Smart Preload DL adds a visual loading overlay to your WordPress site while pages are loading. It gives you precise control over which pages the preloader appears on — down to individual IDs, slugs, and URL patterns.
Core Features
- 4 animation styles: Spinner, Dots, Progress Bar, and Minimal
- Custom background and animation colours
- Adjustable preloader background opacity from 0% to 100%
- Optional logo above the animation
- Optional loading text below the animation
- Three animation sizes: Small, Medium, Large
- 7 selectable exit behaviours: Fade, Slide Up, Slide Down, Zoom Out, Reveal Vertical, Reveal Horizontal, and Instant
- Configurable minimum display time, transition duration, and safety timeout
Display Control
- Show on all pages or only on selected pages
- Exclude specific pages from a site-wide display
- Block by page/post ID (comma-separated list)
- Block by slug (one per line)
- Block by URL pattern with
*wildcard support - Per-type rules: Front Page, Blog Index, Single Posts, Pages, Categories, Tags, Archives, Search, 404
- Option to hide the preloader for logged-in users
WooCommerce
When WooCommerce is active, additional rules appear for: Shop, Product, Cart, Checkout, and My Account pages.
Technical Notes
- No external HTTP requests
- Front-end JavaScript is vanilla JS — no jQuery dependency
- CSS and JS are only enqueued on pages where the preloader is shown
- Uses the native
wp_body_openhook for early preloader rendering - Full internationalisation support
- Settings stored in a single serialised option; clean uninstall removes all plugin data
Screenshots
General settings tab — enable/disable the preloader and control visibility for logged-in users.
Display Rules tab — choose display mode and configure per-type rules.
Appearance tab — pick animation style, colours, size, logo, and custom text.
Behaviour tab — choose the exit transition and configure minimum display time, transition duration, and safety timeout.
Advanced tab — block by ID, slug, or URL pattern with wildcard support.