PluginScout

Custom Background Changer

by Anshul Gangrade · WordPress.org page · Website

v4.0 Tested up to WP 7.0.4 PHP 7.4+

Custom Background Changer has 1,000+ active installs on WordPress.org and 47,217 downloads all time. We have tracked it since September 4, 2026; download trends appear after 30 days of data. The last update was on July 9, 2026, tested up to WordPress 7.0.4.

Custom Background Changer at a glance

Active installs
1,000+
Total downloads
47,217
Downloads, last 30 days
–
available after 30 days of tracking
30-day growth
–
tracking since September 4, 2026

Is Custom Background Changer well maintained?

Support threads resolved
No open threads
nothing waiting on the WordPress.org forum
WordPress compatibility
Behind
tested up to WordPress 7.0.4, not yet with the current 7.1

Features

The feature list from the plugin's own readme on WordPress.org, trimmed to the essentials.

  • Solid Color – Pick any background color via the color picker
  • CSS Gradient – Pick two colors and an angle to generate a smooth linear gradient
  • Background Image – Upload an image with full control over attachment, repeat, position, and size (including cover/contain)
  • Color Overlay – Add a translucent color layer on top of your image or video to improve text readability
  • MP4 Video Background – Set a looping, auto-playing, muted video as your page background
  • Performance – CSS and JS assets load only on post/page edit screens in the admin. Zero impact on all other pages
  • Secure – All input is sanitized. All output is properly escaped. Nonce-protected saves

Custom Background Changer reviews and ratings

7 reviews on WordPress.org, with the most recent ones as their authors posted them.

All reviews
4.9 out of 5

7 reviews

5★
6
4★
1
3★
0
2★
0
1★
0

  • Coulda been 5 stars except for one thing

    First off thei sis an excellent plugin and works a real treat on my clients websites it just lacks the ability to set the cover or contain properties and the css offered above does not always work where a body declaration has already been implemented as in tempera theme by cryout creations to make the contain or cover work the followinf CSS is offered up: body{ -webkit-background-size: cover !important; -moz-background-size: cover !important; -o-background-size: cover !important; background-size: cover !important; } the !important are only needed if your theme is overiding your body css to run the contain or cover

    kineticartist

  • Needs responsive upscaling & fixed scaling

    <p>Newbie here, just migrating several old web sites to WP and needed unique images per page so found this as the best option of a handful of such plugins.</p> <p>One good feature is that it appears on the Edit Page section in Admin, so easy to manage.</p> <p>Seems to do everything needed with one little niggle - the images don't responsively scale upwards (I test on a 40" monitor for these kind of situations).</p> <p>Note that images do responsively scale downwards.</p> <p>Having a "Scale to Fit" option would seem the next step in development to allow for images of all sizes?</p> <p>Similarly a "Fixed Scale" option for those wanting to use more precise pixel-perfect styling might help too?</p> <p>Keep up the good work, this IS a nice neat plugin.</p> <p>I'll probably be using this on all my eleven site upgrades over the next few months.</p> <p>=====<br />Up-date (still a newbie on all this) after a few week's fooling around.<br />Best fix to scaling BG image is add the CSS for</p> <p>body{<br />background-size:cover;<br />}</p> <p>Or</p> <p>body{<br />background-size:contain;<br />}</p> <p>I'm guessing this depends more on the theme's coding than this plugin's function.</p> <p>=====</p> <p>Up-date (February 2023) Finally had to bite one bullet and update my sites to newer PHP (8.1) and this looks like it's finally broken the plugin with: "Warning: Undefined variable $textdomain..." errors appearing.</p> <p>Looks like I will finally have to move to a newer plugin.</p>

    worldmaker

  • Very Happy this exists

    cuts right thru some red tape where some themes require paid versions to have a background image

    mynerdywebguy

  • Nice & Neat

    No Frills on this plugin. It does "exactly" what it claims. Well done developers.

    danielepais

  • The greatest background plugin

    The greatest background plugin, easy to use and manage. It does exactly what it says. I'm loving it! Many thanks to developer/s. Great job!

    GT

  • Provided Support

    Answered Emails, and provided support. Custom backgrounds on specific posts looks good.

    DaveRobison

Custom Background Changer alternatives

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Details

Set a unique background color, gradient, image, overlay, or video for any individual post or page — all from a single elegant meta box.

The full description, screenshots and every review live on the WordPress.org page.

Tags

  • Background Changer
  • custom background
  • gradient background
  • page background
  • video background

More from Anshul Gangrade

Version
4.0
Last updated
Jul 9, 2026
First published
Jun 3, 2016
Requires WordPress
6.5
Tested up to
7.0.4
Requires PHP
7.4
Pricing
Free on WordPress.org

Custom Background Changer FAQ

What does Custom Background Changer do?

According to its WordPress.org readme, Custom Background Changer offers Solid Color – Pick any background color via the color picker, CSS Gradient – Pick two colors and an angle to generate a smooth linear gradient, Background Image – Upload an image with full control over attachment, repeat, position, and size (including cover/contain), Color Overlay – Add a translucent color layer on top of your image or video to improve text readability and MP4 Video Background – Set a looping, auto-playing, muted video as your page background.

How many active installs does Custom Background Changer have?

WordPress.org reports 1,000+ active installs for Custom Background Changer as of September 7, 2026.

Is Custom Background Changer still maintained?

Yes. The last release was on July 9, 2026 and it is tested up to WordPress 7.0.4.

Is Custom Background Changer free?

Custom Background Changer is free to install from WordPress.org. Many plugins also sell a paid version or add-ons.