Beware: caused problems, zero tech support

  • I normally don’t rate plugins but felt it was necessary to warn others about wasting time and potentially encountering problems with this one. It sounds simple enough and is supposed to be very light weight. That may be true but the core function of this plugin is to prevent WordPress from applying the standard 10% compression to uploaded jpeg files. That not only didn’t happen but it actually increased the compression rate to 20%.
    I would normally uninstall and leave it at that but I submitted a detailed ticket (with examples) and asked if there was anything that could be done. A week later and not even an acknowledgement.
    The only reason I rated it 2 stars instead of just 1 is because it appears it works for some people.

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  • @ autosofinterest

    There is a lot of misinformation regarding jpeg compression and WordPress out there and I think the developers of this plugin are misinformed as well. Otherwise they are making false claims because there is not a way to actually turn off compression, just reduce the amount of compression to the least possible.

    First of all, you cannot save a jpeg without applying at least some compression, even with a compression setting of 100. BTW, the compression levels go from 0 to 100, not 0% to 100%. You do not normally speak of compressing a jpeg to 90% compression or 90% files size.

    WordPress is designed to resave your jpeg image on upload. It’s default compression setting is 90. You can change the setting to 100, which is what this plugin does, but because the jpeg is being resaved, it is still being compressed. Sometimes the file is smaller, but sometimes the file gets bigger. It depends on the subject matter of the image.

    For the very best quality, you must upload your images in order to add them to the database and for them to show up in the media library. Then use your favorite FTP program to go to the wp-content/uploads/(year)/(month) and overwrite your original images. The FTP will not change the compression on upload and WP won’t know you did this behind its back (or care).

    If you have viewed the compressed images on your browser after you added them to the library then you probably need to flush your browser’s cache in order for your new uploads to show up. Your browser does not know you put new versions on your server. Instead it will keep showing you the old version that it has stored in its cache.

    Please note that what you are doing only applies to the full size image. WP also generates other size images based on your original. If you are a fanatic and want the optimal quality (and slower performance) for thumbnails and the other generated sizes, you need to generate your own images at these sizes and duplicate the naming conventions exactly before you overwrite them. But it’s doubtful that you can see any quality change on these smaller size images so its hardly worth it.

    Hope this helps.

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