Gutenberg Gallery Blocks Lightbox

by Ben Dunkle

Description

This plugin transforms the Gutenberg gallery block into a lightbox with previous/next navigation. It was built to offer those who wish to present a series of images in lightbox/slider format with a simple, lightweight solution.

Installation

Install the plugin through the Install Plugins interface or by uploading the ggbl-lightbox folder to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
Activate the plugin.
Make sure you select “Media File” in the Link To dropdown menu for your galleries

Why did you make this plugin?

I haven’t found a lightbox that is optimized for Gutenberg galleries. Many generate their own gallery formats or contain unneccesary options. I wanted to build one that was as minimal as possible, while offering a functional and elegant experience.

Reviews

Brilliant!!

By sophibee on November 20, 2025

I can't believe how easy my image gallery issue was solved. Thanks so much for your work on creating such a helpful plugin.

best plugin

By readysite on November 19, 2024

Great simple plugin

Nice work

By JBertrand10 on June 19, 2024

Exactly what I was looking for, very minimal and just works.

Just works perfectly! Highly Recommended

By ozzymuppet on November 9, 2023

Great plugin, allowing me to quickly make a single or multiple images into a lightbox without having to download some ridiculously huge plugin that wants a monthly subscription or something nuts. Works well on mobile, and sure it does'nt have "swipe", but it has left/right arrows which work perfect. It's not meant to be bulky and fancy, just to provide the basic functionality that should already come with WordPress but does'nt. Thank you developer, you're a great help!

Not mobile friendly

By civilization on January 17, 2023

Giving three stars because only half work is done when developing this plugin. On mobile, arrows get out of center and in general look a bit weird Also it is impossible to swipe to the next picture.

Considering that these days very big part of the users are using mobile phones, those are critical issues.

Hält was es verspricht

By 1stein on January 16, 2023

Das Plugin macht genau, was der Titel verspricht. Bilder aus der Gutenberg Galerie öffnen sich in einem modalen Fenster, wie man es erwartet. Tiptop!

Lightbox Simplified

By amyers99 on December 6, 2022

Fantastic. It worked great. Enable the plugin, click on an image and enjoy a lightbox gallery.

Léger, simple et efficace

By albeaumont on October 19, 2022

Léger, simple et efficace. Fais le job. Parfait

Does what it says

By dochara on September 1, 2022

Love a simple lightweight plugin that does just one thing and does it really well. This is perfect.

Perfect update for the standard gallery block

By xgarb on April 28, 2022

Great little plugin that updates the standard Gutenburg Gallery Block to have a nice lightbox effect. No heavy plugins needed for a nice gallery.

Changelog

=1.5=
* Tested for wp 6.8.1. Minor UI updates. Added swipe on mobile

=1.2.4 =
* Tested for wp 6.6.2. Removed tags, updated plugin uri

=1.2.3 =
* Tested for wp 6.5

=1.2.2 =
* Changed lightbox to position:fixed to prevent unwanted scrolling. Props @Antahai

=1.2.1 =
* test for wp 6.0. Adds support for left/right arrow key navigation. Adds support for ESC key to close gallery.

=1.2 =
* test for wp 5.9. Works with updated wp-blocks-gallery class

=1.1 =
* Ensure that lightbox is above all other elements on the page

=1.0 =
* Initial Release.