Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

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.

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.

301 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 247 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).

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

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Crossed into this band 23 days ago and the previous band took 2.8 years to cross, so the real count is still just under 200K.

1. ★★★★★ ianrena1

   4mo ago

   I just made it four stars, but it is still very good, you will have limitations from a SHARED post, better have the main source/host of the post of Facebook. It is not the SmashBalloon’s problem but Meta.

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ bastings

   6mo ago

   easy configuration, woks prefect. Thanks!

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ patrikmuse

   6mo ago

   Great plugin and excellent support. Smash Balloon plugin works very well for displaying content on our WordPress site and is easy to manage. The support team identified and fixed a JavaScript issue on our site in less than 24 hours, with a clear and professional explanation. Highly recommended!

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ CDWebStudio

   8mo ago

   They helped troubleshoot issues and the support was great. Wish they had an integration with LinkedIn though.

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ Matthew Strange

   8mo ago

   [Note: at the end of a frustrating attempt to make this plugin work, even after purchasing the product, I gave up and removed it. They asked for an honest review, which I provided by their direct support page. I’m posting it here as well, as it may help other potential users.] This plugin shows great promise, but it is beset by nagging issues, which the company doesn’t seem able to address. The first issue is that the plugin sometimes fails to stay in sync with the Facebook site it is drawing from. I was told (and forums confirm) that this appears to be limited to the free version. Oddly, after about two weeks of testing, the free version suddenly started syncing as it should. So that was a lot of anxiety and support time spent for nothing. The second issue is the bigger one: the free version is extremely limited and the “pro” versions (yes, there are multiple levels of the “pro” version) are mind-bogglingly complex. All I wanted to accomplish was to display our Facebook feed’s livestream videos on a page on our site. (We currently manually edit the page to insert the latest video — tedious but not difficult.) The free version doesn’t allow filtering by type, so it displays all posts, and it only displays the text — no photos, videos, etc. for the posts. That’s fine, and I don’t mind paying for the additional capabilities, so I purchase the “pro basic” version, which is billed as being “for 1 website” and promises “Photos & Videos in Feeds” among other things that might be useful. (The next level is called “pro plus” and is billed as being “for 5 websites” and offers a few more features, and… there are TWO levels of “pro” beyond that!) Since I’m just administering a single site, I go with that plan. Foolish me. After going through a convoluted process to install the “pro” version (which is actually the “pro basic” version) I go through all of the additional settings and find that virtually all of them present me with an [advertisement] to purchase the “pro plus” version. On top of that, the few additional settings I can access don’t appear to make any changes to my page at all. [Yes, I cleared caches, etc.] The promised “photos & videos in feeds” — which was the one thing I thought I might salvage from this purchase — do not appear. To make that sad experience worse, Wordfence is now warning me that its update check is now encountering errors with the plugin. I then disable and delete the plugin and go to the WordPress forum to reinstall the free version (until I can decide what to do for an alternative) and discover that it can’t be found! [Probably because I can’t navigate their complex naming scheme.] My next complaint is that their website seems to be overly complicated. Consider this process: 1) go to the smashballoon.com home page. 2) see a large “Get Started Now” and click it. 3) See “Facebook Feed Pro” with “Buy Now” and “Learn More” buttons. 4) Click “Learn More” 5) See a page with a large “Get Started” button. Wha….? 6) Click “Get Started” and… the “Buy Now” page loads! Why not just take the user there in the first place, if that’s where you are driving us? I’m sure the reply would be that there is additional information on those intermediate pages, but the potential customer who is just trying to figure it out, is now confused and overwhelmed. (As I wrote in one email: “I kindly suggest that you invest some time in UI testing utilizing people who have no familiarity with your plugin: as the developer of the plugin, you have blind spots where you can not see the difficulties in your UI.)” That goes for the website, too. After all of that, a 3-star rating might sound high, but this plugin does what it does quite well, and I suppose if you purchase the higher (or the higher-higher or even higher…) end package you might get what you are looking for. But for a small single use site, the “pro basic” license feels more like an “enhanced free version” than an actual value. And although they are plagued with administrative errors (after going back and forth for a couple of weeks, they apologized for not realizing that all of my support questions were coming from one person — even though I was directly replying to the emails I was receiving — and suggesting that they could have done better) it seems that they wanted to try but by then I was so frustrated and had realized that the $99/year “pro” plugin wouldn’t do what I needed, that I just gave up. Again, they were professional and honored their money back guarantee, but really, I would have rather had a plugin that did what it promised and offered a reasonable value for the price. Last thought: I almost dropped this to a 2-star review after thinking about the fact that although support was a bit slow and beset with issues (see above) they are not shy about filling my inbox with marketing tips. But then I realized that this is most likely because they are all about selling to people who are marketing products, and that a site like ours, that is only interested in providing information, is not their target audience. That’s not their fault, so I can’t ding the rating for that. But it might be good for Smash Balloon if they could broaden their vision a bit.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ Christopher Wells

   9mo ago

   I have a client that is making use of the Facebook Feed plugin on 3 of 5 websites. We have used it for a year now and have just recently renewed our subscription. This plugin works on the paid platform, suggest those that want a quality product, you spend some hard earned money on supporting this company. Keep up the great work and thank you for the prompt support.

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ karanna

   11mo ago

   Very good plugin. I recommend. 🙂

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ Donnie

   12mo ago

   I think it’s the best plugin for using ins and youtube to show business. i love it.

   Read on wp.org ↗

Recent releases and news for this plugin

1. — Version 4.9.0 Fix: Prevented block editor typography from reverting to serif fonts when the Facebook feed block is active. Fix: Plugin security hardening. 4.9.0
2. — Version 4.8.1 New: Added a modern Gutenberg block and Elementor widget for the Facebook feed. Existing feeds using the legacy block continue to render without reconfiguration. New: Added a Help widget to the feed builder for in-app ac 4.8.1
3. — Version 4.7.7 Fix: Additional plugin hardening. 4.7.7
4. — Version 4.7.6 Tweak: Added optional deactivation feedback survey to help us improve the plugin. Fix: Additional Plugin hardening. 4.7.6
5. — Version 4.7.5 Fix: Updated placeholder text with actual content. 4.7.5
6. — Version 4.3.4 Fix: Plugin security hardening. Fix: Fixed an issue with the review notice not being dismissible. Tweak: Improved text domain loading (_load_textdomain_just_in_time fix). Tweak: Various PHP warning and legacy feed compat 4.3.4

All 10 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (4.15.0). Sites still on an older version should update.

1. Patched High · 7.2 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed <= 4.13.0 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Facebook Comment Message in Admin Builder Preview ↗
   2026-10-01 CVE-2026-93756 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.13.0 Patched in 4.14.0
2. Patched Medium · 6.4 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed <= 4.9.0 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'id' Shortcode Attribute ↗
   2026-08-15 CVE-2026-16775 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.9.0 Patched in 4.10.0
3. Patched Medium · 4.3 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed <= 4.3.2 - Missing Authorization ↗
   2025-10-09 CVE-2025-49937 Missing Authorization Affects <= 4.3.2 Patched in 4.3.3
4. Patched Medium · 6.4 Smash Balloon Custom Facebook Feed <= 4.3.1 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via `data-color` Attribute ↗
   2025-06-09 CVE-2025-4577 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.3.1 Patched in 4.3.2
5. Patched Medium · 4.3 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed <= 4.2.1 - Cross-Site Request Forgery ↗
   2024-04-10 CVE-2024-31379 Cross-Site Request Forgery Affects <= 4.2.1 Patched in 4.2.2
6. Patched Medium · 6.4 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed <= 4.1.5 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2022-12-20 CVE-2022-4477 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.1.5 Patched in 4.1.6
7. Patched Medium · 5.4 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed <= 4.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2021-12-16 CVE-2021-25065 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects < 4.1.1 Patched in 4.1.1
8. Patched Medium · 5.4 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed <= 4.0 - Arbitrary Plugin Settings Update to Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2021-10-29 CVE-2021-24918 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects < 4.0.1 Patched in 4.0.1
9. Patched Medium · 6.1 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed <= 2.19.1 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2021-08-16 CVE-2021-24508 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects < 2.19.2 Patched in 2.19.2
10. Patched Medium · 6.1 Smash Balloon Plugins (Various Versions) - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2021-07-20 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 2.19.1 Patched in 2.19.2

Translated into 24 languages, 8 at 90% or more

Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2026-10-10 200K+ → 100K+ down after 1004 days in tier
2. 2024-01-10 100K+ → 200K+ up after 410 days in tier
3. 2022-11-26 200K+ → 100K+ down after 2170 days in tier
4. 2016-12-17 100K+ → 200K+ up after 570 days in tier
5. 2015-05-27 90K+ → 100K+ 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).

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress: 100K+ active installs, 4.7★ (1,511 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/custom-facebook-feed