Plugin profile · observed daily since 02 Aug 2026
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin
Active installs1,000,000+ rounded
Current authorSyed Balkhi
Owner changesNone while we have been watching
Last release10 days ago 28 Oct 2026
Support2 / 8 resolved, last 2 months
Releases on record158
Rating4.9 /5 · 4,358
Added to directory23 Jul 2014
Requires WP4.1
Requires PHP7.4
Version lag0 up to date
Tested up toWP 7.1.4 up to date
PluginsPedia reports published data and observable changes. It does not rate plugin quality or safety, infer intent, or make recommendations. These are observations rather than a verdict. How this works
Ownership
Held by Syed Balkhi throughout, with no change of ownership observed since daily tracking began on 02 Aug 2026.
Full observed history, including every field transition
Committing accounts
Read from the plugin’s public release log, so these predate this registry. A committing account is not an owner. Thirty accounts commit to WooCommerce and it has never changed hands.
| Account | Releases | First | Last |
|---|---|---|---|
| smashballoon | 101 | 23 Jul 2014 | 20 Mar 2022 |
| Craig at Smash Balloon | 36 | 06 May 2020 | 14 Nov 2024 |
| AhmedGeek | 15 | 12 Jun 2024 | 22 Jul 2026 |
| alexopen | 1 | 26 Feb 2026 | 26 Feb 2026 |
This registry did not observe a transfer; it read these names off a public log. Whether that reflects a change of ownership is not something the directory publishes.
Adoption
How widely the plugin is installed, and what the people running it think of it. WordPress.org rounds install figures to one significant digit, so they describe an order of magnitude rather than a headcount.
Very widely adopted: 1,000,000+ active installs. In the top tier of the directory by install count.
48,266 downloads a day over the last 7 days, rising 476% against the 7 days before. Downloads are counted exactly and without a ceiling, so they show movement the rounded install figure cannot.
11 Sep 2026peak 305,307/day31 Oct 2026
8 ratings left in the last 82 days, averaging 4.5 out of 5 against a lifetime average of 4.9 (1 of them one or two stars). Recent ratings are in line with the lifetime figure.
From recent reviews
What reviewers wrote on wordpress.org between 07 Jul 2026 and 29 Sep 2026: 12 reviews, counted by theme. Every count links to the reviews behind it.
Recent reviewers for Instagram Feed mostly write about the people behind it: 5 of 12 reviews credit the SmashBalloon support team, naming staff like Manuel and Louis, for quickly resolving a feed or Instagram connection problem. Reviewers also comment on usability, with 4 of 12 reviews describing the plugin as easy to use for setup and block editor styling. A smaller slice reports friction: 2 of 12 reviews mention a technical snag, from clunky rendering in non-Firefox desktop browsers to an Instagram/Meta API connection breaking the feed, and another 2 of 12 reviews single out the free version's feature set as generous for their needs.
- 5 of 12 mention receiving responsive, hands-on support from the SmashBalloon team when resolving a feed or Instagram connection problem. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
- 4 of 12 describe the plugin as easy to use. [1] [2] [3] [4]
- 2 of 12 report running into a technical snag, such as browser rendering quirks or an Instagram/Meta API connection break. [1] [2]
- 2 of 12 call out the free version's feature set positively. [1] [2]
Counted from the public review forum on 05 Oct 2026. The reviews are their authors’ own words and their own claims; the counts are ours.
Daily record
Every field we record, one column per observation. Fields that never moved are named once rather than repeated across every column. A row of identical numbers would be padding.
| Field | 18 Oct | 19 Oct | 20 Oct | 21 Oct | 22 Oct | 23 Oct | 24 Oct | 25 Oct | 26 Oct | 27 Oct | 28 Oct | 29 Oct | 30 Oct | 31 Oct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downloads that day | — | 3,161 | 5,705 | 7,846 | 10,187 | 16,832 | 10,539 | 5,209 | 3,787 | 7,877 | 7,371 | 8,309 | 0 | 305,307 |
| Version | 6.14.0 | 6.14.0 | 6.14.0 | 6.14.0 | 6.14.0 | 6.14.0 | 6.14.0 | 6.14.0 | 6.14.0 | 6.14.0 | 6.14.0 | 6.15.0 | 6.15.0 | 6.15.0 |
| Support threads | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Threads resolved | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Unchanged throughout: ratings total (4,358) · active installs (1,000,000+)
91 days of observation, most recent 14 shown.
Maintenance
When it was last released, and how far its declared compatibility has drifted from current WordPress.
Added to directory12 years ago 23 Jul 2014
Requires WP4.1
Requires PHP7.4
Version lagcurrent
Is anyone still maintaining this?
- Last released 28 Oct 2026, 10 days ago.
- Declares compatibility with WordPress 7.1.4, which is current.
- 2 of 8 support threads answered in the last two months.
- The same account maintains 99 other plugins, 47 of which were updated in the last 90 days. the account is active.
A plugin that does one thing correctly may need no changes for years; a long gap is not, by itself, evidence of neglect.
History
Everything dated that this registry holds about the plugin, most recent first. Releases carry the author’s own release date; everything else is dated to when it was observed.
Entries marked from the release log predate this registry, and daily observation began 02 Aug 2026. They were read from the plugin’s public SVN history after the fact, not watched as they happened. Everything else was observed directly.
- 28 Oct 202611 days agoVersion 6.15.0 released
- 29 Sep 20261 month agoVersion 6.14.0 released
- 23 Sep 20262 months agoVersion 6.13.1 released
- 31 Aug 20262 months agoVersion 6.13.0 released
- 25 Aug 20262 months agoVersion 6.12.0 released
- 02 Aug 20263 months agoFirst observed by PluginsPediaDaily snapshots of this plugin’s directory record begin here. Everything above this line is observed; anything before it comes from fields the API itself reports.
- 22 Jul 20264 months agoVersion 6.11.4 released
- 18 Jun 20265 months agoVersion 6.11.3 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 17 Jun 20265 months agoVersion 6.11.2 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 10 Jun 20265 months agoVersion 6.11.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 18 May 20266 months agoVersion 6.11.0 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 12 Mar 20268 months agoVersion 6.10.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 26 Feb 20268 months agoVersion 6.10.0 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by alexopen.
- 21 May 202518 months agoVersion 6.9.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 07 May 202518 months agoVersion 6.9.0 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 23 Apr 202519 months agoVersion 6.8.0 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 21 Feb 202521 months agoVersion 6.7.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 19 Feb 202521 months agoVersion 6.7.0 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 19 Nov 20241.5 years agoVersion 6.6.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by AhmedGeek.
- 23 Jul 201412 years ago140 earlier releasesfrom the release logBetween 23 Jul 2014 and 14 Nov 2024. Listed individually in the public release log rather than here.
- 23 Jul 201412 years agoAdded to the WordPress.org directoryReported by the plugin API as the date this plugin was added.
Media coverage
Writing about this plugin elsewhere, collected by this registry. The links go to the sources; what they claim is theirs.
- 01 Oct 2026 · Manage Your Instagram Feed by Asking ChatGPT or ClaudeSmash Balloon
- 04 Aug 2026 · Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed <= 6.11.3 - Reflected XSS via REQUEST_URI Query StringWPScan
- 28 May 2025 · WordPress Instagram Feed Plugin <= 6.9.0 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored XSS via data-plugin AttributePatchstack
- 02 Mar 2022 · [NEW] Instagram Feed 6 - Live Preview, Guided Flow, and MoreSmash Balloon
- 04 Dec 2020 · Smash Balloon is Now Part of the Awesome Motive FamilySmash Balloon
What we know, and what we don’t
Everything on this page in one place, including the gaps, so that nothing here is mistaken for a clean bill of health.
What we know
- It has been held by Syed Balkhi for all 91 days we have observed it.
- It was last released 10 days ago (28 Oct 2026).
- Its author declares it tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, which is current.
- WordPress.org reports 1,000,000+ active installs.
- It carries 4,358 ratings, averaging 4.9 out of 5.
- 2 of 8 support threads in the last two months are marked resolved.
Every record on this site, this one included, works under the same limits. We read what WordPress.org publishes about a plugin, never the plugin’s own code, so nothing here says whether a plugin is well built or safe. Install counts reach us already rounded; a change smaller than a band step doesn’t show. We don’t track security advisories yet. For anything older than our first observation we rely on the plugin’s public release log, where one exists. What this registry can and cannot see
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Reach out about this record
Corrections, missing context, or anything else about Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin: a person reads every submission, and corrections get a reply within 5 business days.