Description
WP Preloader displays a beautiful loading screen while your website loads — and removes it smoothly once the page is ready.
Version 2.1 adds major new features including logo display, loading text, gradient backgrounds, progress bar, 5 new spinner styles, exit animations, and once-per-session control.
✨ What’s New in v2.1
- Custom Logo — display your site logo above the spinner
- Loading Text — show custom text below the spinner (e.g. “Loading…”)
- Gradient Background — two-color gradient instead of solid color
- Progress Bar — animated progress bar along top or bottom of screen
- 5 New Spinners — Bounce, Spiral, Flip Card, Clock, Heartbeat
- Exit Animations — Fade (default), Slide Up, Zoom Out
- Show Once Per Session — preloader shows only once per browser session
- Tabbed admin settings — General, Design, Logo & Text, Progress Bar, Timing
🎨 All 10 Spinner Styles
- Circle (Rotating Arc)
- Ring (Dual Ring)
- Dots (Bouncing)
- Bars (Wave)
- Pulse (Ripple)
- Bounce Ball — New in v2.1
- Spiral (Double) — New in v2.1
- Flip Card — New in v2.1
- Clock — New in v2.1
- Heartbeat — New in v2.1
⚙️ All Settings
- Enable / disable sitewide
- Disable for logged-in users
- Disable on mobile
- Show once per session
- Exclude specific pages
- Background: solid color or gradient (2 colors + direction)
- Background opacity
- Spinner type (10 styles) and color
- Custom image / GIF upload
- Logo upload with width control
- Loading text with color and size
- Progress bar with color, height, position
- Exit animation (fade, slide up, zoom out)
- Minimum display time
- Exit animation duration
- Live preview in admin panel
Screenshots
Admin Settings — General tab 
Admin Settings — Design tab with spinner options 
Admin Settings — Logo & Text tab 
Admin Settings — Progress Bar tab 
Frontend — Circle spinner on dark background
Installation
- Upload the plugin or install via Plugins Add New.
- Activate the plugin.
- Go to Settings WP Preloader to configure.
- No theme file editing required — auto-injects automatically.
FAQ
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Do I need to edit my theme files?
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No. WP Preloader auto-injects using WordPress hooks. No shortcode or header.php editing needed.
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What is “Show Once Per Session”?
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When enabled, the preloader only shows once per browser session. After the visitor has seen it once, it won’t appear again until they close and reopen their browser.
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Can I use my own logo on the preloader?
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Yes. Go to Logo & Text tab, enable Show Logo, and upload your logo image.
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Can I still use a GIF?
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Yes. Upload your GIF under Design Custom Image. It replaces the CSS spinner.
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The legacy shortcode [new_loader] still works?
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Yes, for backward compatibility. But it’s no longer required.
Reviews
Contributors & Developers
“WP Preloader” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “WP Preloader” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
2.1.0
- Added custom logo display above spinner
- Added loading text with color and size control
- Added gradient background option (2 colors + direction)
- Added animated progress bar (color, height, top/bottom position)
- Added 5 new spinner styles: Bounce, Spiral, Flip Card, Clock, Heartbeat
- Added 3 exit animations: Fade, Slide Up, Zoom Out
- Added “Show Once Per Session” option
- Reorganized admin into 5 tabs: General, Design, Logo & Text, Progress Bar, Timing
- Updated tested up to WordPress 6.9
2.0.0
- Complete rewrite for WordPress 6.x and PHP 8.x
- Added auto-injection via wp_body_open / wp_footer
- Added 5 CSS spinners, live preview, color pickers
- Added disable for logged-in users, mobile, excluded pages
1.0
- First Release