mabujo

Featured Image Sharpen Up makes a tiny version of your featured post image and places it in the head of the page. 
As you scroll down the page, some JavaScript lazy loads the featured images in the background and replaces the tiny images as the full images are loaded.
You may have seen a similar effect used for images on medium.com.
Created on WordPress 4.4, but should work on earlier versions. 
Tested working on all Twenty Sixteen, Twenty Fifteen, Twenty Fourteen, Twenty Thirteen, Twenty Twelve and Twenty Eleven themes. Should work on other themes, but may need CSS adjustments, depending on theme handling of featured images.
Uses jQuery.Lazy(); (http://jquery.eisbehr.de/lazy/) and Hugh Lashbrooke’s plugin template (https://github.com/hlashbrooke/WordPress-Plugin-Template)
Plugin page : <a href="https://mabujo.com/blog/featured-image-sharpen-up-wordpress-plugin/" rel="nofollow ugc">Featured Image Sharpen Up plugin @ mabujo</a>

Featured Image Sharpen Up

This plugin helps increase the page loading speed of your site by replacing featured post images with a small inline image, and lazy loading the full  …

Mohsin Rafique

Pixelative

AMP WP is the most feature-rich, developer-friendly, and beginner-ready Google AMP plugin available for WordPress — completely free.
Built and maintained by <a href="https://pixelative.co" rel="nofollow ugc">Pixelative</a>, a professional web development agency led by Mohsin Rafique, AMP WP has helped thousands of website owners dramatically improve mobile page speed, search rankings, and user experience.
<a href="https://pixelspress.com/amp" rel="nofollow ugc">Online Demo</a> | <a href="https://mailchi.mp/24a568511ae5/amp-wp-cf7" rel="nofollow ugc">CF7 Premium Extension</a> | <a href="mailto:mohsin.rafique@gmail.com" rel="nofollow ugc">Support</a>
<h3>Why AMP WP?</h3>
Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) technology delivers pages up to 5x faster on mobile devices. Faster pages mean lower bounce rates, higher engagement, and better rankings in Google Search. AMP WP makes enabling AMP on your WordPress site effortless — from a single settings panel, no theme modifications needed.
<h3>Free Features</h3>
Performance & Compatibility 
* Full Google AMP specification compliance — 100% valid AMP output 
* PHP 8.x compatible (tested through PHP 8.4) 
* Compatible with all major caching plugins (WP Rocket, SG Optimizer, W3 Total Cache, and more) 
* Compatible with Jetpack 
* Compatible with Yoast SEO (100%) 
* Compatible with “Automattic AMP” plugin 
* Gutenberg block editor support 
* RTL language support (100%) 
* GDPR compliant
Content & Embeds 
* Automatic AMP conversion for Posts, Pages, and Custom Post Types 
* Embed Images, Videos, Audios, and iFrames — YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, SoundCloud, Instagram (Posts, Reels & TV) 
* Lightbox for Images 
* Slider Support 
* Internal AMP Linking 
* Native AMP Search
Design & Customization 
* Two listing layouts: Classic View and List View 
* Customizable color scheme 
* Custom CSS options 
* Sticky Header 
* AMP WordPress Navigation Menu 
* Custom AMP Front Page 
* Social Icons
Control 
* Show/Hide AMP for individual Posts, Pages, and Custom Post Types 
* Show/Hide AMP for Taxonomies (Categories, Tags, Custom) 
* Show/Hide AMP mobile redirections 
* Show/Hide AMP on Search pages 
* Show/Hide Date, Author, and Thumbnail across Archive, Single Post, Related Posts, and Slider 
* Show/Hide Tags on Single Post pages 
* Enable/Disable Structured Data (JSON-LD Schema)
Engagement & Analytics 
* Related Posts (with thumbnail, date, and author controls) 
* Recent Comments 
* Notice Bar 
* Sidebar 
* Social Sharing Buttons 
* OneSignal Push Notifications integration 
* Third-party analytics support: Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Segment, Quantcast, Alexa Metrics, Chartbeat, comScore, Yandex Metrica, AFS Analytics, Adobe Analytics
Ads 
* Google AdSense Auto Ads for AMP support 
* AMP WP Options Panel for ad management
Multilingual 
* Translation Panel included 
* Contact us at <code>contact@ampwp.io</code> to contribute translations
<h3>Built by Pixelative</h3>
<a href="https://pixelative.co" rel="nofollow ugc">Pixelative</a> is a full-service digital agency specializing in high-performance WordPress solutions. AMP WP is developed and actively maintained by Mohsin Rafique, a seasoned WordPress engineer with deep expertise in AMP specification compliance, PHP performance, and modern web standards.
For enterprise support, custom AMP theme development, or white-label licensing, reach out at <code>contact@pixelative.co</code>.
<h4>Credits</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wppb.me/" rel="nofollow ugc">WordPress Plugin Boilerplate Generator</a> by Tom McFarlin — License: GPLv2</li>
<li><a href="http://necolas.github.io/normalize.css/" rel="nofollow ugc">normalize.css</a> — License: MIT</li>
<li><a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Karla" rel="nofollow ugc">Karla</a> by Jonathan Pinhorn — License: SIL OFL</li>
<li><a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Noto+Sans" rel="nofollow ugc">Noto Sans</a> by Google — License: SIL OFL</li>
<li><a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Overpass+Mono" rel="nofollow ugc">Overpass Mono</a> by Delve Withrington — License: SIL OFL</li>
<li><a href="https://fontawesome.com/license" rel="nofollow ugc">Font Awesome Free 4.7.0</a> by Dave Gandy — Font: SIL OFL 1.1 / Code: MIT</li>
</ul>
<h3>Minimum Requirements</h3>
<ul>
<li>WordPress 5.0 or higher</li>
<li>PHP 7.4 or higher</li>
<li>MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.5+</li>
</ul>
Tip: Install <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/regenerate-thumbnails/" rel="ugc">Regenerate Thumbnails</a> and regenerate your thumbnails after activation to ensure the post listing layout renders correctly.
<h3>Automatic Installation (Recommended)</h3>
<ol>
<li>Log in to your WordPress admin panel.</li>
<li>Navigate to Plugins → Add New.</li>
<li>Search for AMP WP.</li>
<li>Click Install Now, then Activate.</li>
<li>Go to AMP WP → Customize AMP to configure your settings.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Manual Installation</h3>
<ol>
<li>Download the plugin ZIP from the WordPress plugin repository.</li>
<li>Extract the ZIP and upload the <code>amp-wp</code> folder to <code>/wp-content/plugins/</code> via FTP or your hosting file manager.</li>
<li>Activate the plugin from Plugins in your WordPress admin panel.</li>
<li>Navigate to AMP WP → Customize AMP to begin setup.</li>
</ol>

AMP WP – Google AMP For WordPress


Why can't you use your own theme?  Only have one very ugly theme doesn't work for me. Sorry.


Where do I start?

The most complete free AMP plugin for WordPress. Supercharge mobile performance with Google Accelerated Mobile Pages — no coding required.

Featured Image Sharpen Up vs AMP WP – Google AMP For WordPress