WP Random Post Thumbnails
by Brianna Deleasa · Uncategorized
Allows you to select images to be shown at random for posts without a featured image.
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
C 67/100
Stale · Few reviews
Active installs
1K+
≈1.5K estimated
Momentum
+17%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Slipping on “random images”. Down 5 places since 2026-10-07, now #17. Check what shipped around then, and what moved above you.
67 health vs 58 average across 25,755 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.6%
of downloads still active
At least 1K of 38.6K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,774 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.
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: Update recency
Updated 463 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.7.11; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 8 reviews, smoothed to 4.22★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 463 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.
27
Momentum
Losing ground
-1.7
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
0%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
-0.3
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| random thumbnails your tag | #5 | #12 | 0 |
| random post thumbnail your tag | #6 | #14 | down 2 |
| random featured images your tag | #7 | #15 | down 3 |
| random post | #10 | #16 | 0 |
| random | #14 | #18 | down 2 |
| random images your tag | #17 | #20 | down 5 |
| post thumbnails your tag | #24 | #23 | 0 |
| random posts | #18 | #18 | down 1 |
| random content | #20 | #16 | down 2 |
| random image | #22 | #20 | down 3 |
21 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 10 listed. 11 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Slipping on “random images”. Down 5 places since 2026-10-07, now #17. Check what shipped around then, and what moved above you.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 2.1K · 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
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
1.3y ago
latest release · v2.6.3 · 27 Jul 2025
33
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 65% 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 9 months ago; the previous band took 16 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 23 Aug 2019
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ ugotta5.5y ago
Random Post feature image
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ andyhsia6.4y ago
it real help me
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ranjbaran7.4y ago
Thank you very very much for this! I have been searching for a plugin to show random featured images for several hours and finally found this one!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous7.8y ago
Thanks, this is a great plugin and does what it says. Simple and effective!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ rfalcaoj9.0y ago
This is exactly what I needed, I researched other plugins but they were too confusing. This is simple and objective. Very good!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Nigal8810.8y ago
This is exactly what I needed, and from what I’ve seen there are no other plugins like this which are updated and still functioning. Thank you very much for this and I hope you will continue updates if the functionality ever runs into any problems.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ scarlett69911.0y ago
I was looking for a plugin that did this for a long time, it saves me alot of time 😀
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jhonc6611.3y ago
I was looking for something as basic like this for months. Thanks
Read on wp.org ↗
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
1 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Allows you to select images to be shown at random for posts without a featured image."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 477 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 0 of 5 tags appear in the text ("post thumbnails", "random featured images", "random images", "random post thumbnail", "random thumbnails" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-02-13 2K+ → 1K+ down after 488 days in tier
- 2024-10-13 3K+ → 2K+ down after 28 days in tier
- 2024-09-15 2K+ → 3K+ up after 75 days in tier
- 2024-07-02 3K+ → 2K+ down after 181 days in tier
- 2024-01-03 4K+ → 3K+ down after 96 days in tier
- 2023-09-29 5K+ → 4K+ down after 109 days in tier
- 2023-06-12 6K+ → 5K+ down after 160 days in tier
- 2023-01-03 7K+ → 6K+ down after 5 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).
-
Regenerate Thumbnails 1M+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag B -
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 -
Crop-Thumbnails 40K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag B -
Category Posts Block 40K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag A -
Latest Posts 4K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for WP Random Post Thumbnails into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/wp-random-post-thumbnails" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="WP Random Post Thumbnails — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> WP Random Post Thumbnails: 1K+ active installs, 5.0★ (8 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wp-random-post-thumbnails
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