Stencil
by Stencil · Media
The fastest and easiest way to design images as you write posts in WordPress. Millions of stock photos, premium icons & templates at your fingertips.
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 45/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
1K+
≈1.5K estimated
Momentum
+69%
low volume, under 1,000 downloads a month
Biggest opportunity: “design”, “graphic design” and “graphics” 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.
45 health vs 62 average across 3,299 Media plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.0%
of downloads still active
At least 1K of 49K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Media plugin keeps 0.8%, across 2,324 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.
Removal-risk signals
53/100Maintenance 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 4+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Falling behind WordPress. Tested up to WordPress 5.8.0.
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 1736 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 5.8.0; the current branch is 7.1
4.1★ over 9 reviews, weighted for review count to 4.1★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 1736 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| design your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| graphic design your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| graphics your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| media library your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| photos your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “design”, “graphic design” and “graphics” 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 · 1,413 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 338 · 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
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
4.8y ago
latest release · v1.14.8 · 1 Feb 2022
61
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% 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 2.4 years ago; the previous band took 4.5 years to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 3 Jul 2019
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ famara20045.6y ago
Not working in wp 5.7
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ alainmelsens6.1y ago
There is no good support. They say to answer me privately and then finally they say that my problem is not a priority. Then they closed my ticket as solved. This does not helping me further. In this case, even 1 star is too much. 🙁 They don’t care about issues from free users. This not good publicity. I will no longer recommend this product to anyone. Unless they follow it up honestly. This topic was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by alainmelsens.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Renaat6.9y ago
Just amazing, installed the plugin, created a free account and all images are accessible and editable perfectly. I just hope to experience a fully compatible multisite experience. At the moment my sub site users can not benefit from the Stencil Plugin, only the super admin. This topic was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Renaat.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Kerry Carron6.9y ago
I’ve been using this in client sites for over a year. This is a well maintained, easy to use, and welcome addition to make choosing, adding, and editing images to articles a smooth process. The developer is active, responsive, and helpful in resolving issues when and if needed. Thanks for this plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ taropaa7.4y ago
The service is pretty cool! Very useful for teams, allowing copywriters to manage a larger portion of the process, by allowing them to create the assets for a post themselves, using pre-defined templates. The plugin worked great for me (multisite, quite atypical setup). A very welcome and well working extension to a very intuitive product.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ alexkarya7.5y ago
Thanks for your work! All perfect! Just one think! MORE liberty plz)
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous User 6522817.7y ago
Wow, wow, wow! I have been using Stencil (since the early days when it was called “Share As Image”). It’s incredibly easy to use and powerful, but this WordPress plugin as a huge game changer for me. Now I can import my Stencil images directly and have WordPress optimize them. Great for my work on clients websites and I can let them sign up for their own account at the end. I am hugely impressed that within under a week they have added support for a number of Page Builders and allowed us to rename the image file name to SEO friendly. Stunning work. Thank you!! This topic was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Anonymous User 652281.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous7.7y ago
This is a great idea. It makes it so much easier to create custom images for Word Press posts.
Read on wp.org ↗
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 2 languages, 2 at 90% or more · development strings
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.
This plugin’s searches fall outside the topics measured so far. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
Not checked yet. The readme could not be read from WordPress.org on this visit.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2024-06-18 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1650 days in tier
- 2019-12-12 1K+ → 2K+ 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 Stencil into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/stencil" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Stencil — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Stencil: 1K+ active installs, 4.1★ (9 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-03. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/stencil
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