SmartParallax – Parallax Scroll Effects & Scroll Animations
by smartparallax · Uncategorized
Scroll-linked parallax & scroll animation effects for WordPress — no coding required. Just add a CSS class. Works with Gutenberg and Elementor.
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
A 85/100
Few reviews
Active installs
100+
≈140 estimated
Momentum
-23%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “scroll animation”, “scroll effect” and “parallax background” for “jquery effect”, “scroll effects” and “scroll animations”. “scroll animation” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #17. “jquery effect” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “scroll effect” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #12. “scroll effects” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “parallax background” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #11. “scroll animations” sits at #15 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
85 health vs 58 average across 25,735 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.7%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 2.7K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,764 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Uncategorized 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 12 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
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 6 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.2, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 3 reviews, smoothed to 4.15★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 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.
40
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.2
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
23%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
0.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| parallax scroll your tag | #3 | #15 | up 1 |
| parallax your tag | #10 | #21 | down 1 |
| parallax background your tag | #11 | #21 | down 2 |
| scroll effect your tag | #12 | #22 | down 1 |
| scroll effects | #13 | #22 | 0 |
| scroll animations | #15 | #19 | down 4 |
| scroll animation your tag | #17 | #21 | down 3 |
| jquery effect | #10 | #23 | up 1 |
| parallax effect | #12 | #22 | up 1 |
| on scroll animation | #21 | #23 | down 1 |
28 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 10 listed. 18 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Swap “scroll animation”, “scroll effect” and “parallax background” for “jquery effect”, “scroll effects” and “scroll animations”. “scroll animation” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #17. “jquery effect” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “scroll effect” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #12. “scroll effects” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “parallax background” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #11. “scroll animations” sits at #15 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “parallax background”. #11 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
- One page off on “scroll effect”. #12 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 26 Nov 2025 · 339 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 422 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 21 Oct 2026.
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
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
12
releases in the last 12 months
6d ago
latest release · v1.2.2 · 25 Oct 2026
12
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 27% 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 “100+”. 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 39% of the way through.
At the current install trend, crossing 200+ in roughly 712 days.
Install history since 25 Nov 2025
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ backwerk479mo ago
Ich nutze SmartParallax auf meiner Website, auf der mehrere Scroll- und Parallax-Animationen eingesetzt werden. Besonders positiv ist, dass die Seite trotz der vielen Animationen sehr stabil bleibt, vor allem auf mobilen Geräten. Das Scrollen fühlt sich flüssig an und das Layout bleibt ruhig, ohne sichtbare Verschiebungen. Die Nutzung ist angenehm unkompliziert. Es sind keine Einstellungen oder Konfigurationsschritte nötig – die Effekte funktionieren direkt über CSS-Klassen. Für mich eine leichte und zuverlässige Lösung, um moderne Scroll-Effekte einzusetzen, ohne Performance- oder Usability-Probleme zu bekommen.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ dersteffinger11mo ago
This plugin is extremely easy to use and delivers smooth, GPU-optimized parallax effects without any setup. Works flawlessly with my client’s website and performs better than many premium alternatives. Highly recommended!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ aurazentrum11mo ago
I’ve tested SmartParallax on a client website and the results are excellent. The plugin adds smooth parallax backgrounds and scroll effects without slowing down the page. Setup is very simple – adding the CSS classes is enough to get everything working. What I appreciate most is that the engine is lightweight and GPU-accelerated, so the scrolling stays smooth even with larger background images. It also worked well with the theme and builder used on the project. A solid plugin that does exactly what it promises.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0
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
8 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 "Scroll-linked parallax & scroll animation effects for WordPress — no coding required. Just add a CSS class...."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 4 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 4 of 4 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("built for", "perfect for", "who want").
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Elementor, Gutenberg, Block editor, Divi and 2 more.
- ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 3,115 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "parallax background" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-06-11 90+ → 100+ up after 19 days in tier
- 2026-05-23 80+ → 90+ up after 14 days in tier
- 2026-05-09 70+ → 80+ up after 5 days in tier
- 2026-05-04 80+ → 70+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-05-02 70+ → 80+ up after 7 days in tier
- 2026-04-25 60+ → 70+ up after 7 days in tier
- 2026-04-18 50+ → 60+ up after 7 days in tier
- 2026-04-11 40+ → 50+ up after 7 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).
-
Parallax Scroll – Parallax Scrolling Backgrounds & Call to Action WordPress Plugin 200+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Parallaxium – Parallax Widget for Elementor 30+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Parallaxium – Parallax Block for Block Editor 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Crixu Tiltframe — installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Advanced WordPress Backgrounds 30K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
Illdy Companion 6K+ installs · 4.0★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for SmartParallax – Parallax Scroll Effects & Scroll Animations into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/smartparallax" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="SmartParallax – Parallax Scroll Effects & Scroll Animations — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> SmartParallax – Parallax Scroll Effects & Scroll Animations: 100+ active installs, 5.0★ (3 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/smartparallax
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