You might want to take a look at a plugin called BannerMan. I have been using it since yesterday and it works great. I wanted to share why I am using this now, and what it means for WordPress plugin creators.

I had been using a plugin for Banners in the past called WordPress FrontPage Banner. It worked great, and I was glad to have it. The problem happened yesterday when WordPress had an update, and that also triggered an update for the WordPress FPB plugin. That new plugin created a notice at the top of the WordPress Interface, that is rarely used and only used for emergency messages. It was invasive, and unnecessary. A one time message would have been fine. I logged out and back in thinking perhaps it was a one-time trigger, but it stayed advertising its new services. Listen I don’t mind an author making a one-time plea for their services, but if they attempt to hijack my interface, that isn’t cool or acceptable. So I started looking for alternatives, and found BannerMan.

BannerMan has features that the WFPB did not. I am thrilled with it. Officially it is not supported on my version, but it is simple and seems to work great. I think WordPress authors would do well to have a free version of their software, and then a premium version to entice people who need additional functionality. Especially those of us like me who are paying for our own hosting, and using free software, having a forced commercial message does not sit well with us. We know you have to pay the bills, just stop being so pushy about it.

Another option is called Add to Header. It works on many themes in which Bannerman failed to work on. I think it is more straightforward but it requires that you understand more technical things. If you understand URLS, and how to get the URL of your banner (photo) you wish to use, you can use it.