README.txt

=== WebP Express ===
Contributors: rosell.dk
Donate link: https://ko-fi.com/rosell
Tags: webp, images, performance
Requires at least: 4.0
Tested up to: 5.1
Stable tag: 0.12.2
Requires PHP: 5.6
License: GPLv3
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html

Serve autogenerated WebP images instead of jpeg/png to browsers that supports WebP.

== Description ==

Almost 4 out of 5 mobile users use a browser that is able to display webp images. Yet, on most websites, they are served jpeg images, which are typically double the size of webp images for a given quality. What a waste of bandwidth! This plugin was created to help remedy that situation. With little effort, Wordpress admins can have their site serving autogenerated webp images to browsers that supports it, while still serving jpeg and png files to browsers that does not support webp.

### The image converter
The plugin uses the [WebP Convert](https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-convert) library to convert images to webp. *WebP Convert* is able to convert images using multiple methods. There are the "local" conversion methods: `cwebp`, `gd`, `imagick`. If none of these works on your host, there are the cloud alternatives: `ewww` (paid) or connecting to a Wordpress site where you got WebP Express installed and you enabled the "web service" functionality.

### The "Serving webp to browsers that supports it" part.

The plugin supports different ways of delivering webps to browsers that supports it:

1. By routing jpeg/png images to the corresponding webp - or to the image converter if the image hasn't been converted yet.
2. By altering the HTML, replacing image tags with *picture* tags. Missing webps are auto generated upon visit.
3. By altering the HTML, replacing image URLs so all points to webp. The replacements only being made for browsers that supports webp. Again, missing webps are auto generated upon visit.
4. In combination with *Cache Enabler*, the same as above can be achieved, but with page caching.
5. You can also deliver webp to *all* browsers and add the [webpjs](http://webpjs.appspot.com) javascript, which provides webp support for browsers that doesn't support webp natively. You currently have to add the javascript yourself, but I expect to add an option for it in the next release.

The plugin builds on [WebPConvert](https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-convert) and its "WebP On Demand" solution described [here](https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-convert/blob/master/docs/webp-on-demand/webp-on-demand.md)

### Benefits
- Much faster load time for images in browsers that supports webp. The converted images are typically *less than half the size* (for jpeg), while maintaining the same quality. Bear in mind that for most web sites, images are responsible for the largest part of the waiting time.
- Better user experience (whether performance goes from terrible to bad, or from good to impressive, it is a benefit)
- Better ranking in Google searches (performance is taken into account by Google)
- Less bandwidth consumption - makes a huge difference in the parts of the world where the internet is slow and costly (you know, ~80% of the world population lives under these circumstances).
- Currently ~73% of all traffic, and ~79% of mobile browsing traffic are done with browsers supporting webp. With Mozilla and Microsoft [finally on board](https://medium.com/@richard_90141/webp-image-support-an-8-year-saga-7aa2bedb8d02), these numbers are bound to increase. Check current numbers on [caniuse.com](https://caniuse.com/webp)).

### Recent news
Feb 2019: Multisite is now supported (0.12.0)
Jan 2019: Plugin can now alter HTML (0.11.0)

== Installation ==

1. Upload the plugin files to the `/wp-content/plugins/webp-express` directory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly.
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' screen in WordPress
3. Configure it (the plugin doesn't do anything until configured)
4. Verify that it works

### Configuring
You configure the plugin in *Settings > WebP Express*.

#### Operation modes
As sort of a main switch, you can choose between the following modes of operation:

*Varied image responses*:
WebP Express creates redirection rules for images, such that a request for a jpeg will result in a webp – but only if the request comes from a webp-enabled browser. If a webp already exists, it is served immediately. Otherwise it is converted and then served. Note that not all CDN's handles varied responses well.

*CDN friendly*:
In "CDN friendly" mode, a jpeg is always served as a jpeg. Instead of varying the image response, WebP Express alters the HTML for webp usage.

*Just redirect*:
In "just redirect" mode, WebP Express is used just for redirecting jpeg and pngs to existing webp images in the same folder. So in this mode, WebP express will not do any converting. It may be that you use another plugin for that, or that you converted the images off-line and uploaded them manually.

*Tweaked*:
Here you have all options available.

#### Conversion methods
WebP Express has a bunch of methods available for converting images: Executing cwebp binary, Gd extension, Imagick extension, ewww cloud converter and remote WebP express. Each requires *something*. In many cases, one of the conversion methods will be available. You can quickly identify which converters are working - there is a green icon next to them. Hovering conversion methods that are not working will show you what is wrong.

In case no conversion methods are working out of the box, you have several options:
- You can install this plugin on another website, which supports a local conversion method and connect to that using the "Remote WebP Express" conversion method
- You can [purchase a key](https://ewww.io/plans/) for the ewww cloud converter. They do not charge credits for webp conversions, so all you ever have to pay is the one dollar start-up fee :)
- You can set up [webp-convert-cloud-service](https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-convert-cloud-service) on another server and connect to that. Its open source.
- You can try to meet the server requirements of cwebp, gd, imagick or gmagick. Check out [this wiki page](https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-convert/wiki/Meeting-the-requirements-of-the-converters) on how to do that

### The auto quality
If your server has imagick og gmagick installed, the plugin will be able to detect the quality of a jpeg, and use the same quality for the converted webp. You can tell if it does, by looking at the quality option. If it allows you to select "auto" quality, it is available, otherwise it is not, and you will only have the option to set a specific quality for all conversions. *Auto* should be chosen, if available, as this ensures that each conversion are converted with an appropriate quality. Say you have a jpeg with low quality (say 30). The best result, is achieved by converting it to the same quality. Converting it with high quality (say 80), will not get you better quality, only a larger file.

If you do not the "auto" option available:
- Install imagick or gmagick, if you can
- Use "Remote WebP Express" converter to connect to a site, that *does* have the auto option available
- If you have cwebp converter available, you can configure it to aim for a certain reduction, rather than using the quality parameter. Set this to for example 50%, or even 45%.

### Notes

*Note:*
The redirect rules created in *.htaccess* are pointing to a PHP script. If you happen to change the url path of your plugins, the rules will have to be updated. The *.htaccess* also passes the path to wp-content (relative to document root) to the script, so the script knows where to find its configuration and where to store converted images. So again, if you move the wp-content folder, or perhaps moves Wordpress to a subfolder, the rules will have to be updated. As moving these things around is a rare situation, WebP Express are not using any resources monitoring this. However, it will do the check when you visit the settings page.

*Note:*
Do not simply remove the plugin without deactivating it first. Deactivation takes care of removing the rules in the *.htaccess* file. With the rules there, but converter gone, your Google Chrome visitors will not see any jpeg images.

== Limitations ==

* The plugin has not been tested by the developer on Microsoft IIS server. [Some however reports that it works](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/iis-and-webp-works/)

== Supporting WebP Express ==
Bread on the table don't come for free, even though this plugin does, and always will. I enjoy developing this, and supporting you guys, but I kind of need the bread too. Please make it possible for me to continue wasting time on this plugin:

* [Buy me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/rosell)
* [Become a backer or sponsor on Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/rosell)


== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= How do I verify that the plugin is working? =
Once, you have a converter, that works, when you click the "test"-button, you are ready to test the whole stack, and the rewrite rules. To do this, first make sure to select something other than "Do not convert any images!" in *Image types to convert*. Next, click "Save settings". This will save settings, as well as update the *.htaccess*.

If you are working in a browser that supports webp (ie Google Chrome), you will see a link "Convert test image (show debug)" after a successful save. Click that to test if it works. The screen should show a textual report of the conversion process. If it shows an image, it means that the *.htaccess* redirection isn't working. It may be that your server just needs some time. Some servers has set up caching. It could also be that your images are handled by nginx.

Note that the plugin does not change any HTML (unless you enabled the *Alter HTML* option). In the HTML the image src is still set to ie "example.jpg". To verify that the plugin is working (without clicking the test button), do the following:

- Open the page in Google Chrome
- Right-click the page and choose "Inspect"
- Click the "Network" tab
- Reload the page
- Find a jpeg or png image in the list. In the "type" column, it should say "webp"

In order to test that the image is not being reconverted every time, look at the Response headers of the image. There should be a "X-WebP-Convert-Status" header. It should say "Serving existing converted image" the first time, but "Serving existing converted image" on subsequent requests (WebP-Express is based upon [WebP Convert](https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-convert)).

You can also append `?debug` after any image url, in order to run a conversion, and see the conversion report. Also, if you append `?reconvert` after an image url, you will force a reconversion of the image.

= No conversions methods are working out of the box =
Don't fret - you have options!

- If you a controlling another WordPress site (where the local conversion methods DO work), you can set up WebP Express there, and then connect to it by configuring the “Remote WebP Express” conversion method.
- You can also setup the ewww conversion method. To use it, you need to purchase an api key. They do not charge credits for webp conversions, so all you ever have to pay is the one dollar start-up fee 🙂 (unless they change their pricing – I have no control over that). You can buy an api key here: https://ewww.io/plans/
- If you are up to it, you can try to get one of the local converters working. Check out [this page](https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-convert/wiki/Meeting-the-requirements-of-the-converters) on the webp-convert wiki
- Finally, if you have access to a server and are comfortable with installing projects with composer, you can install [webp-convert-cloud-service](https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-convert-cloud-service). It's open source.

= It doesn't work - Although test conversions work, it still serves jpeg images =
Actually, you might be mistaking, so first, make sure that you didn't make the very common mistake of thinking that something with the URL *example.com/image.jpg* must be a jpeg image. The plugin serves webp images on same URL as the original (unconverted) images, so do not let appearances fool you! Confused? See next FAQ item.

Assuming that you have inspected the *content type* header, and it doesn't show "image/webp", please make sure that:
1) You tested with a browser that supports webp (such as Chrome)
2) The image URL you are looking at are not pointing to another server (such as gravatar.com)

Assuming that all above is in place, please look at the response headers to see if there is a *X-WebP-Convert-Status* header. If there isn't, well, then it seems that the problem is that the image request isn't handed over to WebP Express. Reasons for that can be:

- You are on NGINX (or an Apache/Nginx combination). NGINX requires special attention, please look at that FAQ item
- You are on WAMP. Please look at that FAQ item

I shall write more on this FAQ item... Stay tuned.


= How can a webp image be served on an URL ending with "jpg"? =
Easy enough. Browsers looks at the *content type* header rather than the URL to determine what it is that it gets. So, although it can be confusing that the resource at *example.com/image.jpg* is a webp image, rest assured that the browsers are not confused. To determine if the plugin is working, you must therefore examine the *content type* response header rather than the URL. See the "How do I verify that the plugin is working?" Faq item.

I am btw considering making an option to have the plugin redirect to the webp instead of serving immediately. That would remove the apparent mismatch between file extension and content type header. However, the cost of doing that will be an extra request for each image, which means extra time and worse performance. I believe you'd be ill advised to use that option, so I guess I will not implement it. But perhaps you have good reasons to use it? If you do, please let me know!

= I am on NGINX / OpenResty =
It is possible to make WebP Express work on NGINX, but it requires manually inserting redirection rules in the NGINX configuration file (nginx.conf or the configuration file for the site, found in `/etc/nginx/sites-available`).

There are two different approaches to achieve the redirections. One based on *rewrite* and one based on *try_files*. As *try_files* performs best, I shall recommend that.

For multisite on NGINX, read [here](https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/issues/8)

**method 1 (try_files)**

Lets take this step by step.
First step is to redirect images to the script. Second step is redirecting directly to existing webp images. Finally, as an optional third step, you can add extra rules for enabling the *Convert non-existing webp-files upon request* functionality

**Step 1**: *Redirecting images to the script*

The following will redirect all images under wp-content to the script, but only for webp-enabled browsers.

Insert the following in the `server` context of your configuration file (usually found in `/etc/nginx/sites-available`). "The `server` context" refers to the part of the configuration that starts with "server {" and ends with the matching "}".

`
location ~* ^/?wp-content/.*\.(png|jpe?g)$ {
  add_header Vary Accept;
  if ($http_accept !~* "webp"){
    break;
  }
  try_files
    /nonexisting-because-try-files-needs-fallback
    /wp-content/plugins/webp-express/wod/webp-on-demand.php?xsource=x$request_filename&wp-content=wp-content
    ;
}
`
*Beware when copy/pasting: You might get html-encoded characters. Verify that the ampersand before "wp-content" isn't encoded*

If you have moved wp-content to a non-standard place, you must change accordingly. Especially note that you must also change the wp-content parameter to the script. It expects a relative path to wp-content (from document root) and is needed so the script can find the configuration file.

The `xsource` parameter helps the script finding the source file. It is only needed on some setups. You can try deleting it and see if it still works.

Beware that if you haven't enabled *png* conversion, you should replace "(png|jpe?g)" with "jpe?g", so the first line becomes:
`
location ~* ^/?wp-content/.*\.jpe?g$ {
`

If you cannot get this to work then perhaps you need to add the following to your `mime.types` configuration file:
`
image/webp  webp;
`

If you still cannot get it to work, you can instead try *method 2*


**Step 2**: *Redirecting directly to existing webp images.*

Once you got this working, lets improve performance by redirecting directly to existing webp images. This step isn't necessary, as the script also does that - but invoking the php script takes more resources that the direct redirect. Also, a direct redirect will produce *ETag* response header, which is increases caching performance.

The rules looks for existing webp files by appending ".webp" to the URL. So for this to work, you must configure *WebP Express* to store the converted files like that:
1. Set *Destination folder* to *mingled*
2. Set *File extension* to *Append ".webp"*

Now, place the following in the `server` context (replacing what you inserted in step 1):

`
location ~* ^/?wp-content/.*\.(png|jpe?g)$ {
  add_header Vary Accept;
  expires 365d;
  if ($http_accept !~* "webp"){
    break;
  }
  try_files
    $uri.webp
    /wp-content/plugins/webp-express/wod/webp-on-demand.php?xsource=x$request_filename&wp-content=wp-content
    ;
}
`
*Beware when copy/pasting: You might get html-encoded characters. Verify that the ampersand before "wp-content" isn't encoded*

Again, beware that if you haven't enabled *png* conversion, you should replace "(png|jpe?g)" with "jpe?g".

Credits: This second step builds on [Eugene Lazutkins solution](http://www.lazutkin.com/blog/2014/02/23/serve-files-with-nginx-conditionally/).

**Step 3:**: *Caching*
In most cases you can and should allow images to be cached for a long period. If you do not want to do that, simply remove the "expires 365d;" line.

**Step 4:**: *Routing requests for non-existing webps to the converter*

Simply add the following rules below the ones you added in step 2:

`
location ~* ^/?wp-content/.*\.(png|jpe?g)\.webp$ {
    try_files
      $uri
      /wp-content/plugins/webp-express/wod/webp-realizer.php?wp-content=wp-content
      ;
}
`

Again, beware that if you haven't enabled *png* conversion, you should replace "(png|jpe?g)" with "jpe?g".


**method 2 (rewrite)**

**Step 1**: *Redirecting images to the script*

Insert the following in the `server` context:

`
if ($http_accept ~* "webp"){
  rewrite ^/(.*).(jpe?g|png)$ /wp-content/plugins/webp-express/wod/webp-on-demand.php?xsource=x$request_filename&wp-content=wp-content break;
}
}
`

**Step 2**: *Redirecting directly to existing webp images.*

Insert the following in the `server` context (replacing the rules you inserted in step 1)
`
location ~* ^/wp-content/.*\.(png|jpe?g)$ {
    add_header Vary Accept;
    expires 365d;
}
location ~* ^/wp-content/.*\.webp$ {
    expires 365d;
    if ($whattodo = AB) {
        add_header Vary Accept;
    }
}
if ($http_accept ~* "webp"){
    set $whattodo A;
}
if (-f $request_filename.webp) {
    set $whattodo  "${whattodo}B";
}
if ($whattodo = AB) {
    rewrite ^(.*) $1.webp last;
}
if ($whattodo = A) {
    rewrite ^/wp-content/.*\.(jpe?g|png)$ /wp-content/plugins/webp-express/wod/webp-on-demand.php?xsource=x$request_filename&wp-content=wp-content break;
}
`
*Beware when copy/pasting: You might get html-encoded characters. Verify that the ampersand before "wp-content" isn't encoded*

Again, `wp-content` argument must point to the wp-content folder (relative to document root). In most installations, it is 'wp-content'.

And again, the rules looks for existing webp files by appending ".webp" to the URL. So for this to work, you must configure *WebP Express* to store the converted files like that:
1. Set *Destination folder* to *mingled*
2. Set *File extension* to *Append ".webp"*

The "expires 365d;" lines set caching to one year. You can remove these lines if you wish.

I have not set any expire on the webp-on-demand.php request. This is not needed, as the script sets this according to what you set up in WebP Express settings. Also, trying to do it would require a new location block matching webp-on-demand.php, but that would override the location block handling php files, and thus break the functionality.

It is possible to put this stuff inside a `location` directive. However, having `if` directives inside `location` directives [is considered evil](https://www.nginx.com/resources/wiki/start/topics/depth/ifisevil/). But it seems that in our case, it works. If you wish to do that, use the following rules instead:

`
location ~* ^/wp-content/.*\.(png|jpe?g)$ {
    add_header Vary Accept;
    expires 365d;

    if ($http_accept ~* "webp"){
        set $whattodo A;
    }
    if (-f $request_filename.webp) {
        set $whattodo  "${whattodo}B";
    }
    if ($whattodo = AB) {
        rewrite ^(.*) $1.webp last;
    }
    if ($whattodo = A) {
        rewrite ^/wp-content/.*\.(jpe?g|png)$ /wp-content/plugins/webp-express/wod/webp-on-demand.php?xsource=x$request_filename&wp-content=wp-content last;
    }
}

location ~* ^/wp-content/.*\.webp$ {
    expires 365d;
    if ($whattodo = AB) {
        add_header Vary Accept;
    }
}
`
*Beware when copy/pasting: You might get html-encoded characters. Verify that the ampersand before "wp-content" isn't encoded*

Discussion on this topic [here](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/nginx-rewrite-rules-4/)
And here: https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/issues/166

Here are rules if you need to replace the file extension with ".webp" rather than appending ".webp" to it: https://www.keycdn.com/support/optimus/configuration-to-deliver-webp


= I am on a WAMP stack =
It has been reported that WebP Express *almost* works on WAMP stack. I'd love to debug this, but do not own a Windows server or access to one... Can you help?

= I am using Jetpack =
If you install Jetpack and enable the "Speed up image load times" then Jetpack will alter the HTML such that images are pointed to their CDN.

Ie:
`<img src="https://example.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/architecture.jpg">`

becomes:
`<img src="https://i0.wp.com/example.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/architecture.jpg">`

Jetpack automatically serves webp files to browsers that supports it using same mechanism as the standard WebP Express configuration: If the "Accept" header contains "image/webp", a webp is served (keeping original file extension, but setting the "content-type" header to "image/webp"), otherwise a jpg is served.

As images are no longer pointed to your original server, the .htaccess rules created by WebP Express will not have any effect.

So if you are using Jetpack you don't really need WebP Express?
Well, there is no point in having the "Speed up image load times" enabled together with WebP Express.

But there is a case for using WebP Express rather than Jetpacks "Speed up image load times" feature:

Jetpack has the same drawback as the *standard* WebP Express configuration: If a user downloads the file, there will be a mismatch between the file extension and the image type (the file is ie called "logo.jpg", but it is really a webp image). I don't think that is a big issue, but for those who do, WebP Express might still be for you, even though you have Jetpack. And that is because WebP Express can be set up just to generate webp's, without doing the internal redirection to webp (will be possible from version 0.10.0). You can then for example use the [Cache Enabler](https://wordpress.org/plugins/cache-enabler/) plugin, which is able to generate and cache two versions of each page. One for browsers that accepts webp and one for those that don't. In the HTML for webp-enabled browsers, the images points directly to the webp files.

Pro Jetpack:
- It is a free CDN which serves webp out of the box.
- It optimizes jpegs and pngs as well (but note that only about 1 out of 5 users gets these, as webp is widely supported now)

Con Jetpack:
- It is a big plugin to install if you are only after the CDN
- It requires that you create an account on Wordpress.com

Pro WebP Express:
- You have control over quality and metadata
- It is a small plugin and care has been taken to add only very little overhead
- Plays well together with Cache Enabler. By not redirecting jpg to webp, there is no need to do any special configuration on the CDN and no issue with misleading file extension, if user downloads a file.

Con WebP Express:
- If you are using a CDN and you are redirecting jpg to webp, you must configure the CDN to forward the Accept header. It is not possible on all CDNs.

= Why do I not see the option to set WebP quality to auto? =
The option will only display, if your system is able to detect jpeg qualities. To make your server capable to do that, install *Imagick extension* (PECL >= 2.2.2) or enable exec() calls and install either *Imagick* or *Gmagick*.

If you have the *Imagick*, the *Imagick binary* or the *Remote WebP Express* conversion method working, but don't have the global "auto" option, you will have the auto option available in options of the individual converter.

Note: If you experience that the general auto option doesn't show, even though the above-mentioned requirements should be in order, check out [this support-thread](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/still-no-auto-option/).

= How do I configure my CDN in "Varied image responses" operation mode? =
In *Varied image responses* operation mode, the image responses *varies* depending on whether the browser supports webp or not (which browsers signals in the *Accept* header). Some CDN's support this out of the box, others requires some configuration and others doesn't support it at all.

For a CDN to cooperate, it needs to
1) forward the *Accept* header and
2) Honour the Vary:Accept response header.

You can also make it "work" on some CDN's by bypassing cache for images. But I rather suggest that you try out the *CDN friendly* mode (see next FAQ item)

*Status of some CDN's*:

- *KeyCDN*: Does not support varied image responses. I have added a feature request [here](https://community.keycdn.com/t/support-vary-accept-header-for-conditional-webp/1864). You can give it a +1 if you like!
- *Cloudflare*: See the "I am on Cloudflare" item
- *Cloudfront*: Works, but needs to be configured to forward the accept header. Go to *Distribution settings*, find the *Behavior tab*, select the Behavior and click the Edit button. Choose *Whitelist* from *Forward Headers* and then add the "Accept" header to the whitelist.

I shall add more to the list. You are welcome to help out [here](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/which-cdns-works-in-standard-mode/).

### How do I make it work with CDN? ("CDN friendly" mode)
In *CDN friendly* mode, there is no trickery with varied image responses, so no special attention is required *on the CDN*.

However, there are other pitfalls.

The thing is that, unless you have the whole site on a CDN, you are probably using a plugin that *alters the HTML* in order to point your static assets to the CDN. If you have enabled the "Alter HTML" in WebP Express, it means that you now have *two alterations* on the image URLs!

How will that play out?

Well, if *WebP Express* gets to alter the HTML *after* the image URLs have been altered to point to a CDN, we have trouble. WebP Express does not alter external images but the URLs are now external.

However, if *WebP Express* gets to alter the HTML *before* the other plugin, things will work fine.

So it is important that *WebP Express* gets there first.

*The good news is that WebP Express does get there first on all the plugins I have tested.*

But what can you do if it doesn't?

Firstly, you have an option in WebP Express to select between:
1. Use content filtering hooks (the_content, the_excerpt, etc)
2. The complete page (using output buffering)

The content filtering hooks gets to process the content before output buffering does. So in case output buffering isn't early enough for you, choose the content filtering hooks.

There is a risk that you CDN plugin also uses content filtering hooks. I haven't encountered any though. But if there is any out there that does, chances are that they get to process the content before WebP Express, because I have set the priority of these hooks quite high (10000). The reasoning behind this is to that we want to replace images that might be inserted using the same hook (for example, a theme might use *the_content* filter to insert the featured image). If you do encounter a plugin for changing URLs for CDN which uses the content filtering hooks, you are currently out of luck. Let me know, so I can fix that (ie. by making the priority configurable)

Here are a list of some plugins for CDN and when they process the HTML:

| Plugin            | Method             | Hook(s)                                          | Priority
| ----------------- | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------ | ---------------
| BunnyCDN          | Output buffering   | template_redirect                                | default (10)
| CDN enabler       | Output buffering   | template_redirect                                | default (10)
| Jetpack           | content filtering  | the_content, etc                                 | the_content: 10
| W3 Total Cache    | Output buffering   | no hooks. Buffering is started before hooks      |
| WP Fastest Cache  | Output buffering   | no hooks. Buffering is started before hooks      |
| WP Super Cache    | Output buffering   | init                                             | default (10)

With output buffering the plugin that starts the output buffering first gets to process the output last. So WebP Express starts as late as possible, which is on the `template_redirect` hook, with priority 10000 (higher means later). This is later than the `init` hook, which is again later than the `no hooks`.

= I am on Cloudflare =
Without configuration, Cloudflare will not maintain separate caches for jpegs and webp; all browsers will get jpeg. To make Cloudflare cache not only by URL, but also by header, you need to use the [Custom Cache Key](https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004290387) page rule, and add *Header content*  to make separate caches depending on the *Accept* request header.

However, the *Custom Cache Key* rule currently requires an *Enterprise* account. And if you already have that, you may as well go with the *Polish* feature, which starts at the “Pro” level plan. With the *Polish* feature, you will not need WebP Express.

To make *WebP Express* work on a free Cloudflare account, you have the following choices:

1. You can configure the CDN not to cache jpeg images by adding the following page rule: If rule matches: `example.com/*.jpg`, set: *Cache level* to: *Bypass*

2. You can set up another CDN (on another provider), which you just use for handling the images. You need to configure that CDN to forward the *Accept header*. You also need to install a Wordpress plugin that points images to that CDN.

3. You can switch operation mode to "CDN friendly" and use HTML altering.

### WebP Express / ShortPixel setup
Here is a recipe for using WebP Express together with ShortPixel, such that WebP Express generates the webp's, and ShortPixel only is used to create `<picture>` tags, when it detects a webp image in the same folder as an original.

**There is really no need to do this anymore, because WebP Express is now capable of replacing img tags with picture tags (check out the Alter HTML option)**

You need:
1 x WebP Express
1 x ShortPixel

*1. Setup WebP Express*
If you do not want to use serve varied images:
- Open WebP Express options
- Switch to *CDN friendly* mode.
- Set *File extension* to "Set to .webp"
- Make sure the *Convert non-existing webp-files upon request to original image* option is enabled

If you want to *ShortPixel* to create <picture> tags but still want the magic to work on other images (such as images are referenced from CSS or javascript):
- Open WebP Express options
- Switch to *Varied image responses* mode.
- Set *Destination folder* to "Mingled"
- Set *File extension* to "Set to .webp"

*2. Setup ShortPixel*
- Install [ShortPixel](https://wordpress.org/plugins/shortpixel-image-optimiser/) the usual way
- Get an API key and enter it on the options page.
- In *Advanced*, enable the following options:
    - *Also create WebP versions of the images, for free.*
    - *Deliver the WebP versions of the images in the front-end*
    - *Altering the page code, using the <PICTURE> tag syntax*
- As there is a limit to how many images you can convert freely with *ShortPixel*, you should disable the following options (also on the *Advanced* screen):
    - *Automatically optimize images added by users in front end.*
    - *Automatically optimize Media Library items after they are uploaded (recommended).*

*3. Visit a page*
As there are presumably no webps generated yet, ShortPixel will not generate `<picture>` tags on the first visit. However, the images that are referenced causes the WebP Express *Auto convert* feature to kick in and generate webp images for each image on that page.

*4. Visit the page again*
As *WebP Express* have generated webps in the same folder as the originals, *ShortPixel* detects these, and you should see `<picture>` tags which references the webp's.

*ShortPixel or Cache Enabler ?*
Cache Enabler has the advantage over ShortPixel that the HTML structure remains the same. With ShortPixel, image tags are wrapped in a `<picture>` tag structure, and by doing that, there is a risk of breaking styles.

Further, Cache Enabler *caches* the HTML. This is good for performance. However, this also locks you to using that plugin for caching. With ShortPixel, you can keep using your favourite caching plugin.

Cache Enabler will not work if you are caching HTML on a CDN, because the HTML varies depending on the *Accept* header and it doesn't signal this with a Vary:Accept header. You could however add that manually. ShortPixel does not have that issue, as the HTML is the same for all.

### WebP Express / Cache Enabler setup
The WebP Express / Cache Enabler setup is quite potent and very CDN-friendly. *Cache Enabler* is used for generating *and caching* two versions of the HTML (one for webp-enabled browsers and one for webp-disabled browsers)

The reason for doing this could be:
1. You are using a CDN which cannot be configured to work in the "Varied image responses" mode.
2. You could tweak your CDN to work in the "Varied image responses" mode, but you would have to do it by using the entire Accept header as key. Doing that would increase the risk of cache MISS, and you therefore decided that do not want to do that.
3. You think it is problematic that when a user saves an image, it has the jpg extension, even though it is a webp image.

You need:
1 x WebP Express
1 x Cache Enabler

*1. Setup WebP Express*
If you do not want to use serve varied images:
- Open WebP Express options
- Switch to *CDN friendly* mode.
- Set *File extension* to "Set to .webp"
- Enable *Alter HTML* and select *Replace image URLs*. It is not absolutely neccessary, as Cache Enabler also alters HTML - but there are several reasons to do it. Firstly, *Cache Enabler* doesn't get as many URLs replaced as we do. WebP Express for example also replaces background urls in inline styles. Secondly, *Cache enabler* has [problems in edge cases](https://regexr.com/46isf). Thirdly, WebP Express can be configured to alter HTML to point to corresponding webp images, *before they even exists* which can be used in conjunction with the the *Convert non-existing webp-files upon request* option. And this is smart, because then you don't have trouble with *Cache Enabler* caching HTML which references the original images due to that some images hasn't been converted yet.
- If you enabled *Alter HTML*, also enable *Reference webps that hasn't been converted yet* and *Convert non-existing webp-files upon request*
- If you did not enable *Alter HTML*, enable *Convert non-existing webp-files upon request to original image*

If you want to *Cache Enabler* to create <picture> tags but still want the magic to work on other images (such as images are referenced from CSS or javascript):
- Open WebP Express options
- Switch to *Varied image responses* mode.
- Set *Destination folder* to "Mingled"
- Set *File extension* to "Set to .webp"
- I suggest you enable *Alter HTML* and select *Replace image URLs*. And also enable *Reference webps that hasn't been converted yet* and *Convert non-existing webp-files upon request*.

*2. Setup Cache Enabler*
- Open the options
- Enable of the *Create an additional cached version for WebP image support* option

*3. If you did not enable Alter HTML and Reference webps that hasn't been converted yet: Let rise in a warm place until doubled*
*WebP Express* creates *webp* images on need basis. It needs page visits in order to do the conversions . Bulk conversion is on the roadmap, but until then, you need to visit all pages of relevance. You can either do it manually, let your visitors do it (that is: wait a bit), or, if you are on linux, you can use `wget` to grab your website:

```
wget -e robots=off -r -np -w 2 http://www.example.com
```

**flags:**
`-e robots=off` makes wget ignore rules in robots.txt
`-np` (no-parent) makes wget stay within the boundaries (doesn't go into parent folders)
`w 2` Waits two seconds between each request, in order not to stress the server

*4. Clear the Cache Enabler cache.*
Click the "Clear Cache" button in the top right corner in order to clear the Cache Enabler cache.

*5. Inspect the HTML*
When visiting a page with images on, different HTML will be served to browsers, depending on whether they support webp or not.

In a webp-enabled browser, the HTML may look like this: `<img src="image.webp">`, while in a non-webp enabled browser, it looks like this: `<img src="image.jpg">`


*6. Optionally add Cache Enabler rewrite rules in your .htaccess*
*Cache Enabler* provides some rewrite rules that redirects to the cached file directly in the `.htaccess`, bypassing PHP entirely. Their plugin doesn't do that for you, so you will have to do it manually in order to get the best performance. The rules are in the "Advanced configuration" section on [this page](https://www.keycdn.com/support/wordpress-cache-enabler-plugin).

= Does it work with lazy loaded images? =
No plugins/frameworks has yet been discovered, which does not work with *WebP Express*.

The most common way of lazy-loading is by setting a *data-src* attribute on the image and let javascript use that value for setting the *src* attribute. That method works, as the image request, seen from the server side, is indistinguishable from any other image request. It could however be that some obscure lazy load implementation would load the image with an XHR request. In that case, the *Accept* header will not contain 'image/webp', but '*/*', and a jpeg will be served, even though the browser supports webp.

The following lazy load plugins/frameworks has been tested and works with *WebP Express*:
- [BJ Lazy Load](https://da.wordpress.org/plugins/bj-lazy-load/)
- [Owl Carousel 2](https://owlcarousel2.github.io/OwlCarousel2/)
- [Lazy Load by WP Rocket](https://wordpress.org/plugins/rocket-lazy-load/)

I have only tested the above in *Varied image responses* mode, but it should also work in *CDN friendly* mode. Both *Alter HTML* options have been designed to work with standard lazy load attributes.

= Can I make an exceptions for some images? =
There can be instances where you actually need to serve a jpeg or png. For example if you are demonstrating how a jpeg looks using some compression settings. It is possible to bypass both the redirection and the HTML altering for certain images. Here is how:

*Alter HTML*
Alter HTML is programmed not to substitute image URLs with query strings (better safe than sorry). You can exploit that and simply add ie ?original to the image URLs in question.

*Redirection*
To bypass the *redirection*, you can add the following in the `.htaccess` where *WebP Express* has placed its rules (this is usually in the `wp-content` folder). The rules needs to be added *above* the rules inserted by *WebP Express*.

`
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} original
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f
RewriteRule . - [L]
`
With those rules in place, you can add "?original" to the URLs of those images that you want to keep serving as jpg / png.

Alternatively, you can specify the filenames individually in the `.htaccess`:

`
RewriteRule ^uploads/2019/02/example-of-jpg-compressed-to-80\.jpg - [L]
RewriteRule ^uploads/2019/02/image2\.jpg - [L]
RewriteRule . - [L]
`
If you got any further questions, look at, or comment on [this topic](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/can-i-make-an-exception-for-specific-post-image/)

= When is feature X coming? / Roadmap =
No schedule. I move forward as time allows. I currently spend a lot of time answering questions in the support forum. If someone would be nice and help out answering questions here, it would allow me to spend that time developing. Also, donations would allow me to turn down some of the more boring requests from my customers, and speed things up here.

Here are my current plans ahead: 0.13 might be bulk conversion and addition of a diagnose tool – this should release some time spend in the forum. 0.14 could be focused on PNG. 0.15 might be displaying rules for NGINX. 0.16 might be supporting Save-Data header (send extra compressed images to clients who wants to use as little bandwidth as possible). 0.17 might be a file manager-like interface for inspecting generated webp files. 0.18 might be an effort to allow webp for all browsers using [this javascript library](http://libwebpjs.hohenlimburg.org/v0.6.0/). Unfortunately, the javascript librare does not (currently) support srcset attributes, which is why I moved this item down the priority list. We need srcset to be supported for the feature to be useful. 0.19 might be WAMP support. The current milestones, their subtasks and their progress can be viewed here: https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/milestones

If you wish to affect priorities, it is certainly possible. You can try to argue your case in the forum or you can simply let the money do the talking. By donating as little as a cup of coffee on [ko-fi.com/rosell](https://ko-fi.com/rosell), you can leave a wish. I shall take these wishes into account when prioritizing between new features.

= How do I buy you a cup of coffee? =
Easy enough! - [Go here!](https://ko-fi.com/rosell). Or [here](https://buymeacoff.ee/rosell).

== Screenshots ==

1. WebP Express settings

== Changelog ==

= 0.12.2 =
*(released 8 mar 2019)*
* Fixed bug: On some nginx configurations, the newly added protection against directly calling the converter scripts were triggering also when it should not.

= 0.12.1 =
*(released 7 mar 2019)*
* Fixed bug: Alter HTML crashed when HTML was larger than 600kb and "image urls" where selected

= 0.12.0 =
*(released 5 mar 2019)*
* Multisite support (!)
* A new operation mode: "No conversion", if you do not want to use WebP Express for converting. Replaces the old "Just redirect" mode
* Added capability testing of .htaccess. The .htaccess rules are now tailored to the capabilities on the system. For example, on some platforms the filename of a requested image is passed to the converter script through the query string, but on platforms that supports passing it through an environment variable, that method is used instead
* Picturefill.js is now optional (alter html, picture tag)
* A great bunch more!

For more info, see the closed issues on the 0.12.0 milestone on the github repository: https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/milestone/12?closed=1

= 0.11.3 =
*(released 18 feb 2019)*
* Fixed bug: Alter HTML caused media library not to display images on some systems. Alter HTML is now disabled in admin mode.
* Alter HTML (picture tags) could produce the source tags with "src" attribute. But source tags inside picture tags must use "srcset" attribute. Fixed.
* Alter HTML (image urls): srcsets containing "x" descriptors wasn't handled (ie, srcset="image.jpg 1x")
* Fixed rewrite rules when placed in root so they are confined to wp-content and uploads. In particular, they no longer apply in wp-admin area, which might have caused problems, ie with media library.
* Added warning when rules are placed in root and "Convert non-existing webp-files upon request" feature is enabled and WebP Express rules are to be placed below Wordpress rules
* Fixed bug: The code that determined if WebP Express had placed rules in a .htaccess failed in "CDN friendly" mode. The effect was that these rules was not cleaned up upon plugin deactivation

= 0.11.2 =
*(released 14 feb 2019)*
* Fixed bug which caused Alter HTML to fail miserably on some setups
* AlterHTML now also looks for lazy load attributes in DIV and LI tags.

= 0.11.1 =
*(released 6 feb 2019)*
* Fixed bug which caused the new "Convert non-existing webp-files upon request" not to work on all setups

= 0.11.0 =
*(released 6 feb 2019)*
* Alter HTML to point to webp files (choose between picture tags or simply altering all image urls)
* Convert non-existing webp-files upon request (means you can reference the converted webp files before they are actually converted!)

For more info, see the closed issues on the 0.11.0 milestone on the github repository: https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/milestone/14?closed=1

= 0.10.0 =
*(released 7 jan 2019)*
* Introduced "Operation modes" in order to keep setting screens simple but still allow tweaking
* WebP Express can now be used in conjunction with Cache Enabler and ShortPixel
* Cache-Control header is now added in *.htaccess*, when redirecting directly to existing webp

For more info, see the closed issues on the 0.10.0 milestone on the github repository: https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/milestone/7?closed=1

= 0.9.1 =
*(released 28 dec 2018)*
* Fixed critical bug causing blank page on options page

= 0.9.0 =
*(released 27 dec 2018)*
* Optionally make .htaccess redirect directly to existing webp (improves performance)
* Optionally do not send filename from *.htaccess* to the PHP in Querystring, but use other means (improves security and reduces risks of problems due to firewall rules)
* Fixed some bugs

For more info, see the closed issues on the 0.9.0 milestone on the github repository: https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/issues?q=is%3Aclosed+milestone%3A0.9.0

= 0.8.1 =
*(released 11 dec 2018)*
* Fixed javascript bug

= 0.8.0 =
*(released 11 dec 2018)*
* New conversion method, which calls imagick binary directly. This will make WebP express work out of the box on more systems
* Made sure not to trigger LFI warning i Wordfence (to activate, click the force .htaccess button)
* Imagick can now be configured to set quality to auto on systems where the auto option isn't generally available
* Added Last-Modified header to images. This makes image caching work better
* On some systems, converted files where stored in ie *..doc-rootwp-content..* rather than *..doc-root/wp-content..*. This is fixed, a clean-up script corrects the file structure upon upgrade.
* Added condition in .htaccess that checks that source file exists before handing over to converter

For more info, see the closed issues on the 0.8.0 milestone on the github repository: https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/issues?q=is%3Aclosed+milestone%3A0.8.0

= 0.7.2 =
*(released 21 nov 2018)*
Fixed a critical bug which generated an error message which caused corrupt images. It was not the bug itself, but the error message it generated, that caused the images to be corrupted. It only happened when debugging was enabled in php.ini

= 0.7.1 =
*(released 9 nov 2018)*
Fixed minor "bug". The Api version combobox in Remote WebP Express converter was showing on new sites, but I only want it to show when old api is being used.

= 0.7.0 =
*(released 9 nov 2018)*
This version added option to provide conversion service to other sites!

For more info, see the closed issues on the 0.7.0 milestone on the github repository: https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/issues?q=is%3Aclosed+milestone%3A0.7.0

= 0.6.0 =
*(released 4 okt 2018)*
This version added option for setting caching header, fixed a serious issue with *Imagick*, added a new converter, *Gmagick*, added a great deal of options to *Cwebp* and generally improved the interface.

* Added option for caching
* Fixed long standing and serious issue with Imagick converter. It no longer generates webp images in poor quality
* Added gmagick as a new conversion method
* WebPExpress now runs on newly released WebP-Convert 1.2.0
* Added many new options for *cwebp*
* You can now quickly see converter status by hovering over a converter
* You can now choose between having quality auto-detected or not (if the server supports detecting quality).
* If the server does not support detecting quality, the WPC converter will display a quality "auto" option
* Added special intro message for those who has no working conversion methods
* Added help texts for options
* Settings are now saved, when changing converter options. Too many times, I found myself forgetting to save...

For more info, see the closed issues on the 0.6.0 milestone on our github repository: https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/issues?q=is%3Aclosed+milestone%3A0.6.0

= 0.5.0 =
*(released 14 sep 2018)*
This version works on many more setups than the previous. Also uses less resources and handles when images are changed.

* Configuration is now stored in a separate configuration file instead of storing directly in the *.htaccess* file and passing it on via query string. When updating, these settings are migrated automatically.
* Handles setups where Wordpress has been given its own directory (both methods mentioned [here](https://codex.wordpress.org/Giving_WordPress_Its_Own_Directory))
* Handles setups where *wp-content* has been moved, even out of Wordpress root.
* Handles setups where Uploads folder has been moved, even out of *wp-content*.
* Handles setups where Plugins folder has been moved, even out of *wp-content* or out of Wordpress root
* Is not as likely to be subject to firewalls blocking requests (in 0.4.0, we passed all options in a querystring, and that could trigger firewalls under some circumstances)
* Is not as likely to be subject to rewrite rules from other plugins interfering. WebP Express now stores the .htaccess in the wp-content folder (if you allow it). As this is deeper than the root folder, the rules in here takes precedence over rules in the main *.htaccess*
* The *.htaccess* now passes the complete absulute path to the source file instead of a relative path. This is a less error-prone method.
* Reconverts the webp, if source image has changed
* Now runs on version 1.0.0 of [WebP On Demand](https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-on-demand). Previously ran on 0.3.0
* Now takes care of only loading the PHP classes when needed in order not to slow down your Wordpress. The frontend will only need to process four lines of code. The backend footprint is also quite small now (80 lines of code of hooks)
* Now works in Wordpress 4.0 - 4.6.
* Added cache-breaking tokens to image test links
* Denies deactivation if rewrite rules could not be removed
* Refactored thoroughly
* More helpful texts.
* Extensive testing. Tested on Wordpress 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8 and 4.9. Tested with PHP 5.6, PHP 7.0 and PHP 7.1. Tested on Apache and LiteSpeed. Tested when missing various write permissions. Tested migration. Tested when installed in root, in subfolder, when Wordpress has its own directory (both methods), when wp-content is moved out of Wordpress directory, when plugins is moved out of Wordpress directory, when both of them are moved and when uploads have been moved.

For more info, see the closed issues on the 0.5.0 milestone on our github repository: https://github.com/rosell-dk/webp-express/milestone/2?closed=1

For older releases, check out changelog.txt

== Upgrade Notice ==

= 0.12.2 =
* Fixed bug: On some nginx configurations, the newly added protection against directly calling the converter scripts were triggering also when it should not.

= 0.12.1 =
Fixed bug: Alter HTML crashed when HTML was larger than 600kb and "image urls" where selected

= 0.12.0 =
Multisite support and a new operation mode

= 0.11.3 =
Fixed several bugs. You should update :)

= 0.11.0 =
WebP Express can now alter HTML to either point to webp images directly or by using the picture tag syntax. Also, non-existing webp-files can be converted upon request (means you can reference the converted webp files before they are actually converted!)

= 0.10.0 =
WebP Express can now be used in conjunction with Cache Enabler and ShortPixel. Also introduced "Operation modes" in order to keep setting screens simple but still allow tweaking.

= 0.9.1 =
Fixed critical bug causing options page to go blank

= 0.9.0 =
Option to redirect to existing webp images directly in .htaccess (improves performance)

= 0.8.0 =
New converter and miscellaneous improvements