Spotlight Social Photo Feed

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.

555 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 437 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 3 years ago; the previous band took 13 months to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.

1. ★★★★★ seventhree

   9mo ago

   Fantastic plugin that displays our Instagram feed beautifully. What truly sets them apart is their customer service. Hendra from the support team was incredibly fast, friendly, and provided the exact CSS solution I needed.

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ whiteelephantagency

   11mo ago

   We had to pay for the upgrade to really get the look and feel we wanted but ultimately it works, our clients are happy and it has been good on desktop and mobile. Would highly recommend if youre managing a site where social presence is critical such as food & hospitality, entertainment, etc.

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ zast

   11mo ago

   I had ads appearing on the pages of my website. They were only on this extension. I thought they were Adsense ads, but when I looked closer, I saw that they were admaster ads on this extension. They came from this extension because I disabled it and now I no longer have these ads.

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ nisaac86

   1.3y ago

   I installed this plug-in for a client of mine, and there have been so many issues with the connection of the Instagram account. I then have to walk through my client on how to connect their account again. This is very frustrating, my client is not very good behind the computer, and this is just a terrible plug-in. I would say the only upside to this plug-in, is that when it is working, it is not a monthly basis subscription.

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ Victor Mendoza

   1.3y ago

   The setup was very simple and the result was just as I expected.It is really a great satisfaction to use a plugin when it is user friendly and efficient. Spotlight Social Feeds, allowed me to perform the feed embedding with a simple and completely customizable shortcode.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ networka

   1.5y ago

   The plugin basically works and looks visually appealing. However, I can’t give it a better rating because two critical issues have remained unresolved for years: The lightbox is not fully keyboard accessible. It’s impossible to start videos or navigate through a gallery within a single post using only the keyboard, a clear failure in terms of basic accessibility. The plugin is not translatable, which severely limits its use in multilingual projects or for non-English websites. The translation issue has been raised multiple times – I personally submitted a request for translation support over three years ago. Nothing has changed since then. That’s extremely disappointing, especially considering that accessibility and internationalization are not “nice-to-haves,” but essential standards. It may look good and function well on the surface, but anyone relying on accessibility or multilingual support will be left behind.

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ ramonsca

   1.7y ago

   I had an issue with the plugin … their support is the best! They answered very quickly and solved my issue immediately. Highly recommend!

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ cisen

   1.8y ago

   I have asked for help several times and I am glad I did. The answers are very detailed and help resolve issues. Thank you for your professionalism

   Read on wp.org ↗

Recent releases and news for this plugin

1. 2026-10-21 Version 1.8.1 Added – Added a “Recommended plugins” page to the Instagram Feeds menu, listing other plugins from the Spotlight team. – Added a dismissible banner on the Feeds screen that recommends Vireo Analytics, a free analytics pl 1.8.1
2. 2026-10-07 Version 1.8.0 Added – New feeds now start with a layout choice. Users with a connected account go straight to the customizer; users without one are guided through connecting first. – Feeds can be imported from the new feed layout step 1.8.0
3. 2026-03-10 Version 1.7.5 Changed – Updated Analytics date handling to use WordPress date/time functions for improved timezone consistency. – Improved null validation before calling version_compare() to prevent PHP 8.x deprecated warnings. – Mode 1.7.5
4. 2025-11-11 Version 1.7.4 Added – Added a 4:5 image ratio option to the Grid layout. – Added 3:4 and 4:5 image ratio options to the Highlight and Slider layouts. Fixed – Fixed misaligned arrows in Slider layouts. 1.7.4
5. 2025-09-02 Version 1.7.3 Changed – Spotlight now supports Meta’s oEmbed API v22.0. – This ensures continued compatibility after Meta’s removal of certain oEmbed fields and the deprecation of the Facebook Page Post oEmbed endpoint (effective Octo 1.7.3
6. 2025-02-11 Version 1.7.2 Added – Added a Tall Grid template with a 3:4 ratio and a new Ratio option in Appearance Settings. Changed – Removed local error log and redirected errors to the WordPress debug log. 1.7.2

All 6 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (1.8.1). Sites still on an older version should update.

1. Patched Medium · 6.1 Freemius <= 2.10.1 - Reflected DOM-Based Cross-Site Scripting via url Parameter ↗
   2026-04-30 CVE-2024-13362 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.7.0 Patched in 1.7.1
2. Patched Medium · 5.3 Spotlight Social Media Feeds <= 1.7.1 - Unauthenticated Sensitive Information Disclosure ↗
   2025-02-14 CVE-2025-26758 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor Affects <= 1.7.1 Patched in 1.7.2
3. Patched Medium · 4.3 Spotlight Social Media Feeds <= 1.6.10 - Cross-Site Request Forgery ↗
   2024-04-10 CVE-2024-31381 Cross-Site Request Forgery Affects <= 1.6.10 Patched in 1.6.11
4. Patched Medium · 6.1 Freemius SDK <= 2.5.9 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via fs_request_get ↗
   2023-07-18 CVE-2023-33999 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects 0.2 - 1.6 Patched in 1.6.1
5. Patched Medium · 6.4 Spotlight Social Feeds <= 1.4.2 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2023-01-23 CVE-2023-0379 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.4.2 Patched in 1.4.3
6. Patched Medium · 6.3 Freemius SDK <= 2.4.2 - Missing Authorization Checks ↗
   2022-03-04 CVE-2022-4974 Missing Authorization Affects < 0.10.2 Patched in 0.10.2

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1

Translated into 8 languages, 0 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. 2023-10-14 50K+ → 60K+ up after 375 days in tier
2. 2022-10-04 40K+ → 50K+ up after 175 days in tier
3. 2022-04-12 30K+ → 40K+ up after 145 days in tier
4. 2021-11-18 20K+ → 30K+ up after 94 days in tier
5. 2021-08-16 10K+ → 20K+ up after 159 days in tier
6. 2021-03-10 6K+ → 10K+ up after 63 days in tier
7. 2021-01-06 3K+ → 6K+ up after 66 days in tier
8. 2020-11-01 400+ → 3K+ 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 Spotlight Social Photo Feed into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

Spotlight Social Photo Feed: 60K+ active installs, 4.7★ (171 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/spotlight-social-photo-feeds