In this HostPapa Knowledge Base article, we will help you to have a faster website, as your images will be optimized when first uploaded.
We are going to suggest a plugin to do all the heavy lifting for you, and it’s known as the EWWW Image Optimizer plugin. The process of using this plugin will save you having to alter photos, which can often be quite time consuming.
The EWWW Image Optimizer is a WordPress plugin designed to optimize images upon upload. It offers the following features:
- The additional capability to optimize images that have already been uploaded.
- An ability to convert image files to different formats that offer smaller file sizes.
As an example, EWWW Image Optimizer can convert a screenshot from the PNG format to the JPEG format, which reduces the file size when uploading.
How to install the EWWW Image Optimizer plugin
1. Please log in to your website’s WordPress dashboard.
2. With HostPapa, you can log in to your HostPapa Dashboard and then click My WordPress. If needed, you can refer to this article to help you: How to log in to the WordPress dashboard.
3. Navigate to Plugins > Add New and then search for the plugin.
To learn more about installing WordPress plugins, you can also read this HostPapa knowledge base article: How to install plugins in WordPress.
4. After the installation is complete, click Activate.
5. From the WordPress sidebar, please navigate to Settings > EWWW Image Optimizer.
Basic configuration choices
Premium options
When you purchase a premium plan, you can select the radio button to Activate Easy IO and/or the Compress API. This allows you to unlock extra compression and more space on your website.
Remove metadata
This feature eliminates all image metadata. Tools like Photoshop may embed thumbnail images within a JPG file, so it’s crucial to remove metadata to minimize file size.
Metadata encompasses Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) data such as aperture, camera type, exposure, and more. It also covers location, embedded copyright details, and color profiles. Any data that isn’t necessary for rendering a pixel is removed from the image.
However, when utilizing the Easy IO or Compress API, color profiles are retained, irrespective of this setting.
Unchecking this choice preserves all metadata, except when using Premium Plus mode (Ludicrous Mode, Local tab, etc.). In Premium Plus mode, for both JPG and PNG, the only fields that are preserved are copyright, location, and the creation date.
Lazy load
Implementing Lazy Load for images can significantly improve your page’s load times by delaying the loading of images until they enter (or are about to enter) the viewport. This is particularly beneficial for sites with many images.
Moreover, the Lazy Load feature in EWWW IO (and Easy IO) works in conjunction with various other features to provide progressive enhancements.
Compatibility information for other lazy loaders can be found here.
WebP conversion
Contrary to other conversion solutions, WebP conversion can be applied to every PNG, JPG, and GIF image across your entire WordPress site, not just those in the Media Library.
In theory, you could specify the root path of your WordPress site in the folders to be optimized, execute a Bulk Optimize, and EWWW IO would generate WebP versions of all images where WebP is more size-efficient than the original format.
6. The final steps: Optimize Local Images involves clicking on the optimize button to start the process, which will scan all images in the Media Library.
Once all the images have been scanned successfully, a new button will appear to begin the optimization process. All you need to do is click Start Optimizing.
As always, we recommend backing up your website before you apply any changes. This process ensures that we can roll back updates if you have any issues.
If you’d like to analyze the results of the EWWW Image Optimizer plugin tool, you can check the performance of your site using any of the 3 tools below. All 3 will give you a before and after comparison of load times:
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Don’t forget that if you need help with your HostPapa account, you can open a support ticket from your dashboard.
