How to Set Up the Lightbox

A WordPress gallery lightbox opens images in an overlay when visitors click them. WP Social Media Gallery includes a built-in lightbox with captions, navigation arrows, swipe support, and transition effects. You enable and configure it in the Lightbox step of the Gallery Builder.

Before You Start

Open the gallery you want to edit in the Gallery Builder and go to the Lightbox step.

• A saved gallery open in the Gallery Builder.
• Images already added to the Source step.

Enable the Lightbox

The lightbox is disabled by default. Toggle it on in the Settings sub-menu of the Lightbox step. When disabled, clicking an image opens it in the browser tab instead of the overlay.

1. Go to WP Social Media Gallery > Gallery Builder.
2. Open the gallery you want to edit.
3. Click Lightbox in the builder stepper.
4. Toggle Enable Lightbox? to on.

The lightbox toggle is per-gallery. You can have lightbox enabled for some galleries and disabled for others.

Configure Captions and Display

Under Settings, choose what appears inside the lightbox alongside each image. You can show the serial number, file name, and description. The description comes from the attachment caption by default, but you can change the caption source in the Global settings.

Set the Caption Position to Top or Bottom. Top places the caption above the image; bottom places it below. The caption bar appears only when at least one show option is enabled.

1. Check Serial Number to show the image position in the gallery.
2. Check File Name to show the attachment filename.
3. Check Description to show the attachment caption.
4. Set Caption Position to Top or Bottom.

Set Navigation and Effects

The Navigation sub-menu controls the arrow buttons, close button, and swipe behaviour. The Effects sub-menu controls the transition animation when the lightbox opens and when moving between images.

1. Click Navigation in the lightbox side menu.
2. Choose the arrow position: inside the image, outside, or hidden.
3. Choose the close button position: inside or outside.
4. Enable or disable swipe navigation for touch devices.
5. Click Effects in the lightbox side menu.
6. Pick a transition effect: fade, slide, zoom, or none.

Swipe navigation is enabled by default. Keep it on if most of your visitors use mobile devices.

What to Check

Preview the lightbox after configuring it to confirm the behaviour matches your expectation.

• Clicking an image opens the lightbox overlay.
• Navigation arrows move between images in the correct order.
• Captions appear in the chosen position with the correct content.
• Swipe works on a touch device if enabled.
• The close button dismisses the lightbox.

Troubleshooting

If the lightbox does not open or behaves incorrectly, check the following.

• Lightbox does not open: Confirm the Enable Lightbox? toggle is on in the Lightbox step. Also check that the gallery status is active.
• Captions are empty: Confirm the images have captions in the WordPress media library, or change the caption source in Global settings.
• Arrows do not appear: Verify the arrow position is not set to hidden in the Navigation sub-menu.

Next Steps

With the lightbox enabled, add EXIF data to show camera metadata inside the overlay. Learn how to show EXIF data in the lightbox to give visitors more context about each image.