{"id":385892,"date":"2026-10-13T18:02:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T18:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/pload-smart-image-optimizer-webp\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T18:02:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T18:02:42","slug":"pload","status":"publish","type":"plugin","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/pload\/","author":14241402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"version":"1.0.0","stable_tag":"1.0.0","tested":"7.1.3","requires":"6.0","requires_php":"7.4","requires_plugins":null,"header_name":"Pload \u2013 Smart Image Optimizer & WebP","header_author":"Pload contributors","header_description":"Slow, steady and lightweight image optimization that runs safely on shared hosting.","assets_banners_color":"","last_updated":"2026-10-13 18:02:42","external_support_url":"","external_repository_url":"","donate_link":"","header_plugin_uri":"","header_author_uri":"","rating":0,"author_block_rating":0,"active_installs":0,"downloads":43,"num_ratings":0,"support_threads":0,"support_threads_resolved":0,"author_block_count":0,"sections":["description","installation","faq","changelog"],"tags":{"1.0.0":{"tag":"1.0.0","author":"wordpress-parsi","date":"2026-10-13 18:02:42","revision":3744641}},"upgrade_notice":[],"ratings":[],"assets_icons":[],"assets_banners":[],"assets_blueprints":{},"all_blocks":[],"tagged_versions":["1.0.0"],"block_files":[],"assets_screenshots":[],"screenshots":[]},"plugin_section":[],"plugin_tags":[56174,29161,4884,247,15376],"plugin_category":[54],"plugin_contributors":[245928],"plugin_business_model":[],"class_list":["post-385892","plugin","type-plugin","status-publish","hentry","plugin_tags-compress-images","plugin_tags-image-optimization","plugin_tags-lazy-load","plugin_tags-performance","plugin_tags-webp","plugin_category-security-and-spam-protection","plugin_contributors-wordpress-parsi","plugin_committers-wordpress-parsi"],"banners":[],"icons":{"svg":false,"icon":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/plugins\/geopattern-icon\/pload.svg","icon_2x":false,"generated":true},"screenshots":[],"raw_content":"<!--section=description-->\n<p>Most image optimizers try to convert the whole library as fast as possible. On shared hosting that ends in timeouts, memory errors or a host warning about CPU usage. Pload takes the slow road: it first tests what your server can handle, then converts a few hundred images every minute and stays inside those limits. A library of 200,000 images simply takes a couple of days instead of crashing.<\/p>\n\n<p>Your original files are never changed. Pload writes a WebP copy next to each JPEG and PNG (photo.jpg gets photo.jpg.webp) and keeps it only if it is really smaller.<\/p>\n\n<h4>What it does<\/h4>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Tests the server before starting: which image engine works (Imagick or GD), how much memory and time a step may use, and how much disk space the WebP files will need.<\/li>\n<li>Converts in short background steps through WP-Cron. If WP-Cron is off or blocked, site visits, an open admin page, a server cron job or a free online cron service can drive the steps instead.<\/li>\n<li>Handles new uploads first, then works through the library, newest images first.<\/li>\n<li>Shows WebP to browsers that support it with a  tag. No .htaccess rules, so it works on Apache, Nginx and LiteSpeed, and with page caches.<\/li>\n<li>Works with theme lazy loading (WoodMart and similar themes that keep the real address in data-src).<\/li>\n<li>Optional compatibility mode for images that page builders print without the WordPress image functions.<\/li>\n<li>Pauses by itself when disk space runs low. On cPanel it reads the real account quota, not the size of the whole server disk.<\/li>\n<li>Three quality levels, or your own number, and an option to rebuild existing WebP files after a change.<\/li>\n<li>Exclusions by image, by page address or by CSS class.<\/li>\n<li>\"Optimize now\" and a WebP column in the media library.<\/li>\n<li>One click removes every WebP file again, a little at a time, before you delete the plugin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4>Privacy<\/h4>\n\n<p>Everything happens on your own server. Pload does not send images or any other data anywhere and needs no account or API key.<\/p>\n\n<!--section=installation-->\n<ol>\n<li>Install and activate the plugin.<\/li>\n<li>Go to Media \u2192 Pload. The server test and the disk space estimate run by themselves.<\/li>\n<li>Pick a quality and click \"Start optimizing\".<\/li>\n<li>Once the first WebP files exist, turn on \"Show WebP to visitors\" and clear your page cache.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<!--section=faq-->\n<dl>\n<dt id=\"will%20it%20change%20my%20original%20images%3F\"><h3>Will it change my original images?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>No. WebP files are saved next to the originals. If you turn off \"Show WebP to visitors\", the site is back to the original images right away.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"why%20is%20it%20slow%3F\"><h3>Why is it slow?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>On purpose. Each step stays within the time and memory the server test measured, so the site keeps running normally. On a VPS you can set the processing speed to \"Fast\".<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"does%20it%20support%20avif%3F\"><h3>Does it support AVIF?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Not yet. The server test already checks whether your host can create AVIF files; converting to AVIF is planned for a later version.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"how%20do%20i%20remove%20everything%3F\"><h3>How do I remove everything?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Go to Media \u2192 Pload \u2192 Tools and use \"Remove all WebP files\", then delete the plugin. Deleting the plugin removes its settings too, but it only has a few seconds to delete files, so on a large library run the removal first.<\/p><\/dd>\n\n<\/dl>\n\n<!--section=changelog-->\n<h4>1.0.0<\/h4>\n\n<ul>\n<li>First public release.<\/li>\n<\/ul>","raw_excerpt":"Converts your images to WebP a little at a time, so even a cheap shared host can optimize a large media library without timeouts.","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin\/385892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/plugin"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385892"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wporg\/v1\/users\/wordpress-parsi"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"plugin_section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_section?post=385892"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_tags?post=385892"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_category?post=385892"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_contributors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_contributors?post=385892"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_business_model","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_business_model?post=385892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}