Overview

Lightbox JS is a simple, unobtrusive script used to overlay images on the current page. It's a snap to setup and works on all modern browsers.

Example

Single Images

city fashion city fashion city fashion

Group Images

tulip tulip flower hurricane lamp cherry blossom flower petunse wall

How to Use:

Part 1 - Setup

1. Lightbox v2.0 uses the Prototype Framework and Scriptaculous Effects Library. You will need to include these three Javascript files in your header.

<script type="text/javascript" src="js/prototype.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/scriptaculous.js?load=effects"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/lightbox.js"></script>

2. Include the Lightbox CSS file (or append your active stylesheet with the Lightbox styles).

<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/lightbox.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />

3. Check the CSS and make sure the referenced prev.gif and next.gif files are in the right location. Also, make sure the loading.gif and close.gif files as referenced near the top of the lightbox.js file are in the right location.

Part 2 - Activate

1. Add a rel="lightbox" attribute to any link tag to activate the lightbox. For example:

<a href="images/image-1.jpg" rel="lightbox" title="my caption">image #1</a>

Optional: Use the title attribute if you want to show a caption.

2. If you have a set of related images that you would like to group, follow step one but additionally include a group name between square brackets in the rel attribute. For example: 

<a href="images/image-1.jpg" rel="lightbox[roadtrip]">image #1</a>
<a href="images/image-2.jpg" rel="lightbox[roadtrip]">image #2</a>
<a href="images/image-3.jpg" rel="lightbox[roadtrip]">image #3</a>

No limits to the number of image sets per page or how many images are allowed in each set.

lightbox Download

lightbox2.03.3

 

Support

It doesn't work at all. The image opens up in a new page. What's wrong?
This is commonly caused by a conflict between scripts. Check your body tag and look for an onload attribute. Example:

<body onload="MM_preloadImages('/images/menu_on.gif')…;">

A quick fix to this problem is to append the initLightbox() to the onload attribute as so:

<body onload="MM_preloadImages('/images/menu_on.gif')…;initLightbox()">

It doesn't work if I click an image link before the page has finished loading.

The script is activated only after the page has finished loading.

The shadow overlay doesn't stretch to cover full browser window.

Remove the default margin and padding from the body tag. Add body{ margin: 0; padding: 0; } to your stylesheet.

Can I insert links in the caption?

Yes, but you need to convert quotes and greater and less than symbols into their html entity equivalents. For example:

<a href="images/image-4.jpg" rel="lightbox" title="<a href="link.html">my link</a>">Image

Can I display flash, video, or other content using the script?

Sorry, photos only. For other content, google for Lightbox modifications or try an alternative script such as Cody Lindley's ThickBox.

Can the script be called from an iframe?

If you're using iframes, try the Lytebox modification which has better support.

Can I use the script in a commercial project?

Yes. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. A donation would be nice, hint hint.