Polaroid Gallery
by janisto · Media
Polaroid Gallery is a CSS3 & jQuery Image Gallery plugin for WordPress Media Library.
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
D 44/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
1K+
≈1.5K estimated
Momentum
+23%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “gallery”, “image” and “images” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
44 health vs 62 average across 3,279 Media plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.2%
of downloads still active
At least 1K of 84.4K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Media plugin keeps 0.8%, across 2,317 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.
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 9+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.7.39, well behind 6.8.
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.
Under-optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 3565 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.7.39; the current branch is 6.8
3.8★ over 4 reviews, smoothed to 4.08★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3565 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
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.
Not enough tracked days yet to call a direction. Momentum needs at least three keywords measured a week or more apart.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| gallery your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| image your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| images your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| library your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| media your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
2 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 2 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “gallery”, “image” and “images” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 291 · 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
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
9.8y ago
latest release · v2.2 · 26 Jan 2017
12
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 91% 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 “1K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3.1 years ago; the previous band took 23 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 3 Oct 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Marcel Pol6.0y ago
This plugin is not compatible with WordPress 5.5 and jQuery 1.12.4. Advise is to look for a different plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ meidanisalekos10.8y ago
Easy to use. Great Work!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ m_a_d13.8y ago
I like the plugin Polaroid Gallery, because it is easy to use and is well integrated into the wordpress system without using own folders etc. One wish is a touch-friendly handling on mobile devices.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ thino14.0y ago
This plug-in is easy to use and very nice. Almost perfect. Why almost? Because it’s incredibly slow in Opera (v12) 🙁 Other browsers are ok.
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 Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! 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 1 heading and 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 963 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2023-09-08 2K+ → 1K+ down after 680 days in tier
- 2021-10-28 3K+ → 2K+ down after 771 days in tier
- 2019-09-18 5K+ → 3K+ down
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).
-
Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ installs · 4.9★ · 3 shared tags B -
Replace Image 8K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags C -
Inline Image Upload for BBPress 3K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags A - W WOW Slider 3K+ installs · 3.1★ · 3 shared tags F
-
Firelight Lightbox 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A - S Simple Lightbox 100K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Polaroid Gallery into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/polaroid-gallery" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Polaroid Gallery — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Polaroid Gallery: 1K+ active installs, 3.8★ (4 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/polaroid-gallery
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