FW Gallery – Documentation

Lightbox Not Working

If clicking an image in your gallery opens a new page instead of a lightbox overlay, or nothing happens at all, one of the following common causes is usually responsible.

JavaScript Conflict with Another Extension

A conflicting script from another extension or module can prevent the lightbox from initializing. To diagnose this:

1. Open your browser's developer tools (usually F12).
2. Go to the Console tab and reload the gallery page.
3. Look for any JavaScript errors. Errors appearing before the gallery scripts load are the most likely culprits.
4. Disable extensions or modules one at a time to identify which one causes the conflict, then contact the developer of that extension for a fix or workaround.

Custom Template Not Loading Component Assets

FW Gallery requires its CSS and JavaScript assets to be present on the page. Some custom or third-party Joomla templates suppress component assets to improve performance, which can break the lightbox entirely.

• Check that your template includes the standard Joomla head output. If your template uses a custom head section, it may be stripping component-registered scripts and stylesheets.
• Test by temporarily switching your site to the default Joomla template. If the lightbox works with the default template, the issue is specific to your custom template.
• Contact your template provider to ensure component assets are not being excluded.

Missing or Conflicting jQuery-Like Libraries

The lightbox functionality depends on a JavaScript library being loaded correctly. Problems arise when:

• The required library is not loaded at all — check the browser console for errors referencing undefined functions or objects.
• The library is loaded more than once, either in different versions or from different sources, causing one instance to overwrite another.
• Another extension loads a conflicting library that interferes with the expected behavior.

To check for duplicate or conflicting library loading, use the Network tab in your browser's developer tools and filter by script files. Look for the same library filename appearing more than once, or two different versions of the same library.

Quick Checklist

• Are there any errors in the browser console when the gallery page loads?
• Does the lightbox work when using the default Joomla template?
• Is jQuery or the required library loaded exactly once on the page?
• Have you recently installed or updated another extension that adds its own scripts?

If none of the above steps resolve the issue, note the exact browser console errors and the list of extensions active on the affected page, then contact support through fastw3b.com with those details.