The History Of TimThumb ![rw-book-cover]() 🔗 **Source:** [The History Of TimThumb](https://wptavern.com/the-history-of-timthumb) > [!note]+ Document Notes > --- > tags: [timthumb, wordpress-history, image-generation, wp-tavern-archive, wp-tavern-2010] > author: Jeff Chandler > source: WP Tavern > reference: https://wptavern.com/the-history-of-timthumb > date created: 2026-04-17 13:16 > --- > # The History Of TimThumb > ## 📝 Summary > - TimThumb was a script developed before WordPress had built-in post thumbnail support, used by theme developers to automatically generate post thumbnails. The script was created by Tim at Category4, then open-sourced on Google Code by Darren and others, leading to widespread adoption across premium WordPress themes. By the time of this article, approximately 95% of premium theme teams were offering TimThumb support. The script became a foundational tool in WordPress theme development before native thumbnail functionality was introduced. > ## 💬 Comments (0) > No comments. > --- [](https://www.wptavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/binarymoonlogo.png)Previous to WordPress having post thumbnails built in, there was a script called TimThumb. I know quite a few themes that integrated TimThumb in order to automatically generate post thumbnails instead of relying on the old method of using a custom field. [Ben Gillbanks has chronicled](http://www.binarymoon.co.uk/2009/07/a-brief-history-of-timthumb/) the short history of TimThumb. > Development was started by Tim (hence the name) one of the programmers at Category4 where Darren worked. Shortly after the release of Mimbo Pro, with Tims blessing, we decided to open source the code releasing TimThumb on Google code, and that’s when everyone else started using it. Nowadays 95% of the premium themes teams are offering TimThumb support – and it’s a great feeling, knowing so many are making use of code I worked on. > > The article was published in 2009 but I was fooled because I saw it as a recent submission on [WPVote.com](http://wpvote.com/2010-02/wordpress-resources/a-brief-history-of-timthumb/). Still worthy of a good read though. Category: [News](https://wptavern.com/category/news)Tags: [history](https://wptavern.com/tag/history), [images](https://wptavern.com/tag/images), [scripts](https://wptavern.com/tag/scripts), [timthumb](https://wptavern.com/tag/timthumb), The History Of TimThumb, Jeff Chandler, 01kpe74786v2yd0022d24sk9b4.