One of the most often asked questions we’ve had recently via our contact form is how to build a gallery in WordPress with a lightbox effect, so we’ve decided to address it. Many newcomers are unaware that WordPress includes a gallery feature that may be utilized on any post or page. We’ll show you how to use the native gallery in a WordPress post or page in this article. We’ll also demonstrate how to install a plugin that allows your users to open full-size images in a lightbox, preventing them from leaving the page.
Adding a Gallery to a WordPress Site
To begin, open an existing post or start a new one. The next step is to upload a number of photographs to this post. To upload your new Gallery photographs, click the Upload Media icon.
When you’ve finished uploading all of your photos, go to the Gallery tab. Scroll down to the Gallery Settings section. Choose an ordering scheme and the number of columns you want in your gallery. on this web page Use 3 on 3 column layouts, 4 on 2 column layouts, and 6 on full width layouts as a general rule of thumb, but this can change based on the theme you’re using. After you’ve made your selections, click Insert gallery.
How to Add a Lightbox Effect to a Gallery in WordPress
The gallery will be added to the live site after you click Update or Publish on your post/page.
Adding a Lightbox to a WordPress Photo Gallery
If you try to click any of the thumbnails in your new gallery, you’ll discover that they simply open a new window with a separate attachment page, which isn’t very user-friendly. However, you also want viewers to be able to see the full-size images, which is why we’ll utilize the jQuery Lightbox For Native Galleries plugin.
Install and activate the plugin first.
After that, navigate to Settings » jQuery Lightbox. Choose a theme for your lightbox window from the drop-down menu.
Now go back to your original post and check out your gallery. It appears to be in good operating order.
Congratulations, you’ve successfully added a lightbox gallery to your WordPress post or page. This is how the final preview would look:
