Description
ITBoffins Image Scout is a local image optimisation plugin for sites whose images are scattered across the Media Library, page-builder templates, theme output, and raw uploads folders.
Unlike most image plugins, there is no external service, no API key, no monthly quota, and no account to create. Your images never leave your server. Because it relies only on PHP’s built-in image tools, it works on practically any WordPress host, including cheap shared hosting where shell access is disabled.
The Image Scout difference
Most optimisers focus on Media Library attachments. Image Scout adds a disk-level uploads scout: it walks /uploads in batches, finds JPEG/PNG files that builders and themes use outside the Library, and creates validated WebP siblings. That gives small and shared-host sites a practical no-cloud way to modernise hidden images without rewriting the entire front-end response.
What it does
- Compress on upload — every new JPEG and PNG is optimised automatically.
- Bulk optimise — compress your entire existing Media Library with a one-click batch tool that runs in the background and shows you each file as it works.
- Scan entire uploads folder — generate WebP for every JPEG/PNG in your uploads folder, including page-builder and theme images that are not in the Media Library.
- WebP conversion — generates WebP copies of your images (where your server supports it).
- Automatic WebP delivery — serves WebP to browsers that support it using the standard
<picture>element, so it works on Apache, Nginx, LiteSpeed and IIS without any server config or.htaccessedits. Browsers that don’t support WebP get the original automatically. - Builder/theme image scout — the uploads-folder scanner creates WebP copies for images that page builders, themes, or imports placed outside the Media Library.
- Safe & reversible — optionally keeps protected untouched backups so you can restore originals with one click.
- Honest about your server — a settings panel shows exactly what your host can do (GD, Imagick, WebP support) so there are no surprises.
Why “local”?
Everything happens on your own server:
- No external API or third-party service.
- No
exec()/ shell access required (so it works wherecwebp,jpegoptim, etc. are blocked). - No data sent anywhere. Good for privacy and for sites behind a firewall.
Privacy
This plugin does not send your images or any data to any external service. All processing happens locally on your server.
Installation
- Upload the
itboffins-image-scoutfolder to/wp-content/plugins/, or install it through the Plugins Add New screen. - Activate the plugin.
- Go to Settings Image Scout to review your server’s capabilities and adjust quality settings.
- New uploads are optimised automatically. Administrators can compress existing images under Media Bulk Optimise.
FAQ
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Does this send my images to a third-party service?
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No. All compression and WebP conversion happens on your own server using PHP’s GD or Imagick libraries. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.
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My server says WebP is “Not available”. What does that mean?
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Your server’s image library was compiled without WebP support. The plugin will still compress your JPEGs and PNGs — it just won’t be able to generate WebP files until your host enables WebP in GD or Imagick. Ask your host, or contact us.
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Some of my images still load as JPEG/PNG. Why?
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The plugin rewrites images that pass through WordPress’s normal content and featured-image filters. Some builder, theme, CDN, or CSS background images may not pass through those filters, so use Media Bulk Optimise Scan entire uploads folder to make WebP files for hidden upload-folder images too. CSS background images cannot use the
<picture>element and so cannot be swapped this way. -
Some images don’t have a WebP version at all
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The bulk optimiser only processes images in your Media Library. Page-builder template images and theme images often live in your uploads folder without being Library attachments, so they never get a WebP. Use Media Bulk Optimise Scan entire uploads folder to generate WebP for every image file on disk, Library or not.
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Will this break my images if the quality is too low?
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You can set the JPEG and WebP quality on the settings page. The default (82 / 80) is visually lossless for most photos. Optional backups can be enabled if you want one-click restore; new installs keep backups off by default.
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Does it work with my CDN / page cache?
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WebP is delivered with a standard
<picture>element in your HTML, so it is compatible with most page caches. If your CDN rewrites image URLs to a different domain, automatic WebP delivery may not apply to those URLs. -
Are PNGs compressed too?
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PNGs are kept lossless (true lossy PNG compression requires external tools that aren’t available on most hosts). The biggest win for PNGs comes from the WebP copy, which is usually much smaller.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“ITBoffins Image Scout” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “ITBoffins Image Scout” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.8
- Aligned WordPress.org release metadata with the approved ITBoffins Image Scout listing.
1.0.7
- Removed the full-response rewrite mode to align with WordPress.org review guidance while keeping the uploads-folder scout workflow.
- Updated settings and readme copy so hidden builder/theme images are handled through the uploads-folder scan.
1.0.6
- Reworked the settings page with plain-English benefits, clearer recommendations, and friendlier host readiness messages.
1.0.5
- Renamed the public display name to ITBoffins Image Scout and prepared the requested slug for WordPress.org review.
- Strengthened WordPress-safe prefixes for classes, functions, options, AJAX actions, script/style handles, and admin selectors.
- Added a safer review-ready WebP delivery path without persistent front-end response rewriting.
1.0.4
- Security hardening: site-wide bulk optimisation and whole-uploads scans now require administrator capability, while single-image actions require permission to edit the selected attachment.
- Security hardening: original backups are off by default for new installs and, when enabled, are stored in a randomised uploads subfolder with deny files. Legacy backups remain restorable.
1.0.3
- New: Scan entire uploads folder — generate WebP for every JPEG/PNG on disk, including page-builder (Elementor/Divi) and theme images that are not in the Media Library. Memory-safe, resumable, and skips the originals backup folder.
- New: redesigned admin screens with IT Boffins branding.
- The folder scan reuses the same validated, palette-safe WebP encoder, so it can also repair previously broken WebP files.
1.0.2
- New: optional front-end WebP delivery for images that pass through WordPress content and image filters.
- Fixed: WebP files that exist on disk were not served when a page linked images with a different www/non-www or http/https prefix. Delivery now matches on the URL path, so those variants resolve correctly.
- Improved: the bulk optimiser now shows the filename of each image as it is processed, instead of just a running count.
- Language: interface now uses British English spelling throughout.
1.0.1
- Fixed: broken images (e.g. logos) caused by corrupt WebP generated from indexed/palette PNGs on some servers. WebP output is now validated and re-encoded via a palette-safe GD path; a WebP is only ever served if it decodes correctly.
- Fixed: re-running the optimiser now repairs or removes previously broken WebP files instead of skipping them.
- Hardened: a re-compressed image is validated before it can replace the original, so a faulty encode can never corrupt your originals.
1.0.0
- Initial release: compress on upload, bulk optimiser, WebP generation, automatic
<picture>delivery, originals backup & restore.