Light up Your Website with These Top Lightbox NPM Packages
Tags: webdev, npm, javascript, frontend
Published: 2023-03-09 13:25:47

## Lightbox

Lightboxes are a popular way to enhance the display of images and media on websites. They allow you to present images in a more visually appealing and interactive way, while also providing additional functionality such as zooming, panning, and captioning. In this article, we'll explore how to use the Yet Another Lightbox (YAL) NPM package in your React TypeScript and JavaScript projects.


## What is YAL?

YAL is a lightweight, responsive, and customizable lightbox NPM package that's easy to use and integrate into your projects. It supports a range of media types, including images, videos, and iframes, and offers several customization options such as animation effects, captions, and keyboard navigation.

**WHY**

The Yet Another Lightbox (YAL) NPM package offers many benefits that make it an excellent choice for web developers. With a wide range of plugins, including support for videos and responsive images, YAL is a versatile package that can be customized to meet your specific needs. Additionally, YAL produces clean and efficient code that adheres to modern web development practices, making it easier to maintain and update your website in the future. Finally, YAL offers several customization options that allow you to create a unique and personalized experience for your users. Overall, if you're looking for a customizable and efficient lightbox NPM package for your React TypeScript and JavaScript projects, YAL is an excellent choice.


## Getting Started with YAL


To use YAL in your React TypeScript or JavaScript project, you'll first need to install it using NPM. You can do this by running the following command in your project directory:


```
npm install yet-another-lightbox --save
```

Once installed, you can import YAL into your project using the following code:


```
import Lightbox from 'yet-another-lightbox';
```

Using YAL in Your React Components


To use YAL in your React components, you'll need to create a new instance of the YAL object and configure it with your desired options. You can then call the open() method to display the lightbox when the user clicks on an image or media item.


Here's an example of how to use YAL in a React functional component:


```
import * as React from "react";
import Lightbox from "yet-another-react-lightbox";
import "yet-another-react-lightbox/styles.css";

export default function App() {
  const [open, setOpen] = React.useState(false);

  return (
    <>
      <button type="button" onClick={() => setOpen(true)}>
        Open Lightbox
      </button>

      <Lightbox
        open={open}
        close={() => setOpen(false)}
        slides={[
          { src: "/image1.jpg" },
          { src: "/image2.jpg" },
          { src: "/image3.jpg" },
        ]}
      />
    </>
  );
}
```

In this example, we create a new instance of the YAL object and pass it any desired options. We then define a click event handler for our images and videos that calls the open() method of the YAL object with the source URL of the clicked item. Finally, we render our media items within our component and attach the click event handler to them.


Customizing YAL


YAL offers several customization options that you can use to style and configure your lightbox. These include:



animationType: The animation effect to use when opening and closing the lightbox (e.g. fade, slide).

captionType: The type of caption to display with your media items (e.g. title, description).

keyboardNav: Whether to enable keyboard navigation for your lightbox.

overlayColor: The color to use for the lightbox overlay.

overlayOpacity: The opacity of the lightbox overlay.


You can configure these options by passing them as properties of the YAL object when you create it.

## Make a custom Postcard

To create a postcard using the Yet Another Lightbox (YAL) NPM package, you'll need to first include the package in your project using an NPM package manager. Next, you'll need to configure the options for your lightbox, such as the source of your image and any captions or descriptions you want to include. Once you've configured your options, you can create a button or link that triggers the lightbox when clicked.


Here's an example of how to create a postcard using YAL

```
<Lightbox
          //...props
  slides={mediaSlides} // array object of img
         render={{
            slideFooter: (slide) => {
              // slide is mapped object of slides
              const { media: mediaData } = slide as SlideImageCustom;
              return (
                <div className='postCard-container'>
                  <PostCardProfile
                    onClickRepost={setIsImageOpen}
                    post={mediaData}
                  />
                </div>
              );
            },
           
          }}
        />
```

  you'll need to first add your image array to the slides props. Once you've done that, you can then customize the postcard by using the renderProps and slideFooter objects. These objects allow you to add HTML code to the lightbox, which you can use to create a custom postcard with captions, descriptions, and other elements. To make the code easier to manage, it's recommended that you use reusable components that can be easily modified and updated as needed. With YAL, creating a custom postcard that matches your website's design and style is simple and straightforward, and can enhance your website's user experience.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/izpma6dhqn1i2fiun4rf.png)
My custom postcard using YAL features a responsive design with a personalized caption and description for each image.

## Conclusion


In this article, we've explored how to use the Yet Another Lightbox (YAL) NPM package in your React TypeScript and JavaScript projects. YAL is a lightweight, responsive, and customizable lightbox package that's easy to use and integrate into your projects. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can quickly and easily add YAL to your project and enhance your website's media display.