How to Transform Your Site with WordPress Video Popups

Video content has become an increasingly popular and effective means of engaging website visitors. As of 2022, video traffic comprised 82% of all consumer internet traffic, making it a must for any website. 

As a website owner, you may have faced common problems such as low engagement rates, difficulty embedding videos, and the need for customizable design. However, the solution to these challenges can be addressed by using video lightbox plugins

Video lightboxes are a powerful tool for improving user engagement, increasing conversion rates, and enhancing the overall user experience on a WordPress site. This article looks at what features you need in a video lightbox plugin, a comparison of popular options, and how to implement video popups using the best option, FooBox.

Key Features to Consider in a Video Lightbox for WordPress 

A lightbox typically refers to a feature that displays video (or other content) in an overlay on the current page, dimming the background to focus the user’s attention on the video. A video lightbox plugin is designed more specifically to enhance the presentation of video content. While WordPress doesn’t include a native video lightbox feature, this functionality can be easily added using plugins. You might either find video-focused plugins with an in-built lightbox, or a lightbox plugin that supports various types of media, including video content. Here’s an example:

The right video lightbox can significantly enhance user engagement and site performance. When chosen wisely, a plugin’s key features – like the flexibility to use content from various sources – combine to create a powerful tool that can transform your website’s engagement levels and keep visitors coming back for more.” Tam Vincent, Content Manager at FooPlugins.

When comparing video lightbox plugins, it’s important to consider a variety of key features to ensure you choose the best option for your needs:

1. Ease of Use 

• Installation and setup: Consider how simple it is to install and configure your chosen plugin. Look for plugins that offer easy integration with your website, preferably with minimal coding required. 
• User interface: An intuitive interface can make it easier for users to set up and use the plugin, which can help improve workflow.

2. Customization Options 

• Appearance: Can you customize the appearance of the lightbox, such as colors, borders, and overlay opacity? Look for a lightbox plugin that will give you some flexibility when it comes to styling so that you can tailor it to suit your needs and align with your current look and feel. 
• Behavior: Does it offer options to customize the behavior, like autoplay, auto progress, and transitions? This will give you more options for creating an engaging user experience.

3. Compatibility 

As a lightbox generally works with other applications, compatibility is an important factor. 

• Browser compatibility: Ensure the plugin works across all major browsers.
• Mobile responsiveness: Check if the lightbox is responsive and works well on mobile devices. This is essential for both SEO and to provide users with a seamless browsing experience.

• Platform support: Is it compatible with the CMS or platform you are using, such as WordPress? With WordPress, you’ll also be using other plugins, so consider their compatibility as well.

4. Performance 

• Loading speed: The plugin should not significantly impact the loading speed of your website. 
• Resource efficiency: It should be lightweight and not consume excessive server resources.

5. Video Source Support 

• Multiple video formats: The ability to support various video formats (MP4, WebM, Ogg, etc.) is a must. 
• Streaming services: Look for a plugin that offers support for embedding videos from popular streaming services like YouTube, Vimeo, and others.

6 Popular Video Lightbox Plugins

FooBox 

FooBox PRO is an advanced lightbox for your videos. Its robust feature set makes it a top choice for anyone looking to create professional-looking video lightboxes on their WordPress site.

Overview: FooBox PRO is a standalone lightbox solution compatible with most WordPress themes and plugins. It supports a wide range of media formats, making it ideal for displaying videos, images, and other content in a stylish and user-friendly way.

Key features:

• FooBox PRO supports embedding videos from YouTube, Vimeo, TED, Facebook, and Dailymotion.
• It offers extensive (over 85) customization options, including two PRO themes, five color schemes, and 12 open/close animations to suit your website’s design. 
• As it is fully responsive, lightbox content looks great on all devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
• Built-in social sharing buttons allow users to easily share your content on various social media platforms. With this feature, you can also offer downloads.

• Open your video from a text link or image thumbnail to add video files without cluttering your gallery or webpage.
• Google Analytics integration is available for tracking video engagement.

Benefits: FooBox PRO enhances user engagement by providing an immersive viewing experience for multimedia content. The plugin’s advanced customization options allow you to tailor the lightbox to fit your site’s aesthetic and functional needs perfectly.

Price options: FooBox offers pricing plans to suit different needs – compare features here. FooBox PRO provides advanced features, including additional customization options, priority support, and enhanced performance optimizations.

FooGallery 

FooGallery is a versatile gallery plugin with a built-in lightbox as well as video support (available starting with the PRO Expert plan). This is a good option if you want a simpler solution with a focus on galleries. 

Overview: FooGallery is an all-in-one gallery plugin with a built-in lightbox that is compatible with all popular WordPress themes. It allows you to build video or mixed-media galleries that display the content in a lightbox. 

Key features:

• FooGallery PRO Expert makes it easy to load videos from several sources: YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook. It supports self-hosted video as well (although this is not recommended as it can impact page performance). Below is an example of a video gallery built using FooGallery PRO Expert.

• It offers ten versatile gallery layouts and supports video on all layouts. You can utilize the lightbox functionality on all layouts except for the Slider PRO and Grid PRO layouts; these don’t use a lightbox but offer a main viewing panel in which you can display videos.
• The lightbox is highly customizable, with features such as:
  • Thumbnail Strip
  • Custom Colors
  • Auto Progress
  • Versatile Caption Display
  • Custom Captions
• FooGallery offers optimized performance for better page load times and the responsive design ensures it is compatible with mobile devices.

Benefits: If you primarily intend to use lightboxes for video galleries, FooGallery is a great option as you get a fantastic gallery plugin with advanced lightbox functionality. It offers versatility, ease of use, and a robust feature set. As a complete lightbox solution, FooBox is more powerful. However, FooGallery integrates seamlessly with FooBox PRO, giving you a combined gallery and lightbox solution with advanced capabilities!

Price options: FooGallery offers several different pricing plans, catering to different needs and budgets. For video capabilities, you would need at least the PRO Expert plan. Compare FooGallery’s plans for yourself.

WP Video Lightbox 

WP Video Lightbox is a popular plugin for creating simple video lightboxes.

Overview: WP Video Lightbox is a straightforward plugin for embedding videos on a page to display in a lightbox.

Key Features:

• It supports YouTube, Vimeo, iFrame, and more.
• You have control over opacity and animation speed.
• WP Video Lightbox has a mobile responsive design.
• It is easy to use and customize with shortcodes.

Limitations: While this plugin is a great option for simple video lightboxes, you may find that it has limited advanced features compared to other options, such as FooGallery PRO. For example, if you need a tool with scope, WP Video Lightbox is limited to video, whereas FooGallery offers a robust gallery management system.

Price options: Available for free on WordPress.org or for more features, you can look at the Ultimate Plans.

Video PopUp

Video PopUp is another plugin option for creating video lightboxes.

Overview: Video PopUp is a plugin designed for creating video lightboxes with ease, allowing you to display popup videos on page load. 

Key Features:

• It supports embedding videos from YouTube or Vimeo. Self-hosted MP4 videos are also supported. 
• With the customizable lightbox appearance, you can adjust height and width, as well as the color overlay for the background.
• There are also options for autoplay and custom sizing.
• Video PopUp has a responsive design for mobile devices.

Limitations: With this plugin, you can open a video in a lightbox from a text link. However, there are limited styling options and limited platforms from which you can embed videos. 

Price options: The free version is available in WordPress, or you can upgrade to the premium extension. 

WP Video Popup

WP Video Popup is a plugin focused on creating video popups, which you can add to any page, post, or custom post type. 

Overview: WP Video Popup is a plugin tailored for video popup functionality with a minimalistic feel. 

Key Features:

• WP Video Popup supports YouTube, Vimeo, and self-hosted videos.
• You can create customizable triggers by adding a CSS class to the element you want to trigger or open the lightbox.
• Include multiple videos on a page or post.
• With shortcode attributes, you can add custom styling to your lightbox.

Limitations: The pro version of this plugin does add more capabilities, such as self-hosted videos, video galleries, and multiple videos on a single page. However, you may still feel somewhat limited by the customization options. 

Price options: You can choose between the free and Pro version.

Wonder Video Embed 

Wonder Video Embed is a comprehensive plugin for embedding videos.

Overview: This versatile plugin for embedding videos comes with various customization options.

Key Features:

• With this plugin, you can embed YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, iFrame, and self-hosted videos.
• There is an auto lightbox popup on page load feature, and the lightbox will automatically close when the video ends.
• It has a fully responsive design.
• Plus it includes options for image and video galleries.

Limitations: This is a good option for embedding videos or you can use the video lightbox, which comes with the premium Wonder Lightbox Plugin. While you can use this plugin to embed videos from a number of different platforms (or play self-hosted videos) the customization options are limited. 

Price options: A free version is available, or you can upgrade to the premium option – here you can purchase just the lightbox or get the Wonder Mega Bundle.

Utilizing FooBox PRO for Video Lightboxes in WordPress 

All of the WordPress plugins that we’ve looked at will give you the ability to create a video popup by utilizing the lightbox functionality. However, for the most advanced and versatile video lightbox, FooBox PRO is the best option. Below, we’ve given you a step-by-step guide on how to use FooBox PRO to create a video lightbox popup.

1. Installation and setup: For displaying video in FooBox, you will need the premium version. Once you’ve purchased this, you can install the plugin .zip file and activate the plugin. FooBox works out of the box, so there is no initial setup required. However, you can customize your lightbox, which we cover in the next step. 
2. Customization: With FooBox PRO, you can style the lightbox that you will use for galleries, images or other types of video. You will also have the ability to feature additional media, such as HTML and iFrame content (you can find out more about this in the FooBox documentation).
   In the FooBox settings, you can customize the lightbox with different themes, preset colors, loading icons, and more. You can also add social sharing to your lightbox. These settings will automatically be applied to your gallery items (including video) once FooBox has been set as your gallery lightbox.

3. Additional setup: In the settings for FooBox PRO, you can also set up your social sharing by configuring the lightbox for the social networks you want to include. A download function is also available. You can further customize your lightbox by enabling additional settings such as deep linking, captions, full screen images, slideshow, and so on. 
4. Add to page: To add your video lightbox to your homepage or landing page, you can use some simple HTML code for FooBox PRO. To do this, insert a link to your YouTube or Vimeo video as you normally would. Once the link is created, switch to “Text” mode in your editor and insert the class “foobox” into the a tag. For example, a YouTube video link could look like this:
   
   <code><a href=”http://youtu.be/mO0g5wWVSVk” class=”foobox”></a>
   
   You can put whatever you like between the “a” tag, either text or images. With this, you can add a text link to your video, along with additional code for autoplay, navigation, captions, or an auto-open option. 
5. Analyze content: FooBox PRO’s Google Analytics integration allows you to track page views, events, and social shares for content opened in FooBox. Once you enable tracking, items like image views will reflect in your Analytics.

For an example of how FooBox works, click on this link: Here’s a video from our YouTube channel.

Get Started With Your Video Lightbox Today 

Using video content on your site is a great way to boost user engagement, and a video lightbox plugin is the ideal way to implement this. These plugins come with additional benefits, such as advanced features, and professional presentation of video content.

It is important to find a plugin that meets your needs, and that offers you ease of use, compatibility, and good performance. For simple lightbox galleries, FooGallery PRO is a great choice, or if you’re looking to enhance your WordPress website with complete control over your video lightbox, try FooBox PRO.