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Use the Attachment Image! icon
Possibly abandoned Tested up to 5.7.20 #1 in attachment image

Use the Attachment Image!

Use the Attachment Image! allows the first attachment image associated with a post to be displayed nearly anywhere on a blog, simply by adding a special function to a loop. This plugin is a perfect compliment for…

Active installs20+10+ tier
Downloads · 30d47▲ +38.2% vs prev. 30d
Rating5/53 reviews
Health score31/100At risk
All-time downloads5.4KSince Feb 2010
Support resolved—No recent threads
RequiresWP 2.7PHP any
Downloads · 7d7▼ -41.7% week over week
Our verdict

Consider an alternative

Use the Attachment Image! shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 20+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 6 years ago, and scores 31/100 on our health check.

  • Small user base (20+ active installs)
  • Very few reviews so far
  • No update in 5 years
  • Only tested up to WordPress 5.7 (latest is 7.1)

Daily downloads

134Jul 12Aug 25Oct 9
Yesterday1
Daily average (1y)1
Peak day6Sep 14, 2026
Last 12 months371

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where Use the Attachment Image! stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
attachment image >100 2,488 Best attachment image plugins →
image >100 10,000 Best image plugins →
magazine >100 518 Best magazine plugins →
thumbnail >100 4,228 Best thumbnail plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

  • 1.02100.0%

Rating breakdown

★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews

  • 5★100.0%
  • 4★0.00%
  • 3★0.00%
  • 2★0.00%
  • 1★0.00%

About Use the Attachment Image!

From the official readme · v1.02

Description

Use the Attachment Image! allows the first attachment image associated with a post to be displayed nearly anywhere on a blog, simply by adding a special function to a loop. This plugin is a perfect compliment for magazine themes.

This plugin can include images of nearly any size, simply by using the included <?php use_the_attachment_image(); ?> function. See the installation page for more details regarding usage.

Installation

To utilize this plugin, you will first need to upload use_attachment_image.php to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory on your web server; and activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.

Next, place <?php use_the_attachment_image() ?> (will include a link to the post), or <?php use_the_attachment_image_nolink() ?> (will NOT include a link to the post) in your template to include a thumbnail of the first attachment image. Note the function must be inside of a WordPress loop.

By default, this function will include a thumbnail image. To include images of different sizes, use the respective functions below. You may also use <?php use_the_attachment_image_nolink() ?> in place of <?php use_the_attachment_image() ?> here.

Thumbnail <?php use_the_attachment_image('thumbnail'); ?>
Medium <?php use_the_attachment_image('medium'); ?></p>
Large <?php use_the_attachment_image('large'); ?></p>
Full <?php use_the_attachment_image('full'); ?>
20 px <?php use_the_attachment_image(array(20,20)); ?>
Feel free to replace 20px with another specific size to best meet your needs. Note that WordPress will scale a larger image down to give you the size you desire here.

It is possible to include a thumbnail image from each post in your RSS feed. To do this, simply add this code to your theme’s functions.php file. From cd harrison.

<?php
if (function_exists('use_the_attachment_image')) {
    function insertAttachmentRSS($content) {
        global $post;
        { $content = use_the_attachment_image() . $content; }
        return $content;
    }
    add_filter('the_excerpt_rss', 'insertAttachmentRSS');
    add_filter('the_content_feed', 'insertAttachmentRSS');
}
?>

See an example of how this plugin can be used.

Changelog

1.02

  • The code that includes the post image in an RSS feed was taken out of the plugin and moved to the readme file; as it did not previously work when it was included in a separate file from the plugin file as was suggested in the plugin instructions.

1.01

  • Fixed the function name in the documentation. In a few cases, a function that did not exist was referenced. Thanks, Matias for the report. The actual plugin was not changed.

1.0

  • Initial release.

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

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.

Active installs badge Rating badge Health score badge

FAQ

Use the Attachment Image!: quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 10, 2026

Is Use the Attachment Image! free?

Yes. Use the Attachment Image! is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.

Is Use the Attachment Image! safe to use in 2026?

Use the Attachment Image! shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 20+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 6 years ago, and scores 31/100 on our health check.

How many websites use Use the Attachment Image!?

Use the Attachment Image! is active on 20+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 5,394 times since it launched in February 2010. It was downloaded 47 times in the last 30 days.

Does Use the Attachment Image! work with WordPress 7.1?

Use the Attachment Image! is officially tested up to WordPress 5.7.20, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.

When was Use the Attachment Image! last updated?

The latest version, 1.02, was released on April 9, 2021 (6 years ago).

Who makes Use the Attachment Image!?

Use the Attachment Image! is developed and maintained by Tom Lany.

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