Auto Refresh Post & Page
Auto refresh posts and pages on a schedule — full reloads or seamless AJAX updates, countdown timers, role exclusions and smart pausing.
Solid choice
Auto Refresh Post & Page is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 70+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 2 months ago, and scores 66/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (70+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Auto Refresh Post & Page stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| ajax refresh | #7 |
| auto refresh | #4 |
| countdown timer | >100 |
| page refresh | #9 |
| Post Refresh | #7 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
About Auto Refresh Post & Page
From the official readme · v2.0.1Description
Auto Refresh Post & Page delivers real-time content delivery without requiring manual user intervention. It is the ideal solution for live blogs, sports scoreboards, analytics dashboards, auction listings, financial tickers, real-time queues, or any dynamic content platform where up-to-the-minute accuracy is critical.
Engineered for performance and a seamless user experience, Version 2.0 introduces a centralized configuration dashboard alongside an enterprise-grade feature set designed to optimize both front-end engagement and back-end efficiency.
Core Features
- Dual Refresh Architecture
- Full Page Reload: The dependable fallback that guarantees compatibility across all WordPress themes and hosting environments.
- Smart Content Refresh (AJAX): Background fetching that dynamically swaps only your designated container element (e.g.,
#main-content). This eliminates screen flicker, prevents scroll jumps, and heavily reduces bandwidth consumption. If the target element cannot be found, it gracefully degrades to a full reload automatically.
- Interactive Visual Countdown Timers
- Deploy an optional progress bar aligned to the top or bottom of the viewport, or use a floating circular widget.
- Fully customizable branding via custom hex color pickers and localized text labels.
- Intelligent Behavioral Pausing
- Activity-Aware: Automatically pauses the refresh sequence while a user is actively typing in a form or hovering over content to prevent lost data or interrupted interactions.
- Resource-Aware: Automatically pauses executions in background browser tabs to conserve server resources and client battery life, resuming instantly upon focus.
- Developer/Bypass Friendly: Temporarily suppress refreshing on any frontend URL by simply appending
?no_refresh=true.
- Granular Access Control & Exclusions
- Isolate specific user roles (such as Administrators or Editors) to ensure content creation and site management tasks remain uninterrupted.
- Targeted Rule Engines
- Global Strategies: Define refreshing intervals globally per custom post type in seconds, minutes, or hours.
- Granular Overrides: Tailor individual parameters (custom intervals, dedicated modes, or total deactivation) directly inside the WordPress Gutenberg or Classic block editor.
Robust Developer API & Shortcodes
Take localized control of any content block via our powerful shortcode integration:
[auto_refresh interval="30" mode="ajax" target="#main-content" show_timer="true" style="circle" color="#45c4bc"]
interval: Refresh frequency value (minimum effective value is 2 seconds).unit: Interval unit —seconds,minutes, orhours(default: seconds).mode: Choose betweenreloadorajax.target: The target DOM CSS selector for AJAX replacement.show_timer: Toggle visual feedback (true/false).style: Timer display format (barorcircle).color: Hex accent color for the inline timer.label: Optional text label rendered beside the countdown.
Built for Production Environments
- Security First: Strict WordPress nonce validation and user capability verifications protect every underlying write operation.
- Data Integrity: Deep sanitization pipelines for all user inputs and proper context-aware escaping on output generation.
- Zero-Downtime Migration: Legacy 1.x installations are automatically migrated safely to the modern 2.0 schema upon activation.
- 100% Clean Uninstall: Deactivating the plugin preserves all of your settings, while uninstalling it completely purges database options and post meta, leaving zero footprint.
Installation
- Log into your WordPress Dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New.
- Search for
Auto Refresh Post & Page, or upload the.ziparchive via the Upload Plugin interface. - Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu.
- Access the dedicated Auto Refresh settings page from your admin sidebar menu.
- Define your global post types, establish desired refresh intervals, and click Save Changes.
- (Optional) Fine-tune specific constraints at the page level via the meta box available directly within your post editor.
Frequently asked questions
How exactly does the Smart AJAX Refresh mode operate?
Instead of issuing a destructive browser reload, the plugin asynchronously fetches the current page state in the background. It isolates the matching DOM element based on your specified CSS selector, updates only that section, and maintains the user’s current scroll position. This bypasses white flashes and ensures a smooth user experience.
What happens if an AJAX CSS selector fails to match any elements?
The plugin features a robust error-handling fallback system. If a selector cannot be resolved within the live DOM tree, it automatically initiates a native page reload so your content refresh cycle never fails silently.
Can content managers suppress refreshing during editing sessions?
Yes. You can exempt specific administrative or editorial roles via the Refresh Behavior configurations tab, or append ?no_refresh=true to the destination URL inside the browser.
Will my legacy 1.x configurations be preserved during the 2.0 migration?
Absolutely. Our architecture intercepts older post-type rules and per-post meta, programmatically standardizing and importing them into the new schema on the initial execution loop of v2.0.
Is there a threshold for minimum refresh intervals?
Yes. To avoid localized browser freezing and alleviate extreme server stress, the plugin enforces a safety floor of 2 seconds. Sub-second queries are normalized automatically up to 2 seconds.
Is this solution compatible with WordPress Caching Plugins?
Yes. While Full Page Reload mode cooperates naturally with all standard caching layers, AJAX mode adds an automated cache-busting string parameter to the background query, forcing fresh origin fetches while keeping page speed optimized.
Changelog
Maintenance release confirming total compatibility with WordPress 7.0 frameworks.
2.0.1
- Compatibility: Fully verified and tested against WordPress 7.0 core.
- Maintenance: Restructured plugin header definitions for enhanced metadata readability.
2.0.0
- Refactor: Complete system architectural rebuild featuring a state-of-the-art tabbed admin dashboard.
- New Feature: Introduced Smart Content Refresh (AJAX) engine to swap specific DOM nodes seamlessly.
- New Feature: Added visual countdown animations (including linear progress bar and floating wheel layouts) with direct hex control.
- New Feature: Implemented User Role Exclusions.
- New Feature: Created smart pausing hooks linked to focus inputs, element hover states, and hidden browser tabs.
- New Feature: Built the
?no_refresh=truequery parameter exception hook. - New Feature: Launched extensible
[auto_refresh]shortcode architecture. - New Feature: Integrated inline post and page editor overrides for custom workflows.
- Optimization: Purged legacy database routines to optimize front-end rendering performance.
- Security: Integrated deep context-specific sanitization, nonce verification, and strict output escaping.
- Housekeeping: Embedded clean uninstallation schemas to wipe obsolete 1.x entries.
1.0.2
- Added selective user-role sorting configurations per active post type.
- Introduced “Last Refreshed” reporting column to administration grids.
1.0.1
- Added native time-unit selectors accepting Hours, Minutes, and Seconds inputs.
Screenshots
For developers
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FAQ
Auto Refresh Post & Page: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 12, 2026
Is Auto Refresh Post & Page free?
Yes. Auto Refresh Post & Page is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Auto Refresh Post & Page safe to use in 2026?
Auto Refresh Post & Page is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 70+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 2 months ago, and scores 66/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Auto Refresh Post & Page?
Auto Refresh Post & Page is active on 70+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 6,610 times since it launched in November 2023. It was downloaded 155 times in the last 30 days.
Does Auto Refresh Post & Page work with WordPress 7.1?
Auto Refresh Post & Page is officially tested up to WordPress 7.0.7, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does Auto Refresh Post & Page need?
Auto Refresh Post & Page requires PHP 7.4 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Auto Refresh Post & Page last updated?
The latest version, 2.0.1, was released on July 31, 2026 (2 months ago).
Who makes Auto Refresh Post & Page?
Auto Refresh Post & Page is developed and maintained by Aasim Ghaffar.
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