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What is fancybox?

fancyapps/fancybox — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

★ 7,257JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5LicenseSetup · easy

In one sentence

Fancybox is an archived jQuery plugin that displays images and videos in a pop-up overlay when clicked, with touch support and gallery browsing, this repository is no longer maintained.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Fancybox))
    What it does
      Image lightbox overlay
      Video pop-up
      Gallery browsing
    Features
      Touch gesture support
      Responsive layout
      data-fancybox trigger
    Setup steps
      Add jQuery
      Add script and CSS
      Mark links with attr
    Status
      Archived repository
      Moved to new repo
      GPLv3 or commercial
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Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Add a click-to-enlarge image overlay to an existing jQuery-powered website with three lines of setup code.

USE CASE 2

Display a YouTube or Vimeo video in a pop-up lightbox so visitors watch it without navigating away from the page.

What is it built with?

JavaScriptjQuery

How does it compare?

fancyapps/fancyboxrstacruz/jquery.transitnexts/clusterize.js
Stars7,2577,2467,274
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity1/52/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

This repository is archived, check the fancyapps GitHub organization for the actively maintained successor.

Free for open source projects under GPLv3, commercial websites, themes, or paid apps require a separate commercial license from the project site.

So what is it?

Fancybox is a jQuery plugin for displaying images, videos, and other content in an overlay that appears on top of the current page. When a visitor clicks a thumbnail or link, the full-size image or video opens in a lightbox without navigating away from the page. It supports touch gestures for mobile users, adjusts to different screen sizes, and can be configured to group multiple items into a gallery that the user can browse through. This particular repository has been archived and is no longer actively maintained. The project has moved to a different repository under the same GitHub organization. The README here is minimal, covering only the basic three-step setup: add jQuery and the Fancybox script and stylesheet to your page, mark your links with a data-fancybox attribute, and the overlay behavior activates automatically on click. The license is GPLv3 for open source use. Commercial projects, including websites, themes, or applications intended for sale, require a separate commercial license from the project's official site.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I set up Fancybox on an existing HTML page so that clicking any image with a data-fancybox attribute opens it in a full-screen lightbox overlay?
Prompt 2
How do I group several images into a Fancybox gallery so that users can click prev and next arrows to browse through them after opening one?
Prompt 3
What is the replacement for this archived Fancybox jQuery plugin, and how do I migrate my existing data-fancybox markup to the newer version?

Frequently asked questions

What is fancybox?

Fancybox is an archived jQuery plugin that displays images and videos in a pop-up overlay when clicked, with touch support and gallery browsing, this repository is no longer maintained.

What language is fancybox written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, jQuery.

What license does fancybox use?

Free for open source projects under GPLv3, commercial websites, themes, or paid apps require a separate commercial license from the project site.

How hard is fancybox to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is fancybox for?

Mainly developer.

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