WP Lightbox 2

Also makes 99 other plugins · 21.7M+ installs across the portfolio →

WP Lightbox 2 adds stunning lightbox effects to images and galleries on your WordPress site.

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

B 79/100

no flags

Active installs

20K+

≈29K estimated

Momentum

+14%

downloads vs prior 30d

Biggest opportunity: Swap “gallery” for “colorbox”. “gallery” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “colorbox” sits at #18 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.

See the detail → Get the free audit

How scoring works →

79 Health · B

Maintenance 75/100

Rating quality 84/100

Support 70/100

Security 92/100

79 health vs 62 average across 3,286 Media plugins

20K+

Active installs

≈29K estimated

1.3M

Total downloads

since 2011 · 1.5% still active

4.3/5

Rating

4.4 on wp.org · 89 reviews

+14%

2.6K

Downloads · 30d

category median +6%

Install conversion

How it's measured →

1.5%

of downloads still active

At least 20K of 1.3M lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Media plugin keeps 0.8%, across 2,321 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.

This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.

Ratings · 89 reviews

Details

Version: 3.0.7
Last updated: 9mo ago
Added: 2011-11-27 · 14 yrs old
Requires WP: 3.0
Tested up to: 6.9.11
Requires PHP: —

Changelog ↗Support forum ↗Reviews ↗Advanced stats ↗

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.

92 / 100

Excellent listing optimization

Well tuned across the board

Update recency 83/100

Updated 274 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting

WP compatibility 100/100

Tested up to WordPress 6.9.11, the current branch or newer

Rating quality 86/100

4.4★ over 89 reviews, smoothed to 4.29★

Listing tuning 100/100

5 of 5 tags set · short description in place

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.

Momentum

Losing ground

-0.9

Velocity

places per keyword, 28d

Breadth

of keywords climbing, 28d

-0.3

Acceleration

recent half vs earlier

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
lightbox popup your tag	#15	#13	down 1
lightbox your tag	#16	#15	down 3
colorbox	#18	#8	0
easy lightbox	#13	#11	up 1
wordpress lightbox	#14	#12	0
popup lightbox	#20	#17	down 3
image lightbox	#22	#18	down 4
wordpress image lightbox	#24	#21	0
gallery your tag	Not in the top 24
image your tag	Not in the top 24
photo gallery your tag	Not in the top 24

27 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 8 listed. 19 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.

What to do about it

Swap “gallery” for “colorbox”. “gallery” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “colorbox” sits at #18 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
One page off on “lightbox”. #16 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
One page off on “lightbox popup”. #15 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.

Daily downloads

Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+14% vs prior 30d

591 Nov 2026

6K3K0

591 Nov 2026

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peak 12.6K · peaks are release surges

2.6K1 Nov 2026

15K7.5K0

2.6K1 Nov 2026

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

WP Lightbox 2 · #1102youFirelight Lightbox · #258Responsive Lightbox · #327Simple Lightbox · #332

Rating trend

Star average over time · dips mark rough releases

4.41 Nov 2026

52.50

4.41 Nov 2026

Health trend

Composite health score, snapshotted daily

791 Nov 2026

907560

791 Nov 2026

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.

1281 Nov 2026

4002000

1281 Nov 2026

Release cadence

Occasionally updated

from wp.org release tags

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

releases in the last 12 months

9mo ago

latest release · v3.0.7 · 31 Jan 2026

tagged releases on record

Recent releases

3.0.7 · 31 Jan 20263.0.6.8 · 4 Jun 20253.0.6.7 · 27 Jun 20243.0.6.6 · 7 Mar 20243.0.6.3 · 2 Oct 20203.0.6.2 · 20 Dec 20153.0.6.1 · 19 Dec 20153.0.6 · 18 Dec 20153.0.5 · 13 Aug 20153.0.4 · 30 Jul 20153.0.3 · 20 Jul 20153.0.2 · 9 Apr 20153.0.1 · 8 Apr 20153.0.0 · 12 Feb 2015

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 96% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

v3.0 96%

Older / other versions 4.3%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “20K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate

20K–30K ≈29K

Crossed into this band 3 months ago and the previous band took 23 months to cross, so the real count is still just under 30K.

Install history since 2 Sep 2020

20K1 Nov 2026

80K40K0

20K1 Nov 2026

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗

★★★★★ janet4now
6.1y ago

The design settings from the admin no longer work. I have a site full of galleries and cannot access the settings to add the next button. Very annoying. It looks like the plugin was just updated and yet that was not fixed from complaints 4 years ago!
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ advertare59
6.1y ago

thank you for up-dating this plugin. it serves my purposes well, is easy to use and has always been working on all devices.
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ Sivustonikkari
6.2y ago

Very nice to hear this from a customer…
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ danjde
7.8y ago

I’ve try several “Lightbox plugins”, each of these created me some conflict problems with Jquery template. Others did not resize on mobile devices. Others did not allow you to scroll through images. Others were very complicated to use. The only one that does not create conflicts, resizes on mobile correctly, is easy to use and is nice to see is this! Great software, highly recommended!
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ Lohith M
9.6y ago

Thanks for the wonderful plugin. It works great! I am able to make it work rel=”lightbox” to href tag. Its not working for automatically for the linked images. if you have any solution let me know. thanks
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ ucero
10.1y ago

Simple and good. It works perfectly. Thank you
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ fufales
10.1y ago

Hey thanks!! this is really cool!! 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ perseusix
10.1y ago

Leider ist nach Aktivierung des Plugins die Slideshow auf meiner Startseite nicht mehr vorhanden bzw. wird nicht unterstützt. Sehr schade …
Read on wp.org ↗

Latest updates

via wp.org changelog

Recent releases and news for this plugin

Security history

via Wordfence Intelligence

All 4 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (3.0.7). Sites still on an older version should update.

Patched Medium · 4.4 WP Lightbox 2 < 3.0.7 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗

2026-03-30 CVE-2026-1430 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects < 3.0.7 Patched in 3.0.7
Patched High · 7.2 WP Lightbox 2 <= 3.0.6.7 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗

2025-06-09 CVE-2025-3745 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 3.0.6.7 Patched in 3.0.6.8
Patched Medium · 6.4 WP Lightbox 2 <= 3.0.6.6 - Authenticated (Contributor+) DOM-Based Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗

2024-07-02 CVE-2024-6263 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 3.0.6.6 Patched in 3.0.6.7
Patched Medium · 5.5 WP Lightbox 2 <= 3.0.6.5 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via plugin settings ↗

2023-10-12 CVE-2023-45747 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 3.0.6.5 Patched in 3.0.6.6

Languages

via translate.wordpress.org

Translated into 78 languages, 14 at 90% or more · development strings

Albanian 100%

Dutch 100%

German 100%

German (Formal) 100%

Hebrew 100%

Japanese 100%

Kurdish (Sorani) 100%

Russian 100%

Serbian 100%

Spanish (Colombia) 100%

Spanish (Mexico) 100%

Spanish (Spain) 100%

Spanish (Venezuela) 100%

Swedish 100%

Romanian 60%

Welsh 60%

Dutch (Formal) 53%

Portuguese (Portugal) 50%

Ukrainian 50%

Italian 36%

Turkish 26%

Czech 20%

English (Australia) 20%

English (Canada) 20%

Plus 54 more locales with partial translations.

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

6 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026

Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.

✓ Says what it does "WP Lightbox 2 adds stunning lightbox effects to images and galleries on your WordPress site."
✓ Has a FAQ 5 questions in the FAQ.
✓ FAQ asks real questions 5 of 5 read like questions a user would type.
! 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 3 headings and 3 lists.
✓ Enough to quote 4,495 characters of description.
✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "lightbox popup", "photo gallery" do not.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

2026-07-21 30K+ → 20K+ down after 698 days in tier
2024-08-22 40K+ → 30K+ down after 312 days in tier
2023-10-15 50K+ → 40K+ down after 360 days in tier
2022-10-20 60K+ → 50K+ down after 1 days in tier
2022-10-19 50K+ → 60K+ up after 1 days in tier
2022-10-18 60K+ → 50K+ down after 453 days in tier
2021-07-22 70K+ → 60K+ down after 354 days in tier
2020-08-02 80K+ → 70K+ down after 160 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).

Compare head to head →

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for WP Lightbox 2 into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/wp-lightbox-2" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="WP Lightbox 2 — Plugin Pulse"></iframe>

Preview card ↗

WP Lightbox 2: 20K+ active installs, 4.4★ (89 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wp-lightbox-2

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