[ad_1]
WordPress 6.4 added a native “Expand on click” option that provides a lightbox without any plugins. This plugin still has a couple of advantages over the current built-in lightboxes:
- The plugin recognizes images within galleries and allows navigating between them with the arrow keys/buttons without leaving the lightbox. (The native lightbox currently has no such functionality.)
- The plugin’s lightbox has a transparent background that (IMO) makes it easier for users to tell how to get back to the normal page. The native lightbox currently has a solid white background (although this may be changeable via theming?)
On the other hand, the new native lightbox has a few advantages over this plugin:
- The animation from the webpage to the lightbox (and back) is slightly more polished (it includes positioning, rather than just a fade).
- The native lightbox changes the cursor to a zoom icon on hover (and displays a lightbox hint icon in the top-right of the image on hover), while the plugin only shows the link-hover cursor.
- The new built-in “Expand on click” setting is more intuitive for writers than having to make the media file link to itself.
With that in mind, I was wondering if there are any particular plans for integrating this plugin more closely with WordPress’s new built-in lightbox (e.g. adding pagination/gallery functionality to the built-in lightbox), or if the plan is still to maintain this plugin as an entirely separate option?