Thumbnails and Featured Images
by Stefano Lissa · Media
Also makes 17 other plugins · 413.7K+ installs across the portfolio →
Autoselect the featured image and creates pixel perfect resizes on the fly without regenerate all the thumbnails.
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
B 79/100
Few reviews
Active installs
900+
≈990 estimated
Momentum
+21%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “thumbnails”, “post thumbnails” and “featured images” to your wp.org tags. You rank #9, #15 and #24 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 2 listed these are the slots worth spending.
79 health vs 62 average across 3,278 Media plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.1%
of downloads still active
At least 900 of 42K 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.
This plugin shipped 3 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.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 219 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.9.11, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.20★ and held back under 25 reviews
2 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.
37
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
18%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.1
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| thumbnails | #9 | #19 | 0 |
| regenerate thumbnails wordpress | #4 | #14 | 0 |
| regenerate thumbnails | #8 | #17 | down 1 |
| screenshot featured image | #7 | #15 | 0 |
| featured images | #24 | #22 | down 3 |
| media resize your tag | #24 | #23 | 0 |
| post thumbnails | #15 | #22 | down 2 |
| wordpress thumbnails | #11 | #21 | 0 |
| image resize without crop | #12 | #17 | down 2 |
| featured image your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
22 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 9 listed. 13 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Add “thumbnails”, “post thumbnails” and “featured images” to your wp.org tags. You rank #9, #15 and #24 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 2 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 835 · 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
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
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
3
releases in the last 12 months
7mo ago
latest release · v1.1.9 · 26 Mar 2026
10
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 97% 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 “900+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 41 days ago and the previous band took 2.2 years to cross, so the real count is still just under 1K.
Install history since 1 Dec 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ glenstewart3.6y ago
Great idea, and can go to the next level to be even more awesome… rather than cropping images (and losing content), keep the largest dimension and provide an option to add a colored background, filling the gap (eg. with black) or transparent. switch the format to WebP, to improve PageSpeed metrics provide an option to turn off all thumbnail generation in the wp-content/uploads folder, and do it with this plugin, per the above, instead. Stop WP core from contaminating the uploads folder with dynamic content.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Kodo4.2y ago
I like this plugin’s approach of generating thumbnails when asked. I hope the plugin will be around for a long time. Or if it were included in the core, it would cut down on wasted unused image files on servers around the world. Now if only it would support WebP and responsive images, it would be perfect. Thanks.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ franciscus8.6y ago
I re-use my post thumbnail images in various ways, so I like to upload them full size, and I need the software to resize them as needed. This plugin does exactly that for me. It performs its magic transparently and makes my pages a lot lighter. Highly recommended.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Roberto Fietta9.7y ago
This plugin solves my problems with the WP thumbnails, thanks Stefano!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Terry J10.8y ago
Just want the doctor ordered! This plugin solved my nagging issue on a custom theme. Thank you for sharing.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Noahj Champion11.0y ago
Great plugin, works out of the box (2 settings choices) and super light weight.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 12 languages, 1 at 90% or more
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
4 of 8 pass · checked 31 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Autoselect the featured image and creates pixel perfect resizes on the fly without regenerate all the thumb..."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("use it"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions bbPress.
- ! Headings and lists 1 heading and 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,110 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 1 of 2 tags appear in the text; "media resize" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-09-20 1K+ → 900+ down after 809 days in tier
- 2024-07-03 2K+ → 1K+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2024-07-01 4K+ → 2K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-06-30 8K+ → 4K+ down after 43 days in tier
- 2024-05-18 9K+ → 8K+ down after 16 days in tier
- 2024-05-02 8K+ → 9K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2024-04-30 9K+ → 8K+ down after 6 days in tier
- 2024-04-24 8K+ → 9K+ up after 487 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).
-
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
Quick Featured Images 50K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ installs · 3.9★ · 1 shared tag B -
Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages 30K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
XO Featured Image Tools 20K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Thumbnails and Featured Images into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/thumbnails" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Thumbnails and Featured Images — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Thumbnails and Featured Images: 900+ active installs, 5.0★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/thumbnails
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