I would like to know if there is some code I can add to my Vantage child theme to make the lightbox navigation arrows always stay on when the lightbox popup is opened on a WooCommerce product page. I asked WooCommerce support and they are no help at all! (Their so-called “Happiness Engineer” told me it was a conflict with “Photoswipe,” a plugin that I’ve never even heard of and don’t have installed, nor do I have anything installed from its developer. Needless to say, she failed to engineer any happiness on my part.) So I am wondering if you would know.
As an example of what I mean, open this page and click on the main image:
https://www.georgeglazer.com/wpmain/product/view-new-york-city-upper-east-side-woldemar-neufeld-hell-gate-in-summer-vintage-print-20th-c/
When the lightbox opens, you will see right and left arrows on the black overlay, on either side of the browser window. If you do not move your mouse, they disappear in a few seconds. If you move your mouse, they reappear. But we want them to stay on constantly.
Thanks,
Helen
Hi Helen
Thanks for posting.
The Vantage demo appears to be behaving as request/normally: https://demo.siteorigin.com/vantage/product/logo-collection/
If a conflict with Photoswipe is suspected, please, try running a plugin conflict test. Temporarily deactivate all plugins except for WooCommerce. Does the issue persist?
If you aren’t able to find a working baseline, please, send a link to a page concerned. Thanks.
(Photoswipe is the resource/script that powers the lightbox.)
Hi Andrew,
After turning on and off various plugins, none of which affected it, I tried clicking the link to Photoswipe.com in your post, and I see that indeed, the arrows going off is part of Photoswipe’s normal behavior. So what we want to change on our own site isn’t a “conflict” per se, but built into Photoswipe. If you follow these steps you will see the problem we have on our own site:
1. Go to Photoswipe.com.
2. Click on the landscape photo. The image pops up enlarged in an overlay box with a black background and arrows on the left and right.
3. Watch the arrows on the left and right. Do not move your mouse. After a couple of seconds, the arrows disappear.
We want the arrows NOT to disappear but to stay on. We have found that when they disappear this is confusing to even our own employees. They see the arrows disappear and assume the image viewer isn’t working. If THEY get confused, then whether a casual visitor to our site will think the site is broken or just doesn’t work is a real possibility. In our view, there is absolutely no benefit to having the arrows and the little icons at the top go off at all, and a big downside. Is there code I can put in the Vantage Child Theme to make them remain on at all times?
Thanks,
Helen
Hi Helen
Our free support scope is limited to help with standard functionality, to remain viable, we, unfortunately, don’t offer assistance with custom development. We do within our premium support scope.
Please, check the Vantage demo: https://demo.siteorigin.com/vantage/product/logo-collection/. Do the arrows hide when you view the demo? They don’t when we view the demo. If the arrows behave as you’d like when viewing the demo and your site isn’t showing the same behavior, please, send a link to your site and we’ll take a look.
(Please, note that a full plugin conflict test would involve deactivating all non-WooCommerce plugins in one go and then checking for a baseline. If no working baseline is found, switch to Vantage parent theme and try the test again. If no working baseline is found, the test has failed.)
Hi Andrew,
Yes, they hide when I view the Vantage demo: https://demo.siteorigin.com/vantage/product/logo-collection/. Click the magnifier icon to bring up the lightbox. The arrows will be there. Now wait, without moving the mouse. In a couple of seconds they disappear. You’re saying that doesn’t happen to you?
The arrows decrease in opacity slightly when not active, the arrows don’t hide though. The behavior is identical to the Photoswipe demo. Please, send a link to a page concerned and we’ll take a look. Thanks.
Hi Andrew,
As an example of what I mean, open this page and click on the main image:
https://www.georgeglazer.com/wpmain/product/view-new-york-city-upper-east-side-woldemar-neufeld-hell-gate-in-summer-vintage-print-20th-c/
Any product page on our site will do the same thing.
But that being said, it doesn’t matter if I am looking at our site or your Vantage demo or the Photoswipe demo, the arrows fade away after a few seconds if the mouse is not moved, and return only if the mouse is moved. Doesn’t matter if it’s Chrome, Safari or Firefox. I am looking at it on a Mac, but the gallery staff is all on PCs and they report the same problem.
Thanks for confirming.
Vantage isn’t changing the WooCommerce gallery functionality in any way. Vantage is using the default WooCommerce gallery. When I view the Photoswipe demo, the Vantage demo or your site, the arrows reduce in opacity but don’t disappear.
Within our free support scope, we’re unable to assist with custom development. We also can’t assist with theme support when our theme has been modified.
If you switch to the Vantage parent theme and the functionality differs from the Vantage demo, we can then assist in troubleshooting that problem. This is the free support scope we’re able to offer.
Vantage is a free theme. Support for our free products is limited in scope. If you have any questions about our support scope, please, let me know.
Here is what your gallery looks like when I view it: https://siteorigin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/woocommerce.mov. I’ll have a colleague using Windows confirm, just in case there are any operating system differences.
I looked at the movie you sent. You are not waiting long enough for the arrows to disappear. Let go of the mouse and count out loud: One-one-thousand-two-one-thousand. Arrows disappear.
Thanks.
Thanks for clarifying. Sorry I missed that earlier. This is default WooCommerce functionality, it isn’t something Vantage is adding or customizing in any way. I’m not quite sure why the support chat you had with WooCommerce mentioned a conflict. From our chat here it sounds like we’re both seeing the same functionality on your site, the Vantage demo and the Photoswipe demo.
One route to take would be to hire a developer to assist with the customization you’re after, we recommend codeable.io. Alternatively, you could look for a WooCommerce gallery plugin. I don’t have one to recommend at the moment but there might be one out there with the functionality you’re after. I tried https://wordpress.org/plugins/wooswipe/ but it seems to have the same limitation/problem you’re looking to solve.
Thank you Andrew that is very helpful and I will take that up with them.
For sure. Hopefully, you’re able to make progress with this change.
All the best.