Karan Singh (Manager-Technical Project Manager)

Did you recognize that optimizing your images before uploading to WordPress can have an enormous impact on your website speed?
When starting a replacement blog, many beginners simply upload images without optimizing them for the web. These large image files make your website slower.
You can fix this by using image optimization best practices as a part of your regular blogging routine.
 

In this article, we'll show you ways to optimize your images for faster web performance without losing quality. we'll also share automatic image optimization plugins for WordPress which will make your life easy.

What is Image Optimization? (Optimized vs Unoptimized Images)

Image optimization may be a process of saving and delivering images within the smallest possible file size without reducing the general image quality.
While the method sounds complex, it’s actually quite easy lately . you'll use one among the various image optimization plugins and tools to automatically compress images by up to 80% with none visible loss in image quality.

Also Read: Top 5 Software Tools a Web Developer Should Have

How does Image Optimization work?

In simple terms, image optimization work by using compression technology like “Lossy” and “Lossless” which helps reduce the general file size with none noticeable loss of quality.

What does it mean to Optimize Images?

If you ever received a recommendation to optimize images by your WordPress hosting support or by a speed test tool, then all it means is that you simply got to reduce file size of your images by optimizing them for website.

Why is Image Optimization Important? What are the advantages of Image Optimization?

While there are many benefits of optimizing your images, below are the highest ones that you simply should know:

• Faster website speed
• Improved SEO rankings
• Higher overall conversion rate for sales and leads
• Less bandwidth  & storage (which can reduce hosting and CDN cost)
• Faster website backups (also reduces the cost of backup storage)

Outside of video, images are subsequent heaviest item on an internet page. consistent with HTTP archive, images structure on the average 21% of a complete webpage’s weight.
Since we all know fast websites rank higher in search engines (SEO) and have better conversions, image optimization are some things that each business website must do if they need to succeed online.

Also Read: Comments On Dynamically created Pages in WordPress

Now you would possibly be wondering how big of a difference can image optimization really make?
 

According to a Strangeloop study, a one-second delay in website load time can cost you 7% of sales, 11% fewer page views, and a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction.
If these aren’t enough reasons to hurry up your website, then you ought to know that search engines like Google also give preferential SEO treatment to faster loading websites.
This means that by optimizing your images for web, you'll both improve website speed and boost WordPress SEO rankings.

How to Optimize Images for Web Performance?

The key to successful image optimization for web performance is to seek out the right balance between lowest file size and acceptable image quality.
The three things that play an enormous role in image optimization are:

• Image file format (JPEG vs PNG vs GIF)
• Compression (Higher compression = smaller file size)
• Image Dimensions (height and width)

By choosing the proper combination of the three, you'll reduce your image size by up to 80%.
 

Let’s take a glance at each of those in additional detail.

1. Image File Format

For most website owners, the sole three image file formats that basically matter are JPEG, PNG, and GIF. Choosing the proper file type plays a crucial role in image optimization.
To keep things simple, you would like to use JPEGs for photos or images with many colors, PNGs for easy images or once you need transparent images, and GIF for animated images only.
 

For those that don’t know the difference between each file type, PNG image format is uncompressed which suggests it's a better quality image. The downside is that file sizes are much larger.
 

On the opposite hand, JPEG may be a compressed file format which slightly reduces image quality so as to supply a significantly smaller file size.
Whereas GIF only uses 256 colors alongside lossless compression which makes it the simplest choice for animated images.
 

On WPBeginner, we use all three image formats that supported the sort of image.

2. Compression

The next thing is compression which plays an enormous role in image optimization. There are different types and levels of compression available. The settings for every will vary counting on the compression tool you employ . Most image editing tools like Adobe Photoshop, On1 Photo, GIMP, Affinity Photo, et al. accompany built-in compression features.
 

You can also save images normally then use an internet tool like TinyPNG or JPEG Mini for easier compression .
 

Although it’s a touch manual, these two methods allow you to compress images before uploading them to WordPress, and this is often what we do on WPBeginner.
 

There also are several popular WordPress plugins like Optimole, EWWW Image Optimizer, et al. which will automatically compress images once you first upload them. Many beginners and even large corporations like better to use these image optimization plugins because it’s easy and convenient.
 

We will share more about these WordPress plugins later in this article.

Also Read: How To Add a Portfolio In WordPress Website Page Using Envira 

3. Image Dimensions

Normally, once you import a photograph from your phone or a camera , it's a really high resolution and enormous file dimensions (height and width).
 

Typically, these photos have a resolution of 300 DPI and dimensions ranging from 2000 pixels and more. These high-quality photos are well-suited for print or publication . They're not suitable for websites.
 

Reducing file dimensions to more reasonable can significantly reduce image file size. you'll simply resize images using a picture editing software on your computer.
 

For example, we optimized a photograph with 1.8 MB original file size, 300 DPI resolution, and image dimensions of 4900×3200 pixels.
 

We chose jpeg format for higher compression and altered dimensions to 1200×795 pixels, and it reduced the image file size to 103 KB. That’s 94% but the first file size.
 

Now that you simply know the three important factors in image optimization, let’s take a glance at various image optimization tools for website owners.

Best Image Optimization Tools and Programs

As we mentioned earlier, most image editing software accompany image optimization and compression settings.
Outside of the image editing software, there also are several powerful free image optimization tools that you simply can use to optimize images for web (with just a couple of clicks).
 

We recommend using these tools to optimize images before you upload them to WordPress, specially if you're a perfectionist.
 

This method helps you save disc space on your WordPress hosting account, and it guarantee the fastest image with the simplest quality since you manually review each image.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop may be a premium software that comes with a feature to save lots of images optimized for the online . Simply open your image and click on on the “File » but Web” option.
 

This will open a replacement panel . On the proper , you'll set different image formats. For JPEG format, you'll see different quality options. once you select your options, it'll also show you the file size on rock bottom left.

GIMP

GIMP may be a free and open source alternative to popular Adobe Photoshop. It are often wont to optimize your images for the online . The downside is that it's not as easy to use as another solutions on this list.
 

First, you would like to open your image in GIMP then select File » Export As option. this may mention the save file panel . Give your file a replacement name then click on the export button.
 

This will mention image export options. For jpeg files, you'll select the compression level to scale back file size. Finally, click on the export button to save lots of the optimized image file.

JPEG Mini

JPEGmini uses a lossless compression technology which significantly reduces the dimensions of images without affecting their perceptual quality. you'll also compare the standard of your original image and therefore the compressed image.
 

You can use their web version for free of charge , or purchase the program for your computer. They even have a paid API to automate the method for your server.

ImageOptim

ImageOptim may be a Mac utility that permits you to compress images without losing any quality by finding the simplest compression parameters and removing unnecessary color profiles.

Best Image Optimization Plugins for WordPress

We believe that the simplest thanks to optimize your images is by doing it before uploading them to WordPress. However, if you run a multi-author site or need an automatic solution, then you'll try a WordPress compression plugin.

Also Read: Wordpress and Gutenberg August 2020 Update

Below is our list of the simplest WordPress compression plugins:

1. Optimole – popular plugin by the team behind ThemeIsle.
2. EWWW Image Optimizer
3. Compress JPEG & PNG images – plugin by TinyPNG team mentioned above within the article.
4. Imagify – plugin by the favored WP Rocket plugin team.
5. ShortPixel Image Optimizer
6. WP Smush
7. reSmush.it

Using any of those WordPress image optimization plugin will assist you speed up your website.

Final Thoughts and Best Practices for Image Optimization

If you’re not saving images optimized for web, then you would like to start out doing so now. it'll make an enormous difference on your site speed, and your users will many thanks for it.
 

Not to mention, faster websites are great for SEO, and you'll likely see a rise in your program rankings.
 

Outside of image optimization, the 2 things which will significantly assist you speed up your website is employing a WordPress caching plugin and employing a WordPress CDN.
 

Alternatively, you'll use a managed WordPress hosting company because they often offer both caching and CDN as a part of the platform.

We are a 360-degree software development company that provides complete web and mobile app development solutions for varied project requirements. Our end-to-end SaaS app development services address your mission-critical project requirements through scalable, responsive, and feature-rich software applications that are easy to scale. We carefully analyze your project requirements and formulate effective strategies to build enterprise-grade web and mobile applications for multiple platforms. For more info, contact us at [email protected]. 

The WordPress 5.5 Beta 1 came out on 7th July, followed by Beta 2 on 14th July, Beta 3 on 21st July, and Beta 4 on 27th July. Subsequently, the team also published the primary release candidate of WordPress 5.5 on 28th July. 

The second release of WordPress 5.5 is now here!

WordPress 5.5 is slated for release on August 11, 2020, but we'd like your help to urge there—if you haven’t tried 5.5 yet, now's the time!

You can check the WordPress 5.5 new release in 2 ways:

• Try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin and then choose the 'bleeding edge nightlies' option
• Or download the release candidate here (zip).

If you found Bug Create a ticket in wordpress community bug tracker.

From now onwards, no more commits for any new enhancements or feature requests during this release cycle, only bug fixes, and inline documentation. Work can continue on enhancements/feature requests not completed and committed by now, and maybe picked up for commit again at the beginning of the WordPress 5.6 development cycle.

Plugin and Theme Developers

This WordPress 5.5 update will expand the CMS auto-updating capabilities to themes and plugins.

Currently, auto-updating is merely available for the WordPress CMS core. to stop the location hacks, the auto-update functionality is going to be extended to themes and plugins. Auto-updating of themes and plugins is now expected to ship with a subsequent version of WordPress (v5.5)

Gutenberg 8.5 and 8.6

The core team launched Gutenberg 8.5 and 8.6. Version 8.5 – the last plugin release is going to be included entirely (without experimental features) in WordPress 5.5, introduced improvements to dam drag-and-drop and accessibility, easier updates for external images, and support for the block directory. Version 8.6 comes with features like block pattern & Cover block video position controls updates. For full details on the newest versions on these Gutenberg releases.

New Editor Features

In Slack recently, contributors to the core-editor component were encouraged to specialize in features merging into WordPress 5.5.

Definite inclusion

• New UI design
  • Block movers [PR]
  • Block Inserter panel
  • Surrounding elements
• Block patterns UI and infrastructure
  • Move patterns to Inserter
  • Pattern search
  • Pattern categories

You can also test the following features by turning them on within the Gutenberg plugin 'Experiments' screen.

• Navigation block
  • Navigator interactions
  • Submenus
• Navigation-Menu screen in wp-admin
• Widget-blocks screen in wp-admin
• Core block patterns
• Block Directory
• Block design tools

Feature Plugin: XML Sitemaps

As the native XML Sitemaps in WordPress Core which received lots of interest and feedback from the community, the XML Sitemap feature plugin (MVP) will be implemented in this version.

XML Sitemaps will enable by default making following content type's indexable

– Homepage

– Posts page

– Core Post Types (Pages and Posts)

– Custom Post Types

– Core Taxonomies (Tags and Categories)

– Custom Taxonomies

– Users (Authors)

Additionally, 'robots.txt' file exposed by WordPress will refer to the sitemap index.

Additionally, an XML Sitemaps API delivering with the plugin focusing for developers to build on top of it.

The sitemap index

A crucial feature of the sitemap index in the sitemap plugin. This is the main XML file that contains the list of all the sitemap pages found by your WordPress site and the time of each was last modified. By default, the plugin creates a sitemap index at /sitemap.xml which contains sitemaps for separated into groups by post types, all supported content, users, and taxonomies.

Sitemap pages

Each sitemap page will be available at a URL using the following structure, sitemap-{object-type}-{object-subtype}-{page}.xml. Some examples of this structure applied to the actual content include:

• Post type – posts: sitemap-posts-post-1.xml 
• Post type – pages: sitemap-posts-page-1.xml
• Taxonomy – categories: sitemap-taxonomies-category-1.xml
• Users – sitemap-users-1.xml

The official sitemaps protocol asserts that every sitemap can contain a maximum of fifty, 000 URLs and must be no larger than 50MB (52,428,800 bytes). However, in practice, the performance begins to degrade when trying to get a question that returns quite a couple of thousand URLs, so for that reason, the developer team decided to limit the default implementation to a maximum of two, 000 URLs per sitemap, which may be modified by employing a filter on the core_sitemaps_max_urls hook.

Sitemap pages for every public post type (except attachments) are going to be generated, which include URLs to individual post pages. Likewise, sitemaps are going to be generated for all public taxonomies, which include URLs to taxonomy archive pages, and sitemaps are going to be generated for all users with published public posts, which incorporates the URL for every user’s author archive page. The lists of supported sub-types for taxonomies & posts are often filtered using the core_sitemaps_taxonomies filters and core_sitemaps_post_types, respectively. Additionally, URLs for any object type are often added or removed using the subsequent filters:

• Post types: core_sitemaps_posts_url_list
• Taxonomies: core_sitemaps_taxonomies_url_list
• Users: core_sitemaps_users_url_list

Lazy-Loading Images

For several years, Lazy-loading of images has been commonly used as a mechanism to significantly improve the page-loading performance. For the WordPress ecosystem alone, countless plugins enable lazy-loading.

While historically lazy-loading images have required a custom JavaScript-based approach, there's now a native web solution that relies solely on the presence of a replacement loading attribute on img tags and provides a uniform user experience without content shifting. The HTML specifications for loading attribute are near completion and is already supported by many popular browsers, including Chrome, Firefox & edge.

Enabling lazy-loading for images in WordPress content was first proposed nearly two years ago, however, the JavaScript implementation at the time would potentially have introduced many edge cases and failures. Using the new loading attribute removes these concerns.

Performance Impact

According to HTTPArchive, images are the foremost requested asset type for many websites and typically take up more bandwidth than the other resource. 90% of sites send about 4.7 MB of images on desktop and mobile.

Native lazy-loading for the online, web.dev

Without lazy-loading, all images on an internet page are loaded immediately. this will significantly harm performance, especially on pages that contain many images.

With WordPress enabling native lazy-loading by default, it might significantly impact performance and user experience for many sites, without requiring any technical knowledge or maybe awareness of lazy-loading as an idea. Adopting the new loading attribute may be a great chance for WordPress to steer the way for a faster web overall.

Technical Solution

The loading attribute currently supports two possible values:

• Eager, to load an image immediately on pageload
• Lazy, to load an image only when it becomes relevant for the viewport

The implementation seems to enable lazy-loading images by default, by providing the 'loading' keyword with value 'lazy' on following 'img' tags:

• Images in post content
• Images in post excerpts
• Images in comments
• Images in the text widget content
• Individual images rendered 
• Avatar images rendered 

Note that loading='lazy' will only be added if the respective tags do not include a loading attribute. In other words, to exclude an image from being lazy-loaded, it's recommended to specify loading="eager".

Customization for Developers

Note that the customization capabilities outlined below and the way they work exactly is subject to vary.

While the pictures outlined above are going to be lazy-loaded by default, developers are going to be ready to override this behavior both globally and on a per-image basis.

A new filter wp_lazy_loading_enabled will provide the feature to turn on and off. For instance, one could disable lazy-loading entirely with the subsequent snippet:

This filter also passes a secondary parameter $tag_name, which may be a specific tag name to enable or disable lazy-loading for, and $context, which usually is that the name of the present filter being run. Currently, img is that the only supported value, but since adding loading support to additional tags is on the horizon (e.g. some browsers already support the loading attribute on iframe tags), this parameter exists for future compatibility. For instance, if you would like to be more specific and disable lazy-loading just for images (so that future supported tags would by default have it enabled), you'll use the subsequent snippet.

In addition to the present filter which allows customization across the whole site, there's another filter wp_set_image_loading_attr that filters the worth of the loading attribute for individual control per image. The filter passes the complete img tag markup including all attributes as the second parameter, the complete content blob that the image is a component of, and therefore the context, which usually is that the current filter being run. wp_set_image_loading_attr can for instance be used for interoperability by plugins that currently use alternative mechanisms to lazy-load, for instance, a category or a knowledge attribute. it's recommended to only do that as a transition though, and within the end of the day update such plugins to specify loading="eager", during which case core will leave that in situ as is, as mentioned before.

We are a 360-degree SaaS app development company that provides end-to-end software development services with a focus on next-gen technologies. Our development team specializes in using JavaScript technologies like Angular, Node, and ReactJS to build scalable, responsive, and feature-rich web applications. We also have a dedicated team of Full Stack developers that are capable of performing both frontend and backend tasks. Our SaaS application development services address your mission-critical project requirements through high-quality web and mobile applications that are easy to scale. 

There are so many plugins that let you integrate LMS within Wordpress. This blog post highlights useful plugins in Moodle for LMS app development services. Given below are the popular LMS plugins for Wordpress.

1. Moowoodle

The MooWoodle plugin is an extention of WooCommerce that acts as a bridge between WordPress/Woocommerce and Moodle. It fetches all the courses from your Moodle instance and makes them available for sale, which may be bought by users through WooCommerce. It reduces your effort by synchronising your LMS site with your online store. And when someone purchases a course from the store he/she is automatically gets registered for the course in the LMS site. More over this plugin works with WooCommerce subscription plugin too.

• Compatible with the latest version of WordPress, WooCommerce, Moodle
• Multilingual Support is included with the plugin and is fully compatible with WPML.

2. Edwiser Bridge

Edwiser Bridge – The #1 WordPress and Moodle Integration plugin that provides a robust platform to sell Moodle courses online.

Are you a Moodle user, who creates courses and wants a robust integration with WordPress/WooCommerce to sell them.
Then you are at the right place Edwiser Bridge is the only WordPress plugin that provides stable and robust integration between the two platforms.

Edwiser Bridge provides the necessary platform for you to sell your Moodle courses through default payment gateway PayPal.

In order to extend its functionality and create a complete automated eCommerce solution to sell your Moodle.

TOP FEATURES TO SELL MOODLE COURSES  –

COURSE ACCESS CONTROL –

• Automation user registration in Moodle,
• Enable/Disable registration to courses,
• Identical login credentials to access courses in Moodle,
• Set course access time from WordPress,
• Update previously synchronized courses,
• Enrol / Unenrol users from WordPress,
• Provide Refund to your students from WordPress.

COURSEFRONT –

• Integration between your WordPress and Moodle sites,
• Import your Moodle courses to WordPress,
• Synchronize Moodle course categories to WordPress,
• Set the Moodle courses as draft,
• Sell courses through WordPress and take its payments through PayPal,
• Synchronize enrolled courses data for users.

Conclusion

We can do so to sell moodle courses via wordpress because moodle has limited functionallity for integrating ecommerce in it.

We, at Oodles Technologies, provide end-to-end LMS Software Development services to build interactive e-learning solutions for various courses. Our development team is skilled at using Moodle LMS suite to build a high-quality LMS application from scratch. We are also experienced in optimizing your existing e-learning software to enhance its performance and capabilities with custom Moodle integrations. Our Moodle app development services enable clients to improve their e-learning services and deliver smart learning experiences across devices.