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FooBox Review: A Responsive WordPress Lightbox Plugin

Updated on March 30, 2021

7 Min Read
foobox plugin review

WordPress has revolutionized the way websites work. With the development of plugins, your website can do (almost) anything you can imagine. But choosing the right plugin is about more than finding something that looks nice.

More and more, website owners and designers need to factor in user experience, website performance, and search engine ranking. So while you may want your images to ‘pop,’ you also need a plugin that works in your favor. When it comes to using a lightbox, FooBox could just be the solution.

This article will take an in-depth look at FooBox, what it is, what it does, and how it works. In the end, you’ll be able to decide whether this WordPress lightbox plugin is the solution for you.

What Makes FooBox Different from Others?

A lightbox plugin, like FooBox, allows you to open images or videos in a box or overlay above the screen. You might, for instance, click on an image thumbnail to open the full-size image in a lightbox, or you could add a link to a form on your page and open the form in a lightbox.

FooBox makes this process simple. It’s a responsive lightbox that works out of the box, which means it needs zero configuration to start working. Simply install it and start using it straight away.

The settings are straightforward and user-friendly. But despite this, it can add an attractive and functional design element to your site. Plus, if you run into any difficulties along the way, you can use the documentation or the support on offer.

FooBox: An Overview

FooBox is a responsive lightbox designed to work with photo galleries. However, it can be used as a standalone lightbox as well. This gives you more flexibility and, when combined with some of the other valuable features, can help you boost and track your site’s performance.

FooBox is a freemium plugin, which means that you can use the basic version for free. If you want to add to the functionality and customize the lightbox even further, then the premium version might work better for you.

Keep reading for more info on the features and pricing options available to you.

How FooBox Works

The plugin works by opening specific elements on your site in a lightbox, or overlay, above the screen.

Let’s take a photo gallery as an example. If you’re using FooBox to open the gallery thumbnails, then clicking on (or tapping) an image would open the full-size photo in the lightbox. You won’t navigate away from the page; the box would simply open above the page.

how foobox plugin works

Using FooBox with a photo gallery

The same would be true for anything you opened in the lightbox, such as videos or HTML. FooBox also makes it easy to scroll through items and close the lightbox. So once you’ve finished viewing images or filling out a form, you can simply close the panel and continue from where you left off.

Features and Benefits

Using a responsive design for your site is essential, and this is FooBox’s biggest drawcard. Both free and premium versions of the plugin are responsive, which means that when an image or form is opened, they adjust to the device’s screen. So whether you’re viewing images in a gallery or if you’ve opened up a video in a lightbox, the elements adjust automatically. This is a huge benefit, considering the number of people who access websites on mobile or handheld devices.

Another benefit is that users don’t have to leave the page when viewing something in FooBox. Instead of opening an item in a new tab, visitors are viewing the item in the lightbox. So they don’t navigate away from your page or leave the site when they’re finished interacting with that one element.

Features of FooBox Free

The plugin is easy to use and simple to customize. The free version of the plugin gives you a basic lightbox. This allows you to use a lightbox for standalone images or a gallery, and it is compatible with numerous WordPress galleries, including FooGallery. The free version also gives you Swipe Navigation for scrolling through images.

Features of FooBox PRO

The PRO version has the same features plus advanced ones along with a range of customization options. In fact, FooBox PRO comes with over 85 customizations. Some of these include different themes, colors, icons, and animations. You can also adjust the navigation buttons.

One of FooBox PRO’s main benefits is that you can use it to display videos, HTML, Gravity Forms, and so on. There is also WooCommerce product image support.

Another nifty feature is social sharing, which works well with the deep-linking feature. Why is this useful? Because when you open an item in FooBox, it will have a unique URL. Sharing this URL means that the page will open with the lightbox displayed when someone clicks on the link, and this allows you to share a specific image or take someone directly to a video or form on your page.

Furthermore, you can track these shares with built-in analytics tracking. The PRO version lets you set up Google Analytics events for when images or videos are shown in the lightbox or when someone shares them on social media.

Using FooBox

Using FooBox is as simple as installing and activating the plugin on your site. Once it’s active, all you need to do is implement it. Of course, if you’re using the premium version, you can customize the appearance and adjust your settings.

Let’s look at an example. If you want to use FooBox on a single image, you would insert your image and link it to the Media File. You can see how this works in the image below.

using foobox plugin

How to enable FooBox for a single image

When you click on the image on the page, it opens in the lightbox. As you can see, social sharing is enabled, and users can quickly exit the lightbox by clicking on the Close icon, which takes them right back to where they were on the page.

enable foobox

FooBox in Action

In much the same way, you can use FooBox to open gallery images in a lightbox. If you’re using FooGallery, for example, you will select FooBox as your lightbox. Then, when visitors click on thumbnails in the gallery, the full-size image would open in the lightbox. You can then use the navigation arrows (or the slideshow function in Pro) to scroll through the remaining gallery images.

Using FooBox for videos, HTML, or forms is a bit more complex, as it involves using basic HTML. However, there are simple instructions for you to follow in the FooBox Demos or the documentation.

Customizing FooBox PRO

The PRO version comes with three themes for you to choose from: Rounded, Flat, and Metro. These offer you some flexibility in the appearance of your lightbox, giving you a rounded or squared border. Or, in the case of the Flat theme, no border at all.

foobox customization

You can further customize each theme with a color scheme and various icons. You’re also given several options for the navigation buttons, which can be made sticky, full-height sticky, or shown on hover inside the modal.

Styling FooBox

Pricing

Of course, you can use FooBox for free. It is available on WordPress.org, where you can download, install and use it straight away.

If you’re looking for some of the more advanced features, you may want to consider using the premium version. There are three plans to choose from, starting from $29, and each plan includes all of the premium features.

The plans lets you use the plugin on several sites. That is, you can purchase a single-site, five-site, or 25-site license. Each is available for a monthly, annual, or lifetime period.

If you’re not sure that FooBox PRO is the right solution for you, we recommended that you make use of the free trial. This gives you 7 days to try out all of the pro features. At the end of the trial, you can either upgrade to PRO or simply let the trial end, reverting your license to the free version.

Pros & Cons

FooBox has been around for long but is constantly improved by the team at FooPlugins. But there are some pros and cons worth considering:

  • This is a solid plugin that is easy to use. We also like that there is little to no setup involved.
  • The lightbox is responsive.
  • If you’re looking for a simple lightbox for your images or galleries, then the free version will work well for you.
  • FooBox PRO handles video, Gravity Forms, and HTML. It also includes some useful features, like social sharing, deep-linking, and analytics tracking.
  • FooBox works with numerous WordPress galleries, not just FooGallery.

However, while the setup is easy, it can be challenging to use FooBox PRO to display HTML and forms. This is primarily because some basic HTML knowledge is required for this, which could be tricky for non-developers. The FooPlugins team says there are plans in the works to make this easier within the Gutenberg editor.

Final Thoughts

All-in-all, this is an easy-to-use WordPress lightbox that offers you an excellent design option without compromising your site’s responsiveness. It’s always great when you can make your images ‘pop,’ and this lightbox does just that.

With the added premium features, like social sharing, deep-linking, and analytics, this lightbox can even help you improve and track your performance. We’re confident in saying that this lightbox does what it says. And with the added support, you can’t go wrong.

Note: This article was published in collaboration with FooPlugins.

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Muhammad Muzamil

Muhammad Muzamil is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Cloudways. He's Passionate about digging websites from the depths of search indexes. His journey has made him a hardened digital marketer with a special love for cutting-edge digital marketing tactics. In his free time, he likes to watch a series. feel free to discuss anything! ~ Hope you’ll enjoy it.

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