Image Placeholders
by WordPress Performance Team · Performance
Also makes 9 other plugins · 550K+ installs across the portfolio →
Displays placeholders based on an image's dominant color while the image is loading.
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 82/100
Few reviews
Active installs
60K+
≈66K estimated
Momentum
-33%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “color” to your wp.org tags. You rank #10 for it without listing it, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed it's a slot worth spending.
82 health vs 69 average across 1,806 Performance plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →12%
of downloads still active
At least 60K of 509.9K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Performance plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,104 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Performance 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 3 releases 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
Recent review vibe
read from the latest 2 reviews to 2025-01-30One reviewer calls it a nice enhancement for any site, while another says color detection doesn't work at all and every placeholder renders grey on a self-hosted Docker setup.
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 67 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
3.5★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.08★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
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.
38
Momentum
Mixed: one swing, the rest drifting
0.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
19%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.4
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| placeholders | #1 | #20 | 0 |
| dominant color your tag | #1 | #7 | 0 |
| dominant | #1 | #9 | 0 |
| color | #10 | #23 | down 1 |
| image color | #6 | #24 | 0 |
| images your tag | #23 | #24 | up 1 |
| get images | #11 | #24 | 0 |
| wordpress images | #12 | #24 | down 1 |
| add images | #16 | #24 | up 2 |
| plugin images | #24 | #24 | 0 |
| performance your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
29 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 10 listed. 19 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Add “color” to your wp.org tags. You rank #10 for it without listing it, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed it's a slot worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 17 Oct 2023 · 1,112 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 48.7K · 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.
3
releases in the last 12 months
2mo ago
latest release · v1.3.0 · 26 Aug 2026
8
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare 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.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “60K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 5 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 59% of the way through.
Install history since 16 Oct 2023
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Fabian Kaegy1.8y ago
This is such a nice enhancement for any site!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ audioscavenger2.0y ago
does not break the site, but all placeholders are grey. color detection does not work. I host WP docker latest myself with nginx and imageick + gd + webp + AVIF so yeah i think my setup is not in cause
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.2.1 Bug Fixes Only attempt to get dominant colour for image mime types. ( 2264 ) 1.2.1
- — Version 1.2.0 Enhancements Enhance admin media UI with dominant color support. ( 1719 ) 1.2.0
- — Version 1.1.2 Enhancements Use more robust HTML Tag Processor for Image Placeholders. ( 1477 ) Bug Fixes Re-remove unneeded phpcs:ignore. ( 1231 ) Update PHPStan to 1.11.5. ( 1318 ) 1.1.2
- — Version 1.1.1 Enhancements Avoid needless array allocation in rgb to hex conversion. ( 1104 ) Improve overall code quality with stricter static analysis checks. ( 775 ) Bump minimum PHP requirement to 7.2. ( 1130 ) Bug Fixes Fix Imagi 1.1.1
- — Version 1.1.0 Rename plugin to “Image Placeholders”. ( 1101 ) Use plugin slug for generator tag. ( 1103 ) Bump minimum required WP version to 6.4. ( 1062 ) Update tested WordPress version to 6.5. ( 1027 ) 1.1.0
- — Version 1.0.1 Exclude “.wordpress-org” directory when deploying standalone plugins. ( 866 ) 1.0.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 17 languages, 15 at 90% or more
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.
Share of voice
How often each assistant names Image Placeholders when asked about this topic, where it comes in the answer, and how that compares with its wp.org search position. Latest run 1 Nov 2026.
- Assistants
- ChatGPT, Claude
- Topics tracked
- Image optimization
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 "Displays placeholders based on an image's dominant color while the image is loading."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! 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 291 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 2 of 3 tags appear in the text; "performance" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-06-06 70K+ → 60K+ down after 332 days in tier
- 2025-07-09 60K+ → 70K+ up after 129 days in tier
- 2025-03-02 50K+ → 60K+ up after 112 days in tier
- 2024-11-10 40K+ → 50K+ up after 91 days in tier
- 2024-08-11 30K+ → 40K+ up after 78 days in tier
- 2024-05-25 20K+ → 30K+ up after 59 days in tier
- 2024-03-27 10K+ → 20K+ up after 45 days in tier
- 2024-02-11 9K+ → 10K+ up after 2 days in tier
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).
-
Autoptimize 800K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
WebP Express 300K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags A -
Modern Image Formats 100K+ installs · 3.7★ · 2 shared tags B -
Enhanced Responsive Images 50K+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Lazy Loader 9K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags C - U Unveil Lazy Load 2K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Image Placeholders into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/dominant-color-images" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Image Placeholders — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Image Placeholders: 60K+ active installs, 3.5★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/dominant-color-images
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