Improved W3TC compatibility: query string issue
  • Gravity Forms in ajax mode compatibility
  • Use jQuery’s bind(‘ready’) for better ajax content compatibility
  • Dynamic stylesheet response headers to allow browser caching
  • Minified version of jquery.metadata.js
  • Auto-detect on image map areas
  • nolightbox class for menu items
  • SECURITY: Settings sanitization
  • BUGFIX: load_textdomain firing after the main settings array is loaded, leaving text strings in it untranslated.
  • BUGFIX: missing signs in Youtube url regular expression
  • BUGFIX: unquoted rel attribute selectors in jquery.fancybox-1.3.4.js
  • BUGFIX: broken url path in IE stylesheet when missing $_SERVER[‘SERVER_NAME’]
  • BUGFIX: easing extension not needed on linear easing

1.3.4.9

  • NEW: Lithuanian translation
  • NEW: Hindi translation
  • NEW: Indonesian translation
  • NEW: Romanian translation
  • NEW: Polish translation
  • NEW: Spanish translation
  • NEW: jQuery Metadata support
  • NEW: Image map AREA support for all content types
  • NEW: new iFrame/HTML5 embed code for YouTube, Vimeo and Dailymotion
  • NEW: fix WordPress Dailymotion auto-embed code missing wmode
  • Some changes to default settings
  • Updated Dutch translation
  • BUGFIX: Opening speed

1.3.4.8

  • NEW: Advanced option: Gallery auto-rotation
  • NEW: Spotlight effect
  • Improved auto-enable and auto-gallery settings
  • BIGFIX: CSS IE6 hack
  • BIGFIX: PDF object in IE7

1.3.4.6

  • PDF embed compatibility improvement
  • NEW: Show/hide title on mouse hover action
  • NEW: Auto-gallery modes (Disabled, page/post images only, all)
  • NEW: Dailymotion support
  • Links with id fancybox-auto will be triggered on page load
  • Anything with class fancybox-hidden” will be hidden
  • Support for menu items in iframe
  • Added class nofancybox for exclusion when auto-enabling

1.3.4.5

  • FancyBox script version 1.3.4 (2010/11/11 – http://fancybox.net/changelog/)
  • NEW: Support for PDF
  • NEW: Easing options
  • YouTube, Vimeo and iFrame options adjustable
  • lots and lots of more options!
  • BIGFIX: work-around for missing wmode in WordPress (auto-)embedded movies (credits: Crantea Mihaita)

1.3.3.4.2

  • BIGFIX: iframe width
  • BIGFIX: image overlay size in Google Chrome browser issue (FancyBox 1.3.3)
  • BIGFIX: fancybox-swf

1.3.3.4

  • FancyBox script version 1.3.3 (2010/11/4 – http://fancybox.net/changelog/)
  • Vimeo support
  • YouTube Short URL support (disabled by default)
  • Auto-recognition and seperate class fancybox-youtube for YouTube
  • Auto-recognition and seperate class fancybox-vimeo for Vimeo

1.3.2

  • FancyBox script version 1.3.2 (2010/10/10 – http://fancybox.net/changelog/)

1.3.1.3

  • translation .pot file available
  • Dutch translation
  • NEW: YouTube and Flash movie support
  • NEW: Iframe support
  • added option Auto-enable for…

1.3.1.2

  • added option titlePosition : over / inside / outside
  • added option transitionIn : elastic / fade / none
  • added option transitionOut : elastic / fade / none

1.3.1.1

  • small jQuery speed improvement by chaining object calls

1.3.1

  • Using FancyBox version 1.3.1