Earlier at the moment, core WordPress contributor Nick Halsey launched Full Screen Galleries, a plugin that mechanically creates a full-screen slideshow when web site guests click on on a picture. The plugin works with all pictures, no matter whether or not they’re in a gallery block. It additionally helps each the traditional and block editors.
Lightbox-type plugins are a dime a dozen. It’s robust to wade by way of them to seek out the proper answer. Nevertheless, typically the best answer is the way in which to go. Halsey’s plugin has no settings display screen, submit metadata, or block choices. It’s plug-and-play. The one configuration is in activating the plugin itself.
Full Display Galleries creates a slideshow-style overlay for all pictures positioned on a submit or web page. When a customer clicks on one, the full-screen slideshow takes over the web page.

Halsey has a demo page on his site the place potential customers can see the plugin in motion.
There are extra superior choices on the market. Some present EXIF information, create transition results and different sorts of animation, and supply a boatload of customizable settings. Nevertheless, I favor the simplicity of one thing that I can activate and neglect. Through the years, I’ve come to understand most of these plugins increasingly. They let me get again to specializing in the elements of my websites that I care about.
Full Display Galleries additionally figures out the full-sized picture URL mechanically. If a gallery makes use of thumbnail-sized pictures and hyperlinks to the attachment web page, the slideshow will nonetheless show it in full.
Every slide outputs ahead and again arrows to scroll between the pictures. Within the high left nook is an exit button. Within the high proper, the plugin outputs a northeast arrow button that hyperlinks to the unique picture. It additionally shows the picture caption whether it is accessible.
For a lot of customers, that is all they want. I’m notably desirous about it as a result of it really works properly with traditional content material. Most of the websites I’m concerned with have years of galleries from the pre-block period.
One of many downsides is that the plugin depends on jQuery. The plugin’s code has a small footprint, however jQuery has grown right into a little bit of a beast over time and is changing into much less and fewer related with more moderen options of contemporary JavaScript. For a lot of WordPress websites, this can be a non-issue as a result of their theme or another plugin is already loading the jQuery library. This plugin might be a light-weight addition. For others who’re retaining it lean, they may wish to hunt down different options.
Regardless, this plugin goes into my toolbox, prepared to tug out once I want it. General, it’s a reliable model 1.0.