Instant Images – One-click Image Uploads from Unsplash, Openverse, Pixabay, Pexels, and Giphy

7.1.0 – February 12, 2026

• NEW: Added new feature to allow for disabling and reordering of the image providers.
• FIX: Fixed issue with image resize not working with Pixabay and Giphy. This is resolved by using the core WordPress image editor to resize images before upload to media library.
• UPDATE: Admin UI/UX throughout plugin.

7.0.3 – February 11, 2026

• NEW: Added new instant_images_save_post_meta filter that allows users to disable saving Instant Images data as post meta on the attachment. By default this is enabled and saves the image provider and original image URL as post meta for each uploaded image.
• UPDATE: Updated plugin version and WP compatibility.
• UPDATE: Updated all plugin dependencies and packages.

7.0.2 – June 12, 2025

• FIX: Fixed issue with load_plugin_textdomain PHP warning.
• UPDATE: Added support up to WP 6.8.
• UPDATE: Bumped required WP version to 6.0.

7.0.1 – January 4, 2025

• FIX: Fixed issue with Instant Images causing issues on Search and Filter (Plugin) pages within the WordPress admin.

7.0.0 – November 22, 2024

• NEW: Added Giphy integration!
• NEW: Added Image Size functionality to Instant Images settings.
• NEW: Added required functionality to add image size with the Extended add-on.
• FIX: Fixed potential issue with image file extensions being incorrect for png and jpeg files.
• FIX: Fixed issue with Extended add-on search history and indexing ID searches.
• FIX: Fixed issue with new WooCommerce product screens throwing JS errors and causing the page to load as a white screen.
• UPDATE: Updated Unsplash image filters as their API was updated recently.
• UPDATE: Updated all plugin NPM dependencies and packages.
• UPDATE: Various UI and UX improvements.

6.2.3 – November 8, 2024

• HOTFIX: Removed .wp-block styles in Instant Images CSS.

6.2.1 – November 7, 2024

• NEW: Added support for new Extended add-on feature to maintain search term when switching providers.
• UPDATE: WordPress 6.7 compatibility updates.
• UPDATE: Various UI/UX updates throughout the app.
• UPDATE: Dependancy updates.

6.1.2 – April 15, 2024

• FIX: Fixed issue with Openverse search not working due to plugin error.
• UPDATE: WordPress 6.5 compatibility updates.

6.1.1 – January 25, 2024

• FIX: Various security patches.
• FIX: Fixed issue with permissions for accessing Instant Images settings.

6.1.0 – November 13, 2023

• NEW: Adding localization for all image provider filters.
• FIX: Fixed issue with CSS classname conflict with other plugins.
• FIX: Fixed issue with search results saying 0 Results found when there were results.
• UPDATE: Various UI/UX updates throughout the app.

6.0.1 – November 8, 2023

• FIX: Fixed issue with admin_footer_text hook incorrectly echoing data in the WP admin.
• UPDATE: Various code, UX and UI updates throughout the app.
• UPDATE: Updates Requires at least version to 5.0 as plugin relies on Gutenberg editor scripts.
• NEW: Added hook for modifying the image attribution text.
  add_filter( ‘instant_images_attribution’, function() {
  return __( ‘This <a href=”{image_url}”>photo</a> is by <a href=”{user_url}”>{username}</a> and available for free on <a href=”{provider_url}”>{provider}</a>’, ‘framework’ );
  } );

6.0.0 – June 19, 2023

• NEW: Added support and functionality requirements for Instant Images: Extended add-on.
• UPDATE: Improved infinite scroll loading and animations.
• UPDATE: Improved error handling for API keys with session data.
• UPDATE: UX and UI updates throughout the app.
• UPDATE: Code cleanup and various refactoring.
• UPDATE: Various accessibility updates throughout the app.
• FIX: Fixed issue with Instant Images header CSS conflicting with GeneratePress.

5.3.1 – May 12, 2023

• UPDATE: Updated default user role to manage_options on the Instant Images settings page.
• NEW: Added new instant_images_settings_user_role hook to adjust the user role for the Instant Images settings page.
• FIX: Adding fix for error on Site Editor screen when using a FSE theme.

5.3.0 – May 8, 2023

• NEW: Added new standalone Instant Images settings page and added new settings fields.
• NEW: Added initial support for upcoming Instant Images Pro plugin.
• FIX: Fixed issue with missing createRoot function in WP < 6.2 that would cause Instant Images to fail to load.
• UPDATE: General styling and UI updates throughout app.

5.2.1 – April 20, 2023

• UPDATE: Adds sessionStorage for storing API results in browser session to reduce proxy usage and API requests. Session data is stored for 1 hour.
• UPDATE: Cleans up Openverse sources to include WordPress, Flickr, Nasa, SpaceX and Wikimedia only.
• UPDATE: Updates security check to match on expected URLs before an upload is processed.
• FIX: Removes StockSnap from Openverse as images are being blocked on upload to the media library.
• UPDATE: Various code cleanup and tweaks.

5.2.0.2 – March 28, 2023

• HOTFIX: Fix for fatal compatibility error with Elementor Pro.

5.2.0.1 – March 20, 2023

• HOTFIX: Quick fix for potential fatal error on the frontend for Beaver Builder users. Fixed by wrapping function check in is_admin().

5.2.0 – March 20, 2023

• NEW: Added new setting to automatically add image attribution as captions.
• NEW: Adding mime type checking based on current allowed uploads.
• UPDATE: Updated instant_images_after_upload hook to pass additional image data.
• UPDATE: Added sizes filter to openverse search.
• UPDATE: Added Wikimedia filter to openverse sources.
• UPDATE: Code refactoring and build process updates.

5.1.0.2 – March 8, 2023

• HOTFIX: Security fix to prevent SSRF/misuse of download functionality.

5.1.0.1 – February 2, 2023

• HOTFIX: Fixed issue with mime type check not always working correctly. Reverted change for now.
• UPDATE: Pexels is using the Proxy server again after fixing the caching issues.

5.1.0 – February 2, 2023

• NEW: Added Openverse support.
• NEW: Added Description field to save data into the Post Content WP field.
• NEW: Added mime type checker to make sure the file type is allowed before uploading.
• UPDATE: Better attribution handling.
• UPDATE: Various admin UI/UX tweaks and updated.

5.0.1 – January 10, 2023

• HOTFIX: Adding a temporary hotfix to patch issues with the Pexels API and the Instant Images Proxy server.
  Note: This fix is still not perfect but the integration is working again when a valid API is present.

5.0 – December 19, 2022

• NEW: All API requests to Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay are now routed through our custom proxy server (proxy.getinstantimages.com). Read our terms of service and privacy policy for more information.
• UPDATE: Improved error handling and reporting.
• UPDATE: Removal of hard coded API Keys from plugin.
• UPDATE: Fixed issue where search filters wouldn’t reset after a new search.

4.6.3 – November 04, 2022

• UPDATE: Improved load handling of default provider.
• FIX: Security fix for issue for authenticated users.
• FIX: Fixed issue default Pexels API key.
• FIX: Fixed issue with photo attribution text and localization.

4.6.2 – June 24, 2022

• UPDATE: Updated all packages for security updates.
• FIX: Fixed issue with Unsplash API variable declaration.

4.6.1 – January 14, 2022

• NEW: Added default API keys for all API providers 🎉 . Default API keys can still be overwritten in the plugin settings shouls you want to use your own key.
• NEW: Added rate-limit checker to determine the status of the API and display an alert warning if the limit has been exceeded.

4.6.0.1 – January 3, 2022

• HOTFIX: Hotfix for accidentaly delete_options function left in whilst testing. Sorry about that!

4.6.0 – January 2, 2022

• NEW: Added Pexels integration. This requires a valid API key.
• FIX: Fixed issue with filtering Unsplash search results by ‘all’.
• FIX: Various admin UI/UX updates and tweaks to improve the look and feel.

4.5.1 – December 27, 2021

• NEW: Added Pixabay photo filters (Type, Category, Colors and Orientation).
• NEW: Added Unsplash search filters for Color, Orientation and Order.
• NEW: Added new instant_images_pixabay_safesearch & instant_images_unsplash_content_filter filters that allow for modifying the flags the indicate the types of suitable images that should be returned. Get more information in our FAQ.
• NEW: Added Pixabay API constant that allows for setting Pixabay API key via site constant. e.g. define( ‘INSTANT_IMAGES_PIXABAY_KEY’, ‘YOUR-KEY-HERE’ );
• UPDATE: Revamped filtering menus and orientation options.
• UPDATE: Other UI/UX updates to make the plugin more visually appealing.
• UPDATE: Improved plugin accessibility across various sections.

4.5.0 – October 28, 2021

• NEW: 🎉 Pixabay! We’ve added support for Pixabay images. This requires a valid API key.
• NEW: Added button to auto-generate Photo attribution in image caption.
• NEW: Added uninstaller script to remove plugin settings.
• UPDATE: Updated styling and functionality of photo detail editor.
• UPDATE: Various UI/UX updates.

4.4.0.3 – July 30, 2021

• Fix: WP 5.8 issue resolved – added fix for Instant Images causing the Widget Block Editor to fail due to JS error.
• Update: Code clean up.

4.4.0.2 – June 7, 2021

• Fix: Added fix for CSS conflict causing issues in the WordPress menus section.
• Fix: Removed browser console error with regards activeFrame.querySelector is not a function that could appear when creating a gallery.
• Updated: Improved coding standard and overall code quality.

4.4.0.1 – May 3, 2021

• UPDATE – Updated Instant Images settings page to sanitize inputs before saving.

4.4.0 – March 26, 2021

• UPDATE – 🎉 Massive improvement to image download speeds by dynamically resizing the initial download before sending image to media library.
  • Intitial testing revealed up to 4x faster download speeds than previous version of Instant Images 🤯.
• NEW – Added instant_images_after_upload hook that is dispatch after a successful upload allowing users to hook into the attachment and run custom functionality.
• UPDATE – Upgraded Axios JS libray to 0.21.1.

4.3.5 – August 14, 2020

• FIX – Fixed issue with WP 5.5 and REST API warning messages when WP_DEBUG is true.
• FIX – Fixed issue with undefined $suffix variable when WP_DEBUG is true.

4.3.4 – August 11, 2020

• FIX – Fixed issue with Yoast SEO meta boxes not appearing in Classic Editor.
• UPDATE – Code cleanup and some refactoring of media enqueue scripts.

4.3.3 – August 10, 2020

• NEW – Adding Instant Images tab to Media Modal windows everywhere, including page builders and taxonomy terms pages.
• NEW – Added new plugin setting to hide the Instant Images tab in the Media Modals

4.3.2 – May 28, 2020

• UPDATE – Switched REST API methods to POST requests from PUT. This will hopefully reduce issues users are having with PUT being disabled on their servers.
• UPDATE – Added Instant Images media button back to Classic Editor post screen.

4.3.1 – April 13, 2020

• FIX – Fixed issue with Instant Images causing Yoast SEO metabox to not show correctly in the classic WordPress editor. Not really sure why, but the Instant Images JS dependencies seemed to interfere with Yoast.
• FIX – Added user privileges checks to the new Media Modal functionality.

4.3.0 – April 9, 2020

• NEW – Adding Instant Images tab to the WordPress Media Modal.
• NEW – When images are uploaded directly to a post the current Post ID is attached to the upload as the parent post.
• NEW – Adding default alt text directly from Unsplash API.
• UPDATE – Updated image uploader API to hopefully improve stability of the upload and resize process. The new process uses core WordPress functions for the upload.
• UPDATE – Switching tab navigation from <a/> to` for better accessibility.
• FIX – Added a fix for JS error regarding PluginSidebar registration on non-gutenberg editor pages.

4.2.0 – December 14, 2019

• NEW – Added image orientation search filter
• FIX – Fixed issue with instant images being rendered in Gutenberg editor for users without permissions.
• UPDATE – Updated WordPress role requirement from edit_theme_options to upload_files.

4.1.0 – July 23, 2019

• NEW – Added support for updating image title prior to upload.
• NEW – Added link to edit image after upload process completes.
• UPDATE – Updated functionality to trigger photo upload immediately after triggering a Save when editing image metadata.

4.0.1 – April 18, 2019

• FIX – Fixed issue where Instant Images sidebar plugin would not appear in Gutenberg if removed as a pinned item.

4.0.0 – February 12, 2019

• 4.0 adds Gutenberg support. You can now access instant images directly from inside the block editor.
• NEW – Added Instant Images to Gutenberg as a Plugin Sidebar.
• NEW – Added Gutenberg featured image support.

• NEW – Added Gutenberg Create Image Block support.

• UPDATE – Improved a11y (accessibility) of photo listing items.

• UPDATE – Updated REST API methods to prefix function names.
• UPDATE – Various other UI/UX enhancements.

3.0 – September 21, 2017

** NEW – Instant Images has been completely re-built using React and the WordPress REST API.

2.0 – January 12, 2017

• Initial Commit
• Updating plugin from UnsplashWP to Instant Images