Photography Core
Photographers simply want to have a nice portfolio with WordPress, with a beautiful theme, possibly linked to Lightroom, without spending too much time on the technical details. This is why Photography Core was made. It…
Consider an alternative
Photography Core shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 30+ sites and was last updated 7 years ago, and scores 24/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (30+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 7 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 5.2 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & supportDaily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Photography Core stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| gutenberg | >100 |
| image | >100 |
| lightroom | #22 |
| photo | >100 |
| photography | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Photography Core
From the official readme · v0.3.0Description
Photographers simply want to have a nice portfolio with WordPress, with a beautiful theme, possibly linked to Lightroom, without spending too much time on the technical details. This is why Photography Core was made. It is possible to switch between any theme using the Photography Core and everything will still work, automatically. No need to work on the new theme every time. Everything in this plugin is light, efficient, but try to cover every part required by most photography websites.
There aren’t many downloads or reviews because this plugin is actually part of the architecture of themes, so it’s probably not a plugin you would like just to download by itself. But you could, and develop your own theme on it.
FEATURES
- Post Type: Collections
- Taxonomies: Folders, Keywords
- Featured Images for Folders
- Drag & Drop ordering for Folders
- Drag & Drop ordering for Collections (Post Types Order required)
- SEO (doesn’t overdo it; basics which are good enough)
- Internal API (to retrieve the collections, folders, their hierarchy, etc)
- Gutenberg Blocks: Collections, Folders, Keywords, Section Header, Search
- Shortcodes (the same as for the Gutenberg Blocks)
- Seamless integration with WP/LR Sync (Lightroom)
- Works with Polylang
THEMES RECOMMENDATIONS
Currently, three themes are known to use Photography Core. But if you would like to build your own theme, do not hesitate to use this plugin and to contact us so that we can add you here.
- Hikari. Used by the urban explorer Thomas Jorion but also by Jordy Meow.
- Yuzu. Used by the very famous photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
- Kurayami. This one will be awesome, but currently in development.
PLUGINS RECOMMENDATIONS
Those plugins aren’t requires by the Photography Core and are simply recommendations. Remember, avoid using too many plugins, as they slow down your website and increase chance of encountering issues.
- Gallery: Meow Gallery
- Lightbox: Meow Lighbox
- Lightroom: WP/LR Sync
- Order Collections: Post Types Order
- Contact Form: Ninja Forms
- Fonts: Google Fonts for WordPress
- Google Analytics: Analytify – Google Analytics Dashboard
- Multilanguage: Polylang
- Better search: Relevanssi
- More SEO features: The SEO Framework
AVAILABLE FILTERS
- pcore_collections_order: Change the order of the collections. Override this filter and return either ‘date’ (default order, by Publish Date), ‘title’ (order by the Title of the collection) or by a custom ‘ORDER BY’.
- pcore_folders_order: Change the order of the folders. Override this filter and return either ‘tax_position’ (default order, by position – this plugin has this feature built in), ‘title’ (order by the Title of the folder) or by a custom ‘ORDER BY’.
Installation
- Upload
photography-coreto the/wp-content/plugins/directory - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
Changelog
Replace all the files. Nothing else to do.
0.3.0
- Add: Folder to Gutenberg Category Editor.
0.2.9
- Add: Support for Post Types Order.
0.2.8
- Add: Compatibility with Polylang.
0.2.6
- Add: Align wide and full for the blocks.
- Add: Filters to allow ordering of folders and collections.
0.2.4
- Update: Files for ordering folders were missing.
0.2.2
- Update: Folders can now be ordered by drag and drop.
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Photography Core alternatives
All gutenberg plugins →FAQ
Photography Core: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 27, 2026
Is Photography Core free?
Yes. Photography Core is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Photography Core safe to use in 2026?
Photography Core shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 30+ sites and was last updated 7 years ago, and scores 24/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Photography Core?
Photography Core is active on 30+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 3,016 times since it launched in October 2017. It was downloaded 58 times in the last 30 days.
Does Photography Core work with WordPress 7.1?
Photography Core is officially tested up to WordPress 5.2.28, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Photography Core last updated?
The latest version, 0.3.0, was released on June 20, 2019 (7 years ago).
Who makes Photography Core?
Photography Core is developed and maintained by Jordy Meow.
What are the best alternatives to Photography Core?
The most popular alternatives to Photography Core are Classic Editor (8M+ installs), Classic Widgets (2M+ installs) and Advanced Editor Tools (1M+ installs).
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