imageLightbox
Image Lightbox, Responsive and Touch‑friendly.
Consider an alternative
imageLightbox shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 300+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 10 years ago, and scores 33/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (300+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 9 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.6 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where imageLightbox stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| images | >100 |
| jquery | >100 |
| lightbox | >100 |
| lightweight | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
About imageLightbox
From the official readme · v0.1.1Description
This is a WordPressified version of the excellent, lightweight (for real!) imageLightbox.js (MIT-licensed) by Osvaldas Valutis (http://osvaldas.info/image-lightbox-responsive-touch-friendly)
This is his introduction to the lightbox:
“As for the image lightboxes, I have always lacked simplicity for them. I mean not only the visual design, but the overall experience: from implementation to UX. All due respect, but I have never liked any of these light-fancy-face-boxes. They all were solving problems that just don’t exist: lots of unwanted features by default, total mess in markup, no native behavior for touch screens. I was working on a project and needed an image lightbox that solves these problems. I needed a lightbox only for images, not video, text, and iframes at once. I made ImageLightbox.js.”
This version autodetects all links to image files and opens them in the lightbox.
For your “install, activate and go”-convenience, this plugin comes with a minimal CSS that easily can be deactivated and/or replaced.
The plugin can also be themed to your liking. An example theme is available here: https://github.com/bjornjohansen/imagelightbox-theme-smooth
Please let me know if you have any issues. Fastest way to get a response is by Twitter: https://twitter.com/bjornjohansen
Installation
- Download and unzip plugin
- Upload the ‘imagelightbox’ folder to the ‘/wp-content/plugins/’ directory,
- Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best imageLightbox alternatives
All images plugins →
FAQ
imageLightbox: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 4, 2026
Is imageLightbox free?
Yes. imageLightbox is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is imageLightbox safe to use in 2026?
imageLightbox shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 300+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 10 years ago, and scores 33/100 on our health check.
How many websites use imageLightbox?
imageLightbox is active on 300+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 15,856 times since it launched in May 2014. It was downloaded 91 times in the last 30 days.
Does imageLightbox work with WordPress 7.1?
imageLightbox is officially tested up to WordPress 4.6.30, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was imageLightbox last updated?
The latest version, 0.1.1, was released on October 8, 2016 (10 years ago).
Who makes imageLightbox?
imageLightbox is developed and maintained by Bjørn Johansen.
What are the best alternatives to imageLightbox?
The most popular alternatives to imageLightbox are Autoptimize (800K+ installs), WebP Express (300K+ installs) and Responsive Lightbox & Galle… (100K+ installs).
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