fancyBox 3 for WordPress
by w3dev · Media
Also makes 2 other plugins · 1.2K+ installs across the portfolio →
Seamlessly integrates the fancyBox 3 script into your WordPress installation: Upload, activate, and you're done. Additional configuration is opti …
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
D 49/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
1K+
≈1.5K estimated
Momentum
+18%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “fancybox”, “gallery” and “jquery” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
49 health vs 62 average across 3,278 Media plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →5.7%
of downloads still active
At least 1K of 17.7K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Media plugin keeps 0.8%, across 2,317 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Media plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
Removal-risk signals
28/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Not actively maintained. No update in about 2 years.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Room to improve
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 1090 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.3.14; the current branch is 6.8
4.9★ over 7 reviews, smoothed to 4.20★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 1090 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
Not enough tracked days yet to call a direction. Momentum needs at least three keywords measured a week or more apart.
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| fancybox 3 your tag | #9 | #14 | up 1 |
| fancybox your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| gallery your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| jquery your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| lightbox your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
1 search this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “fancybox”, “gallery” and “jquery” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 774 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “1K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 17 months ago; the previous band took 19 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 10 Aug 2020
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ richardjamesw7.2y ago
Seems to be the only Fancybox plugin with an option for click to zoom after lighbox has popped up. So glad I finally found one that works! Rich
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ abcdefghijklmnop8.3y ago
Works out of the box upon activation with latest version of WordPress (June 2018). Edit: Captions don’t work. 1-2 days after installation, my slider stopped working. I then opened my site in Microsoft Edge to test it. Just before the site loaded, I saw some Russian words appear and then disappear. Immediately uninstalled and everything looks normal right now. Hope this didn’t f*ck my site up. It is the only plugin installed besides the default Hello Dolly and Akismet. Edit 2: 26 Jan 2020. This remains the only plugin installed on my site and so far so good. I am sorry to the developer for the earlier bad review, I honestly thought there was something wrong with the plugin. This topic was modified 8 years ago by abcdefghijklmnop. This topic was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by abcdefghijklmnop.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ makissm218.4y ago
Thanks for the job.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Paul Scollon8.5y ago
Some of these fancybox plugins have nearly too many features, which means more things to go wrong. This one just does one thing, and does it well. Got me out of a jam for sure when another similar plugin just decided to start throwing javascript errors all over the console.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ frietsje8.6y ago
Working for a while now with this plugin. Works easy and as you expect. Also fast support!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ springm8.7y ago
This plugin does what it should, and in addition the code is very clear and beautiful, so I could easily patch in a functionality that I missed
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ psamathe9.0y ago
Excellent gallery system. Using the standard WordPress [gallery] shorcode means great compatibility and if you do ever change, all your old posts will still work fine. Only reason for 4*s is the need for link="file" in the shortcode – but that’s a minimal issue. Excellent support. Posted question and quickly answered and resolved. (And I regard Fancy Box 3 as massively superior to the previous Fancy Box releases – which I’d never used as I didn’t like them, but version 3 is a massive improvement)
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.3.2
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
2 of 8 pass · checked 31 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Seamlessly integrates the fancyBox 3 script into your WordPress installation: Upload, activate, and you're..."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 833 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "gallery" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-06-02 2K+ → 1K+ down after 562 days in tier
- 2023-11-18 1K+ → 2K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2023-11-16 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2023-11-15 1K+ → 2K+ up after 21 days in tier
- 2023-10-25 2K+ → 1K+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2023-10-22 1K+ → 2K+ up after 6 days in tier
- 2023-10-16 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2023-10-15 1K+ → 2K+ up after 3 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
- J jQuery Lightbox For Native Galleries 4K+ installs · 3.9★ · 3 shared tags D
-
WP Featherlight Disabled 2K+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags C - C Cleaner Gallery 2K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags D
-
WP fancybox 1K+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags C - F FancyBox Gallery 400+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Firelight Lightbox 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for fancyBox 3 for WordPress into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/w3dev-fancybox" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="fancyBox 3 for WordPress — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> fancyBox 3 for WordPress: 1K+ active installs, 4.9★ (7 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/w3dev-fancybox
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