Gallery Shortcode Style to Head
Moves the gallery shortcode styles to the head so it doesn’t break XHTML validation; allows disabling or modifying the default gallery styles.
Consider an alternative
Gallery Shortcode Style to Head shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 12 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (100+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 11 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.1 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Gallery Shortcode Style to… stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| css | >100 |
| gallery | >100 |
| shortcode | >100 |
| style | >100 |
| xhtml | #87 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
About Gallery Shortcode Style to Head
From the official readme · v2.4Description
Moves the gallery shortcode styles to the head so it doesn’t break XHTML
validation; allows disabling or modifying the default gallery styles.
By default when using the WordPress gallery, the styles are placed into the
post content which breaks XHTML validation. This plugin moves the style into
the head of the page using a look-ahead to determine if the [gallery]
shortcode is used in any posts.
This plugin also gives you the option to modify the default gallery style
CSS or disable the gallery styles entirely (so you can control it from your
template CSS files).
This plugin uses ideas recommended in a patch located at
https://trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/6380/6380-style.diff
Special thanks to
* The original author: Matt Martz, http://sivel.net
* Serbo-Croatian (sr_RS) translation: Borisa Djuraskovic, http://www.webhostinghub.com
* Spanish (es_ES) translation: Ogi Djuraskovic, http://www.webhostinghub.com/
Installation
Installation is just like any other WordPress plugin:
- Upload the ‘gallery-shortcode-style-to-head’ folder to the ‘/wp-content/plugins/’ directory.
- Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
Immediately after installation, your galleries should pass W3C XHTML validation.
You can make further adjustments under Admin > Settings > Media.
Changelog
Correct an 'undefined variable' warning/error.
2.4 (2015-03-02):
- Plugin is now translateable.
- Code cleanup and support for latest WordPress.
- Serbo-Croatian (sr_RS) translation by Borisa Djuraskovic, http://www.webhostinghub.com.
- Spanish (es_ES) translation by Ogi Djuraskovic, http://www.webhostinghub.com/.
2.3 (2013-03-08):
- Corrected ‘undefined varibale’ notice and RTL language detection.
- Now requires WordPress 3.0 or higher.
2.2 (2012-12-11):
- Support for WordPress 3.5 and its improved galleries.
2.1 (2011-01-15):
- Removed clearing br tags in galleries (replaced with clearing div tags).
- Corrected bug that threw a cryptic error on the media page for some users.
- Support for WordPress 3.1; now requires WordPress 2.9 or higher.
2.0 (2010-05-02):
- New gallery style settings on the Admin > Settings > Media page.
- Ability to modify the default gallery styles.
- Ability to disable the default styles entirely (so you can style the gallery in your template CSS).
- Support for WordPress 3.0; now requires WordPress 2.7 or higher.
1.3 (2010-02-09):
- Re-Sync with WordPress 2.9 gallery code for support of the new ‘include’ and ‘exclude’ options.
Screenshots
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FAQ
Gallery Shortcode Style to Head: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 15, 2026
Is Gallery Shortcode Style to Head free?
Yes. Gallery Shortcode Style to Head is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Gallery Shortcode Style to Head safe to use in 2026?
Gallery Shortcode Style to Head shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 12 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Gallery Shortcode Style to Head?
Gallery Shortcode Style to Head is active on 100+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 11,925 times since it launched in August 2008. It was downloaded 81 times in the last 30 days.
Does Gallery Shortcode Style to Head work with WordPress 7.1?
Gallery Shortcode Style to Head is officially tested up to WordPress 4.1.42, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Gallery Shortcode Style to Head last updated?
The latest version, 2.4, was released on April 2, 2015 (12 years ago).
Who makes Gallery Shortcode Style to Head?
Gallery Shortcode Style to Head is developed and maintained by Matt Martz.
What are the best alternatives to Gallery Shortcode Style to Head?
The most popular alternatives to Gallery Shortcode Style to Head are WPCode (3M+ installs), Code Snippets (1M+ installs) and Simple Custom CSS Plugin (100K+ installs).
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