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Perxel Image Optimizer

v1.2.1 · by Phuc Bui (PERXEL)

Local WebP conversion for your media library. No third-party CDN or service, free, and it runs in the background.

About this plugin

Perxel Image Optimizer converts your WordPress media library to WebP locally,
on your own server, and serves it – entirely from an admin page, built for shared
hosting.

  • No third party. Conversion runs in PHP via WP_Image_Editor (GD/Imagick).
    Nothing is uploaded to a CDN or an external optimization service, and there is
    no API key, account or paid tier. Your images never leave your host.
  • Free. The whole plugin, no upsell.
  • Runs in the background. A light scan estimates the work, then a background
    job (Action Scheduler) converts the library newest-to-oldest, one calendar
    month at a time. Pause, resume, cancel, close the tab – progress is durable.
    Optional email report when a run finishes.
  • Or run it Fast. An opt-in mode that drives the conversion from the open
    admin tab, so the server works continuously – much quicker on shared hosting
    with no cron. It throttles itself if the host pushes back, and stopping never
    loses work.
  • Your JPEG and PNG files stay. foo.jpg gets a foo.jpg.webp sibling;
    the conversion never modifies the source file.
  • Image size limit. New uploads are scaled down to a maximum size (1920 px
    by default, adjustable), and the unused full-size original WordPress keeps
    beside a scaled upload is deleted to save disk space (can be turned off).
    “Shrink existing images” does the same once for images uploaded before.
  • Serving through a managed .htaccess block on Apache/LiteSpeed, with an
    to <picture> fallback on nginx or when .htaccess is not writable.
  • Per-attachment Convert / Reconvert / Remove buttons in the Media library.
  • New uploads are converted automatically, shortly after upload.
  • WP-CLI commands (wp perxel-image) for running it over SSH.

The admin area is two screens under Media > Optimization: an Optimization page (scan
prepare live monitor) and a separate Settings page (environment,
conversion options, serving, notifications, cleanup).

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