Via a reader, I learned about iBox which is similar to Lightbox JS but with more features. It boasts the following benefits:

Small size. Total javascript is under 11kb.

Versatile. Handles images, external HTML pages, inline DIV elements.

Self contained. The script does not require any external libraries.

Support for non-JS users, which isn’t hugely important to me.

Check out the iBox Demo.

What others have said

Jeff Atwood Jun 21, 2006 5:07 PM

# re: More Eye Candy For Your Website or Blog

Congratulations, you've successfully used a Modal Dialog Box on a web page.

Now that, my friends, is PROGRESS.

ps. i hate you all

Haacked Jun 21, 2006 6:16 PM

# re: More Eye Candy For Your Website or Blog

It's not a Modal Dialog Mr. Curmudgeon. The Refresh and Back button still works.

Think of it this way. It's just a fancier way to transition to another page while retaining the context of the old page as a background. For example, that little box could be an advanced search box.

Not sure if this really makes it more or less usable (would need to put it in front of people and observer to determine that).

Jeff Atwood Jun 21, 2006 9:38 PM

# re: More Eye Candy For Your Website or Blog

No, the back button does NOT work. Try the demo you linked yourself.

Saying refresh works is like saying I can ALT+F4 or CTRL+ALT+DEL a modal dialog in Windows...

Haacked Jun 21, 2006 10:08 PM

# re: More Eye Candy For Your Website or Blog

I meant the back button is not disabled, unlike a modal dialog in which nothing works. But yes, it doesn't work as expected (ie it doesn't take the user back one step).

I have seen Ajax implementations that do work with the back button (Magic Ajax comes to mind) so there might be a way to fix it.