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WP Colorbox
View image, video (YouTube, Vimeo), page, inline HTML, custom content in lightbox. Add jQuery Colorbox lightbox effect to your WordPress site.
The facts
- Rating
- 4.3★ from 23
- Active installs
- 5k+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 16 Aug 2025
- Added
- Jan 2014
- Requires WP
- 3.0
- Tested up to
- WP 6.8.8
- Downloads
- 157,096
Our analysis
AI-assistedWP Colorbox is a WordPress plugin that provides a lightbox tool for displaying media content. It uses the jQuery ColorBox library to allow users to view larger versions of images and videos without navigating away from the current page. The plugin supports various media types, including images, YouTube, and Vimeo videos, and can be triggered through text or image links using shortcodes.
This plugin is suitable for users who want to enhance their site with a responsive lightbox feature. It is particularly useful for photographers, videographers, and anyone looking to showcase media content in a visually appealing way.
Best for: This plugin suits photographers, videographers, and content creators who want to display media in an engaging format.
What it does well
- ✓Allows users to pop up images and videos in a lightbox
- ✓Supports custom HTML content and external pages via iframe
- ✓Responsive design works well on mobile devices
- ✓Easy to implement using shortcodes
- ✓Compatible with modern browsers
Where it falls short
- •Limited information on advanced features or customisation options
Verdict
WP Colorbox offers a straightforward solution for adding lightbox functionality to a WordPress site. It is a practical choice for users looking to enhance their media presentation.
From the developer
Noor Alam's own description of WP Colorbox, lightly tidied.
WP Colorbox plugin is a simple lightbox tool for WordPress. It allows users to pop up content in lightbox using the popular jQuery ColorBox library. They can also view the larger version of a particular media file without leaving the page.
Features
- Beautiful lightbox popup style
- Flexiblity of creating your own lightbox link
- Pop up custom/HTML content in lightbox
- Trigger lightbox from either a text/image link
- Add lightbox to a YouTube or Vimeo video link
- Enable lightbox functionality on your site which supports modern browsers
- Use a simple shortcode to pop up a media file in lightbox
- Apply lightbox effect on images inserted into WordPress post/page
- Open external page in lightbox using iframe
- Responsive lightbox popup which works on mobile devices. Also it fits perfectly on smaller screens.
How to Use WP Colorbox
Pop up image in lightbox
Create a new post/page and use the following shortcode to create a text/image link which will trigger lightbox once clicked:
[wp_colorbox_media url="https://example.com/wp-content/uploads/images/overlay.jpg" type="image" hyperlink="click here to pop up image"]
here, url is the link to the media file that you wish to open in lightbox and hyperlink is the anchor text/image.
[wp_colorbox_media url="https://example.com/wp-content/uploads/images/overlay.jpg" type="image" hyperlink="http://example.com/wp-content/uploads/images/thumb.jpg"]
Pop up YouTube video in lightbox
[wp_colorbox_media url="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nmp3Ra3Yj24" type="youtube" hyperlink="click here to pop up youtube video"]
Pop up Vimeo video in lightbox
[wp_colorbox_media url="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1284237" type="vimeo" hyperlink="click here to pop up vimeo video"]
Specify an Alternate Text for an Image
[wp_colorbox_media url="https://example.com/wp-content/uploads/images/overlay.jpg" title="overlay image" type="image" hyperlink="http://example.com/wp-content/uploads/images/thumb.jpg" alt="Thumbnail image description"]
Apply Custom CSS
Tagged as
feature
Shortcodes
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