ThickBox

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.

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.

1 search this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.

Directory rank

Ranked about #11,300 to #12,900, alongside the other plugins at 200+ 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.

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 · 86% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Crossed into this band 11 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.

1. ★★★★★ riess2015

   11.3y ago

   Don’t use this plugin when u also use qode slider and carousel, totally crashed everything had to deactive for my pictures to come back

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ George Lerner

   11.3y ago

   PHP Notice: Use of undefined constant thickbox_init – assumed ‘thickbox_init’ in ACCOUNTFOLDER\wwwroot\wp-content\plugins\thickbox\thickbox.php on line 185 // should be string not constant // add_action(‘init’, thickbox_init); add_action(‘init’, ‘thickbox_init’); PHP Notice: load_plugin_textdomain was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.7 with no alternative available. in ACCOUNTFOLDER\wwwroot\wp-includes\functions.php on line 3510 PHP Notice: Array ( [0] => Array ( [file] => ACCOUNTFOLDER\wwwroot\wp-includes\l10n.php [line] => 598 [function] => _deprecated_argument [args] => Array ( [0] => load_plugin_textdomain [1] => 2.7 ) ) [1] => Array ( [file] => ACCOUNTFOLDER\wwwroot\wp-content\plugins\thickbox\thickbox.php [line] => 171 [function] => load_plugin_textdomain [args] => Array ( [0] => thickbox [1] => wp-content/plugins/thickbox/messages ) ) [2] => Array ( [function] => thickbox_init [args] => Array ( [0] => ) ) [3] => Array ( [file] => ACCOUNTFOLDER\wwwroot\wp-includes\plugin.php [line] => 496 [fun in ACCOUNTFOLDER\wwwroot\wp-includes\functions.php on line 3517 https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/load_plugin_textdomain shows the proper usage of the function line 171 of thickbox.php should be: load_plugin_textdomain(‘thickbox’, ”, ‘wp-content/plugins/thickbox/messages’);

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ Daniel Payne

   11.7y ago

   Added Javascript errors, and now my drop-down menus stopped working. De-activating this plugin made my menus come back to life. Nice plugin concept, but needs some work to be compatible with menus.

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ alaskajohn

   12.4y ago

   I can’t understand why folks are giving thickbox such a low rating. I love it. My only complain is that it doesn’t automatically set the WordPress “AddMedia” functionality to add Thickbox in attachments. Currently I just add class="thickbox" to image links manually. Additionally, I use this in combination with YouTube SimpleGallery to great effect.

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ itsjustathought

   13.2y ago

   Nice lightbox

   Read on wp.org ↗

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3

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.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2025-11-21 300+ → 200+ down after 1 days in tier
2. 2025-11-20 200+ → 300+ up after 4 days in tier
3. 2025-11-16 300+ → 200+ down after 449 days in tier
4. 2024-08-24 400+ → 300+ down after 273 days in tier
5. 2023-11-25 500+ → 400+ down after 194 days in tier
6. 2023-05-15 600+ → 500+ down after 155 days in tier
7. 2022-12-11 700+ → 600+ down after 68 days in tier
8. 2022-10-04 1K+ → 700+ down after 1138 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).

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for ThickBox into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

ThickBox: 200+ active installs, 2.6★ (5 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/thickbox