John Nunemaker’s (Orderedlist.com) FancyZoom was inspired by Cabel Sasser’s FancyZoom but completely rewritten to be a functional and attractive lightbox alternative.
Nunemaker’s FancyZoom is different in four ways. First, it can work with both images and text, not just images as Sasser’s version is confined to. Second, it is built using Prototype (or Steve Smith’s jQuery version) as opposed to Sasser’s which was built from scratch, thus making Nunemaker’s weight being only 12k as opposed to Sasser’s 36k. Granted, as the Nunemaker states, you have the overhead of Prototype on top of the 12k, but if you’re already using Prototype then you already have the overhead. And lastly, it doesn’t use Ajax. What this means is that your text and images are loaded when the page loads. The last way is more of a personal design touch than a coding implementation. Its the Apple effect of rounded corners. This creates a padding effect which frames your image or text very nicely.
If you’re looking for the jQuery version of FancyZoom, Steve Smith (Orderedlist.com) modified Nunemaker’s to create a jQuery version. Be sure to use the jQuery or Prototype version depending on which library you’re already using.
Smith’s and Nunemaker’s FancyZoom is a great effect that can be used for displaying features, fully-zoomed images, and text, all while maintaining the intuitive design for the user.
