jQuery Image Lazy Load WP
by ayn · Performance
Retired on WordPress 5.5 and newer. Legacy jQuery image lazy loading remains available for older WordPress installations.
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 79/100
no flags
Active installs
700+
≈800 estimated
Momentum
+65%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “image lazy load”, “image lazy loading” and “lazy loading” to your wp.org tags. You rank #10, #15 and #21 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.
79 health vs 69 average across 1,808 Performance plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.5%
of downloads still active
At least 700 of 147K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Performance plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,103 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 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: WP compatibility
Updated 53 days ago
No "Tested up to" declared, treated as a major version behind
3.1★ over 14 reviews, smoothed to 3.88★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Set "Tested up to" to WordPress 6.8; lagging the current branch costs search weight.
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.
39
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
23%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| jquery your tag | #5 | #19 | up 2 |
| image lazy load | #10 | #20 | 0 |
| jquery lazy load plugin | #6 | #21 | 0 |
| image lazy loading | #15 | #23 | up 1 |
| no jquery | #7 | #21 | 0 |
| lazy | #22 | #24 | 0 |
| lazy loading | #21 | #23 | down 3 |
| skip lazy loading | #11 | #21 | down 1 |
| disable lazy load | #22 | #24 | down 2 |
| images lazy load | #24 | #24 | down 1 |
| images your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| optimization your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
14 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 10 listed. 4 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 “image lazy load”, “image lazy loading” and “lazy loading” to your wp.org tags. You rank #10, #15 and #21 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 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 541 · 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
2mo ago
latest release · v0.22.0 · 9 Sep 2026
16
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 “700+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 16 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 800.
Install history since 18 Mar 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ theodorius10.3y ago
Hellooo, The plugin is still in version 0.21…? So why dont you remove it from repository?
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ olesuper811.5y ago
Has stopped my site from loading and now I’m having to refresh the cache and hoping this will solve the problem
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ttaku11.8y ago
All of the images not showing up at all now, except for the images in the bootstrap Carousel. All the other images are replaced by a grey.gif image from the plugin folder. Installed v0.21 of this plugin on wordpress 4.0.1 and using free theme catchbox 3.0 from the wordpress.org website.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ davide_ravasi12.9y ago
In this version i don’t see anything at work.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ andrewfburton12.9y ago
Just what I expected from lazy load!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Sheraz Ahmed13.0y ago
it works fine for me on
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ gusevstudio13.1y ago
Works fine! Really speed up my photo blog on mobile browsers!!! 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ gusevstudio13.1y ago
Works fine! Really speed up my photo blog on mobile browsers!!! 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
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
1 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! 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 541 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 2 of 3 tags appear in the text; "optimization" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-16 800+ → 700+ down after 231 days in tier
- 2026-02-27 900+ → 800+ down after 126 days in tier
- 2025-10-24 1K+ → 900+ down after 1017 days in tier
- 2023-01-11 2K+ → 1K+ down after 512 days in tier
- 2021-08-17 3K+ → 2K+ down after 422 days in tier
- 2020-06-21 4K+ → 3K+ down after 161 days in tier
- 2020-01-12 5K+ → 4K+ down after 435 days in tier
- 2018-11-03 6K+ → 5K+ down after 182 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).
- C Cleaner Gallery 2K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D
- I imageLightbox 300+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags D
-
Autoptimize 800K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
AMP 300K+ installs · 3.8★ · 1 shared tag C -
WebP Express 300K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag A -
Performance Lab 100K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for jQuery Image Lazy Load WP into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/jquery-image-lazy-loading" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="jQuery Image Lazy Load WP — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> jQuery Image Lazy Load WP: 700+ active installs, 3.1★ (14 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/jquery-image-lazy-loading
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