Title: FetchPriority Featured Image Author: Gunjan Jaswal Published: November 3, 2025 Last modified: June 28, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/fetchpriority-featured-image/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev= 3424799) ![](https://ps.w.org/fetchpriority-featured-image/assets/icon.svg?rev=3424808) # FetchPriority Featured Image By [Gunjan Jaswal](https://profiles.wordpress.org/gunjanjaswal/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/fetchpriority-featured-image.1.4.0.zip) * [Details](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/fetchpriority-featured-image/#description) * [Reviews](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/fetchpriority-featured-image/#reviews) * [Installation](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/fetchpriority-featured-image/#installation) * [Development](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/fetchpriority-featured-image/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/fetchpriority-featured-image/) ## Description FetchPriority Featured Image is a self-learning LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) optimizer. Instead of _guessing_ which image is your hero like every other plugin, it **measures the real LCP element from your actual visitors** (via the browser’s PerformanceObserver), learns it per template, and then automatically applies `fetchpriority="high"` plus a `` to that exact image — whether it’s a normal `` or a CSS `background-image`. It self-corrects as your design and content change, with zero configuration. #### What makes it different * **Self-learning real LCP** — no competitor in this space measures field LCP from real users and auto-targets it. Most plugins blindly prioritize the featured image and hope it’s the hero. * **CSS background-image preload** — hero sliders and background heroes are a blind spot for most performance plugins; this preloads them. * **Visual LCP picker** — click your hero element on the front end to lock it in as a manual override per template. * **Built-in Core Web Vitals before/after report** — pulls real-world LCP, INP, and CLS from the Chrome UX Report so you can prove the impact. * **Per-template control** — Auto / Learned-only / Manual-only / Off for every template the plugin sees. #### Key Features * Self-learning LCP detection from real-user field data (PerformanceObserver beacon), aggregated per template * Visual click-to-pick LCP element on the front end (admin-bar “Pick LCP element”) * Core Web Vitals before/after report via the Chrome UX Report (CrUX) API * Preloads + prioritizes the measured LCP, including CSS `background-image` heroes * Per-template modes: Auto, Learned-only, Manual-only, Off * Automatically adds `fetchpriority="high"` to the hero / featured image * Optional `fetchpriority="low"` for below-fold images — paired complement that tells the browser to defer non-critical loads * `` for the hero featured image on singular pages— strongest LCP signal * AVIF / WebP detection — when a sibling `.avif` / `.webp` file exists on disk, an extra `` is emitted so the browser picks the supported modern format automatically (works with ShortPixel, Imagify, Optimole, and similar) * Theme presets — auto-detects Astra, GeneratePress, Kadence, Divi, and Hello Elementor and excludes their site-logo / header-image classes so the priority budget is spent on the real hero * Avatar / Gravatar exclusion — never tags images with class `avatar` / `gravatar` or hosted on gravatar.com * Settings page (Settings FetchPriority) for per-context toggles, first-N control, preload, and exclusions * Admin-bar debug badge showing how many images were tagged on the current page( total + how many got `high`) * Compatible with most WordPress themes including Divi, Elementor, Astra, GeneratePress, Kadence, and any theme using standard `the_post_thumbnail()` / `wp_get_attachment_image()` #### Why Use FetchPriority? The `fetchpriority` attribute is a modern web standard that tells browsers which images should be prioritized during page load. By marking featured images as high priority, you can improve: * Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores * User experience with faster loading of important images * Overall page performance #### Developer-Friendly The plugin uses WordPress’s native filters and doesn’t modify your database or image files. ## Installation 1. Upload the `fetchpriority-featured-image` folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory 2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress 3. That’s it! The plugin works automatically with no configuration needed ## FAQ ### Does this plugin modify my images? No, this plugin only adds an HTML attribute to the image tag. It doesn’t modify your actual image files or database entries. ### Will this work with my theme? Yes! This plugin works with any theme that uses WordPress’s standard featured image functions. It also includes specific support for popular page builders like Divi and Elementor that use custom image rendering methods. ### Do I need to configure anything? No, the plugin works automatically once activated with sensible defaults. Optional fine-tuning is available under **Settings FetchPriority** (contexts, first-N posts on archives, preload, debug badge). ### Will this slow down my site? No, the plugin adds minimal overhead and should actually improve your site’s performance by helping browsers prioritize important images. ### How can I verify it’s working? You can view the HTML source of your pages and look for `fetchpriority="high"` in the featured image HTML. ## Reviews There are no reviews for this plugin. ## Contributors & Developers “FetchPriority Featured Image” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Gunjan Jaswal ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/gunjanjaswal/) [Translate “FetchPriority Featured Image” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/fetchpriority-featured-image) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/fetchpriority-featured-image/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/fetchpriority-featured-image/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/fetchpriority-featured-image/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/fetchpriority-featured-image/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.4.0 * NEW: Self-learning LCP — a lightweight PerformanceObserver beacon reports the real Largest Contentful Paint element per template; once enough samples are collected the plugin auto-preloads and tags that exact image with `fetchpriority="high"`. * NEW: CSS `background-image` hero support — preloads the measured/manual background image, a blind spot for most performance plugins. * NEW: Visual LCP picker — open the front-end admin bar, click “Pick LCP element”, click your hero, done. Saved as a manual override per template. * NEW: Core Web Vitals before/after report — connect a free Chrome UX Report (CrUX) API key to see real-world LCP, INP, and CLS, with a saved baseline to measure improvement. * NEW: Per-template control table — Auto / Learned-only / Manual-only / Off for every template the plugin has seen. * NEW: PageSpeed audit — run Google Lighthouse on any URL from the admin; see the performance score, LCP, page weight, image-saving opportunities, and Google’s own detected LCP element to confirm correct targeting. * NEW: Oversized-LCP detection — compares the measured LCP image’s real pixels against its displayed size and warns when you’re serving wasted bytes, with a recommended width. * NEW: Loading optimization — forces `loading="eager"` on the LCP image and `loading ="lazy"` on below-fold images so native lazy-loading never delays your hero. * NEW: Slowest-templates leaderboard — measured real-user LCP per template, sorted slowest first, as a built-in to-do list. * Video poster and `` heroes are supported as LCP targets via the learned/ manual preload. * Configurable sampling rate for the measurement script to keep front-end overhead minimal. * Learned/manual targets supersede the featured-image guess for both preload and the `fetchpriority` tag. #### 1.3.0 * Added Settings page under Settings FetchPriority (Contexts / Preload / Below- fold / Exclusions / Theme preset / Debug). * Added per-context toggles: Single posts & pages, Blog home, Archives, Search results. * Added “First N posts on archives” setting (1–20) — previously hardcoded to first post only. * Added optional `` for the featured image on singular pages (strongest LCP signal). * Added AVIF / WebP detection — when a sibling modern-format file exists on disk, additional `` tags are emitted; browsers pick the supported variant automatically. * Added `fetchpriority="low"` for below-fold images (opt-in) as a paired complement to the hero `high` tag. * Added theme presets (Astra / GeneratePress / Kadence / Divi / Hello Elementor) with auto-detection — excludes theme logo & header classes so the priority budget hits the real hero. * Added Avatar / Gravatar exclusion to keep author avatars from consuming the priority budget. * Added admin-bar debug badge showing total tagged + how many were tagged `high`. * Added Settings link to plugin action links on the Plugins screen. * Content filter rewritten to use a `preg_replace_callback` walk so the high/low budget is honored across all images in the content, not only the first. * Cleaner reset logic on each request via `template_redirect`. * Author display name updated to “Gunjan Jaswal”. #### 1.2.1 * Updated “Tested up to” to WordPress 7.0. * Updated donation link to Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/gunjanjaswal). * Removed extraneous GITHUB_DESCRIPTION.md from plugin root for WordPress.org compliance. #### 1.2.0 * Added support for Divi theme and Elementor page builder * Implemented `wp_get_attachment_image_attributes` filter for broader compatibility * Added content filter fallback to catch custom image implementations * Improved image detection across different theme rendering methods * Enhanced compatibility with themes that bypass standard WordPress image functions #### 1.1.0 * Updated for WordPress 6.9 compatibility * Improved security with nonce verification for AJAX calls * Updated minimum PHP requirement to 7.4 * Enhanced code quality and WordPress coding standards compliance * Added proper input sanitization and escaping * Aligns with WordPress 6.9’s frontend performance improvements #### 1.0.0 * Initial release ## Meta * Version **1.4.0** * Last updated **2 days ago** * Active installations **200+** * WordPress version ** 5.0 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.0** * PHP version ** 7.4 or higher ** * Language * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/fetchpriority-featured-image/) * Tags * [core web vitals](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/core-web-vitals/)[fetchpriority](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/fetchpriority/) [image optimization](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/image-optimization/) [lcp](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/lcp/)[performance](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/performance/) * [Advanced View](https://mfe.wordpress.org/plugins/fetchpriority-featured-image/advanced/) ## Ratings No reviews have been submitted yet. [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/fetchpriority-featured-image/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/fetchpriority-featured-image/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Gunjan Jaswal ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/gunjanjaswal/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/fetchpriority-featured-image/) ## Donate Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin? [ Donate to this plugin ](https://ko-fi.com/gunjanjaswal)