Photobox 2.0 is the modern rebuild of JoomlaX’s classic Photobox gallery — same immersive lightbox energy, rebuilt for Joomla 4, 5, and 6 with vanilla JS (no jQuery), masonry layouts, WebP caching, and a one-zip install that includes the module, content shortcode, and editor button.

Whether you run a photographer portfolio, a restaurant menu, a hotel gallery, or a brand story page, Photobox gives visitors a clean grid on the page and a cinematic overlay when they explore.

Why site owners choose it

• The lightbox visitors expect — dark full-screen stage, filmstrip, captions, counter, keyboard and swipe — without dragging jQuery into a modern template
• Masonry that looks intentional — Pinterest-style columns by default, or switch to a uniform grid when you want equal tiles
• Two ways to open — OnClick for everyday browsing, OnLoad when the first image should land with impact
• Brand it in minutes — Modern 2026, Minimal, or Dark themes plus an accent colour that drives active states and control hover
• Publish wherever you work — drop a module on any page, or paste {photobox …} into an article with the editor button
• Fast without compromise — smart thumbnail cache under images/mod_photobox_cache/, optional WebP, sharp defaults
• Folder or curated slides — auto-load a Media folder, or hand-pick images with custom captions
• Future-ready stack — namespaced services architecture, jx-pbx assets, built for Joomla 4 / 5 / 6 and PHP 8+

Built for real websites

Photographers, agencies, hotels, restaurants, NGOs, schools, and shops all need the same thing: show images beautifully without a heavy gallery suite. Photobox stays focused — grid + lightbox — so setup stays simple and pages stay light.

Use folder mode when clients drop photos into Media and you want zero maintenance. Use slides when every caption matters. Use masonry when images have mixed aspect ratios. Turn masonry off for compact, catalogue-style grids.

Highlights at a glance

| Capability | What you get |
|---|---|
| Layout | Masonry (default) or uniform CSS grid, 2–6 columns, responsive |
| Lightbox | Filmstrip, captions, counter, loop, autoplay, keyboard, swipe |
| Opening | OnClick or OnLoad |
| Look | Themes + accent colour + thumb border / radius / shadow / filters |
| Content | Folder path or individual slides |
| Performance | Cached thumbs, optional WebP |
| Insert | Module · {photobox} shortcode · editor button |
| Compatibility | Joomla 4 / 5 / 6 · PHP 8.0+ |

What's included

• Module: Photobox — tabbed settings (Look & Feel · Lightbox · Images · Advanced)
• Content plugin: Photobox — {photobox folder="images/photobox" columns="3" masonry="1"}
• Editor button: Photobox — modal shortcode builder
• Install package: pkg_photobox_2.0.zip

Quick start

1. Install pkg_photobox_2.0.zip and enable Content - Photobox + Editor Button - Photobox
2. Upload images to Media (e.g. images/photobox)
3. Create a Photobox module or insert a shortcode:

{photobox folder="images/photobox" columns="3" masonry="1" thumbwidth="720"}

Perfect when you want

• A gallery that feels modern without a page builder dependency
• Lightbox captions that look professional (not browser tooltips)
• One package that covers module pages and article embeds
• An upgrade path from classic Photobox without keeping jQuery forever

Photobox 2.0 — show your images. Let the lightbox do the rest.