Sometimes it’s all about style. If you can’t baffle them with content, you can at least dazzle them with look and feel. One of the hot trends on the Internet these days is the use of a shadowbox effect for graphics. This effect basically dims the screen and then displays a larger graphic on the screen as an inline pop-up. I know that sounds like a contradiction but I you know what I mean.
Most of the shadowbox effects in use today are done through JavaScript. WordPress does not include shadowbox effects when you first install the system. Luckily there are several options available that will provide this effect for you.
After a little research I selected a plug-in written by Matt Martz called Shadowbox JS. One of the reasons I selected this particular plug-in was that it allows the shadowbox effect to not only be assigned to image files but will also allow the effect to be used on other types of media such as a web site, a video, or really any other media type that is supported by WordPress.
The plug-in is installed using the standard WordPress method through the Plug-In page of the Administration Dashboard. Once installed, Shadowbox JS will create a new menu item in the Settings section of the Dashboard called Shadowbox JS.
Through the settings page you decide which JavaScript library you wish to use, the language you will use, which players are supported, and standard sizes for certain types of contents. Most of the settings can remain at their default values making it relatively simple to implement.
Once installed you invoke the shadowbox effect by adding rel=”shadowbox” to the image tag or other media tag. The plug-in will intercept this and execute the appropriate JavaScript. This is one way of adding a little bit of artistic style to your Blog and perhaps differentiate it from other sites.
I recommend you give it a try and see for yourself what a difference it makes in serving up content on your site.
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