Crop-Thumbnails
by Volkmar Kantor · Media
"Crop Thumbnails" made it easy to get exacly that specific image-detail you want to show in your featured image or gallery image.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 75/100
no flags
Active installs
40K+
≈49K estimated
Momentum
-1%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “crop” and “thumbnail” to your wp.org tags. You rank #4 and #23 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
75 health vs 62 average across 3,286 Media plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →4.5%
of downloads still active
At least 40K of 881.5K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Media plugin keeps 0.8%, across 2,320 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Media plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Support resolution
Updated 333 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.8.12, the current branch or newer
4.6★ over 67 reviews, smoothed to 4.39★
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
0 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
To rank higher: Mark more forum threads resolved — the resolved ratio feeds the ranking.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
32
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.8
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
9%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
-0.5
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| crop | #4 | #6 | 0 |
| post thumbnails your tag | #7 | #8 | 0 |
| thumbnails | #8 | #8 | 0 |
| crop images | #5 | #5 | down 1 |
| image crop | #7 | #9 | 0 |
| wordpress thumbnails | #9 | #9 | down 1 |
| thumbnail | #23 | #16 | down 4 |
| images your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| media library your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
41 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 7 listed. 34 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Add “crop” and “thumbnail” to your wp.org tags. You rank #4 and #23 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 68.5K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
11mo ago
latest release · v1.9.7 · 3 Dec 2025
32
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 81% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “40K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 5.6 years ago; the previous band took 21 months to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.
Install history since 14 Aug 2021
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Anthony Hortin10mo ago
Just found this plugin! This is so useful for making custom thumbnail image crops! Thanks for creating a super handy plugin! 👍
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Hilary Caws-Elwitt1.2y ago
A perfect solution for an annoying problem. Thanks, Volkmar!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ jhtjards2.0y ago
Such a great and powerful plugin! And yet no annoying ads and upsells and whatnot. Fast and easy to use, no bloat, no fuzz and it just works. This is the kind of WordPress Plugin I as a developer love and will always keep in my toolkit. Thanks Volkmar!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ cezaro3.4y ago
+ easy to use + very useful plugin + nice support
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ yikai3.4y ago
easy to use
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ hotnewfilm3.5y ago
I’ve been using this plugin for years and I generally have only great things to say about it. Since the last update, though, a resize grid appears over the image you want to crop that you then have to adjust from every direction to your liking. There’s no longer the functionality to click anywhere on the image and create your own image crop. A minor nuisance in the grand scheme of things, but not having this old reliable option anymore does make cropping a bit more time-consuming.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ panonski4.3y ago
I love this kind of plugins…. … Logical, simple to use – and in the end of the day – the job is done ! – Someone said – why WP doesn’t have it – by default. – Luckily for us – there are people which writing great plugins. – BIG THANK YOU !
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Bruno Cantuaria5.1y ago
Amazing work on this plugin. It make developers and users life easier creating a handy-way to crop thumbnails in the used sizes across the site.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.9.7 fix the script loading in the backend if using wp_enqueue_script_module Remove legacy filter with typo error: “crop_thumbnails_activat_on_adminpages” update dependencies 1.9.7
- — Version 1.9.6 change the basesize for cropping from “large” to “full” to prevent that the wrong dimensions are created for the crop 1.9.6
- — Version 1.9.5 fix wrong filter parameter count for “image_editor_output_format” add filter crop_thumbnails_crop_data to make the crop-area-background-image editable make crop_thumbnails_crop_data_image_sizes deprecated in favor of cro 1.9.5
- — Version 1.9.4 add wp-api script to wp-backend (seems that wp_enqueue_script_module to not do this on there own) 1.9.4
- — Version 1.9.3 use rename instead of copy-unlink to move the files from the temporary directory improve logging 1.9.3
- — Version 1.9.2 hardend the crop solution by calculating the crop region in the frontend lower the minimal wordpress version to 5.0 (add a fallback for wp_enqueue_script_module) 1.9.2
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 73 languages, 6 at 90% or more
Plus 49 more locales with partial translations.
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
4 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does ""Crop Thumbnails" made it easy to get exacly that specific image-detail you want to show in your featured i..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 5 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 5 of 5 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("who want", "if you want").
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 518 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 1 of 3 tags appear in the text ("media library", "post thumbnails" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2021-04-15 30K+ → 40K+ up after 637 days in tier
- 2019-07-18 20K+ → 30K+ up after 115 days in tier
- 2019-03-25 10K+ → 20K+ up after 1195 days in tier
- 2015-12-16 9K+ → 10K+ up after 100 days in tier
- 2015-09-07 8K+ → 9K+ up
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
Media Library Assistant 70K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Quick Featured Images 50K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A - C Cache Images 1K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags D
-
URL Image Importer – Import External Images to the Media Library from URL, CSV & XML 1K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags A -
SMNTCS Image Dimensions 200+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Crop-Thumbnails into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/crop-thumbnails" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Crop-Thumbnails — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Crop-Thumbnails: 40K+ active installs, 4.6★ (67 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/crop-thumbnails
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