Modern Image Formats

Description

This plugin adds WebP and AVIF support for media uploads within the WordPress application. By default, AVIF images will be generated if supported on the hosting server, otherwise WebP will be used as the output format. When both formats are available, the output format can be selected under Settings > Media. Modern images will be generated only for new uploads, pre-existing images will only converted to a modern format if images are regenerated. Images can be regenerated with a plugin like Regenerate Thumbnails or via WP-CLI with the wp media regenerate command.

By default, only modern image format sub-sizes will be generated for JPEG or PNG uploads – only the original uploaded file will still exist as a JPEG/PNG image, generated image sizes will be WebP or AVIF files. To change this behavior, there is a checkbox in Settings > Media “Output fallback images” that – when checked – will result in the plugin generating both the original format as well as WebP or AVIF images for every sub-size (noting again that this will only affect newly uploaded images, i.e. after making said change).

This plugin was formerly known as WebP Uploads.

Installation

Installation from within WordPress

1. Visit Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for Modern Image Formats.
3. Install and activate the Modern Image Formats plugin.

Manual installation

1. Upload the entire webp-uploads folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
2. Visit Plugins.
3. Activate the Modern Image Formats plugin.

FAQ

Where can I submit my plugin feedback?

Feedback is encouraged and much appreciated, especially since this plugin may contain future WordPress core features. If you have suggestions or requests for new features, you can submit them as an issue in the WordPress Performance Team’s GitHub repository. If you need help with troubleshooting or have a question about the plugin, please create a new topic on our support forum.

Where can I report security bugs?

The Performance team and WordPress community take security bugs seriously. We appreciate your efforts to responsibly disclose your findings, and will make every effort to acknowledge your contributions.

To report a security issue, please visit the WordPress HackerOne program.

How can I contribute to the plugin?

Contributions are always welcome! Learn more about how to get involved in the Core Performance Team Handbook.

I’ve activated the Modern Image Formats plugin, but WebP images are not always generated when I upload a JPEG image. Why?

There are two primary reasons that a WebP image may not be generated:

1. The Modern Image Formats plugin has identified that the WebP version of the uploaded JPEG image would have a larger file size than the original JPEG image, so it does not generate the WebP version.
2. The JPEG image was not uploaded to the Media Library. At this time, WebP versions are only generated for images to the Media Library. WebP versions are not generated for JPEG images that are added to your site in other ways, such as in a template file or the Customizer.

With the Modern Image Formats plugin activated, will the plugin generate JPEG and WebP versions of every image that I upload?

By default, the Modern Image Formats plugin will only generate WebP versions of the images that you upload. If you wish to have both WebP and JPEG versions generated, you can navigate to Settings > Media and enable the Generate JPEG files in addition to WebP option.

Reviews

Doesn’t work

artyberty October 10, 2024 1 reply

Just does not do anything. No message. No Error. Just not converting any images. Since there is also not a lot of documentation or community around this plugin I will give up and do this externally.

Don’t Regenerate Thumbnails!

mkautsarjuhari October 6, 2024 2 replies

Don’t ever regenerate thumbnail with this plugin, it will broke a lot of Images on the frontend because Block editor is still mentioning the old extension rather than AVIF or WEBP. so if you don’t want a lot of your images is broken, don’t use it. Atleast until the problem is fixed.

Lots of Broken Images for Thumbnails

yoursiteneedsme July 18, 2024 5 replies

This plugin worked like it says but it did not change all of the images in the blog posts – only some. So I have a ton of broken images because they are referencing the .jpg and not the .avif I even tried regenrate thumbnails and that did not fix the issue. All of the broken images are the thumnails that are resized. It would be better if it did not automatically delete those images so that at least if it didnt replace them all in the blog posts the old image would still resolve.

Works very well

sigtunasimklubb May 21, 2024 1 reply

Works very well for me. Would love to see .png format conversion .

Doesnt work at all..

wazone May 10, 2024 1 reply

This does not work! Automatic make jpg to webp? No it doesnt.

Works perfect!

Anja Pestov March 25, 2024 1 reply

Simple Plugin, that does it’s one simple job very good. Definitely a recommendation!

Contributors & Developers

Changelog

2.2.0

Enhancements

• Convert uploaded PNG files to AVIF or WebP. (1421)

Bug Fixes

• Account for responsive images being disabled when generating a PICTURE element. (1449)

2.1.0

Enhancements

• Improve disabling checkbox for Picture Element on Media settings screen. (1470)

Bug Fixes

• Add missing full size image in PICTURE > SOURCE srcset. (1437)
• Correct the fallback image in PICTURE element. (1408)
• Don’t wrap PICTURE element if JPEG fallback is not available. (1450)
• Fix setting sizes attribute on PICTURE > SOURCE elements. (1354)
• Remove string type hint from webp_uploads_sanitize_image_format() to prevent possible fatal error. (1410)

Documentation

• Explain how to regenerate images in the Modern Image Formats readme. (1348)

2.0.2

Enhancements

• I18N: Add context to Modern Image Formats section title. (1287)

Bug Fixes

• Improve compatibility of styling picture elements. (1307)

2.0.1

Bug Fixes

• Fix fatal error when another the_content filter callback returns null instead of a string. (1283)

2.0.0

Features

• Add picture element support. (73)
• Add AVIF image format support. Add setting for output image format to choose between WebP and AVIF. (1176)

Enhancements

• Improve Settings->Media controls for Modern Image Formats. (1273)
• Remove obsolete fallback script now that picture element is supported. (1269)

1.1.1

Enhancements

• Prepend Settings link in webp-uploads. (1146)
• Improve overall code quality with stricter static analysis checks. (775)
• Bump minimum PHP requirement to 7.2. (1130)

Documentation

• Updated inline documentation. (1160)

1.1.0

• Add link to WebP settings to plugins table. (1036)
• Rename plugin to “Modern Image Formats”. (1101)
• Use plugin slug for generator tag. (1103)
• Delete option when uninstalling the Modern Image Formats plugin. (1116)
• Bump minimum required WP version to 6.4. (1062)
• Update tested WordPress version to 6.5. (1027)

1.0.5

• Exclude “.wordpress-org” directory when deploying standalone plugins. (866)

1.0.4

• Bump minimum required PHP version to 7.0 and minimum required WP version to 6.3. (851)

1.0.3

• Add standalone plugin assets. (815)

1.0.2

• Fix WebP handling when editing images based on WordPress 6.3 change. (796)

1.0.1

• Bump tested up to version to 6.3. (772)

1.0.0

• Initial release of the Modern Image Formats plugin as a standalone plugin. (664)