Auto media image compression

Auto media image compression plugin for ReadyCMS

Uncompressed images slow your store down and eat up storage. This plugin fixes that in the background — no manual work, no design changes, no visible impact on your website.

On a schedule you choose (hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly), it scans your media library, finds the images that haven't been optimized yet, backs each original up to the Trash, and replaces it with a smaller version. Faster pages, less storage used, safety net if you ever want a source file back.

Key benefits

• Set-and-forget optimization for your entire media library.
• Handles JPEG, PNG, and GIF images.
• Every original is copied to the Trash before it's replaced — nothing is lost.
• Batched so it never spikes your server load; you control the batch size and how often it runs.
• Skips files that would compress to the same size or larger — no cosmetic "work" that doesn't actually help.
• No setup, no external service, no API keys, no per-image cost. Free.

Activate the plugin and pick a schedule. From then on, a background job scans your media library on that schedule, finds uncompressed images, and processes them in small batches.

Before each image is replaced, the original is copied to your Trash folder. If you ever need the source back, it's there.

Files larger than 5 MB are skipped (that's a hard technical limit).

WebP and BMP aren't supported. Everything else — JPEG, PNG, GIF — is handled automatically.

Guide

1. Find the plugin: Go to the plugin page.
2. Configure: Pick a schedule (Hourly / Daily / Weekly / Monthly). Daily is a good default.
3. Optional: Adjust the batch size (how many images per run) and JPEG quality (10–95, default 80).
4. Activate: Save and activate. That's it — the plugin will start processing on the next scheduled run.

To monitor what's happening, turn on Log errors in the plugin settings; each cron run then writes a summary (ok=N fail=M) to the plugin log.

Q1: Does this plugin compress everything at once?

No. It works in batches on your chosen schedule (hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly), so it never spikes your server load even for stores with tens of thousands of images.

Q2: What happens to the original image?

Each original is copied to your Trash folder before the compressed version replaces it. If you ever want a source file back, it's there until you empty the Trash.

Q3: What does my hosting need?

PHP's gd extension, which is enabled by default on almost every modern PHP host. That's it — no CLI tools, no shell access, no external service. If GD isn't available, the plugin logs the issue and skips its runs cleanly instead of crashing.

Q4: Which image formats are supported?

JPEG, PNG, and GIF. WebP and BMP aren't supported by the underlying library, so they're left alone.

Q5: Is there a maximum file size?

Yes — 5 MB. Files larger than that are skipped (it's a hard technical limit). For most media libraries that's fine; if you have larger images, resize them first through the Media UI and the plugin will pick them up on the next run.

Q6: Will my images look different?

JPEG re-encoding is lossy at the quality level you configure (default 80 is close-to-original with a big filesize saving). PNG and GIF re-encoding is lossless. If a compressed version isn't actually smaller than the original, the plugin discards it and leaves the original untouched.

Q7: How do I know it's working?

Enable Log errors in the plugin settings. Each cron run then writes a summary line (ok=N fail=M) to the plugin log so you can confirm progress.

Q8: Is this plugin free?

Yes. Included with ReadyCMS at no additional cost. No per-image fees.