DOCUMENTATION · VERSION 3.3.1

EasyTools Image Optimizer guide

Install the free plugin, set up encrypted backups, scan your library and create verified WebP copies safely.

1. Requirements and compatibility

WordPress	6.2 or later (tested on 7.1)
PHP	7.4 or later with `openssl` (AES-256-GCM) and `hash`; `posix` recommended
Image editor	WordPress GD or Imagick with WebP support. Server readiness on the plugin screen shows whether WebP encoding is available.
HTTPS	Required for the recovery setup in WordPress admin
Private folder	A folder outside your website files for the encryption keys
Disk space	Room for encrypted copies of the originals you optimize

Tested in the lab on MariaDB 10.3 and 10.11 with PHP 8.2 and 8.3. Multisite, Windows/IIS hosting and MySQL were not part of the release tests.

2. Installation and activation

Back up your database and wp-content/uploads.
Download the plugin ZIP from your EasyTools account.
In WordPress go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose easytools-image-optimizer-v3.3.1.zip, then Activate.
Open Image Optimizer in the admin menu. Activation creates the plugin's tables and does not change any image.

No licence key, activation code or payment is needed.

3. Recovery-key setup without SSH

Before any image can be optimized, encrypted backups must be ready. Scanning works without this step.

Open Image Optimizer → Settings → Backup & Recovery over HTTPS as an administrator.
Step 1: Create encrypted-backup keys. Choose a suggested private location, or enter another folder outside your website. Enter your WordPress password and click Create encrypted-backup keys.

The folder must be outside WordPress, wp-content, uploads and the web root, without symbolic links. It is created with owner-only access.
Only the folder path is saved in WordPress. The keys themselves are never stored in the database.
After keys or backups exist, the location cannot be changed from WordPress.

Hosts who prefer configuration files can instead set ETIO_RECOVERY_DIR in wp-config.php and run wp easytools-backups init. That setting always takes priority.

4. Recovery-kit download and verification

Step 2: Download your recovery kit. Choose a passphrase of at least 16 characters using three of lowercase, uppercase, digits and symbols, or any passphrase of 24 characters or more. It must differ from your WordPress password. Enter it twice with your WordPress password and download.
Step 3: Verify the downloaded kit. Upload the kit and enter its passphrase. When it matches the site's keys, the panel shows Encrypted backups ready and optimization becomes available.

Store the kit and the passphrase separately and away from your server, for example the kit with your offsite backups and the passphrase in a password manager.
Each download form works once; failed attempts are limited; every download is logged and e-mailed to the site administrator.
Your host can disable the web download with ETIO_DISABLE_WEB_RECOVERY_KIT; WP-CLI export and verify-kit remain available.

5. Scanning your images

Choose a quality preset, the formats to convert and the scan scope, then click Save preferences.
Click Step 1: Scan & Analyze Images.

Scanning only reads files. It reports oversized images, missing WebP copies, animated GIFs, duplicates and possibly unused images. These findings are advisory, and nothing is ever deleted automatically. Theme and plugin images can be inventoried but are never optimized.

6. Optimization settings and WebP copies

Quality presets: High Quality (Q92), Balanced (Q82, recommended) and Maximum compression (Q68). None of these presets is lossless.
Formats: JPG/JPEG to WebP, PNG to WebP (transparency is checked), and optional compression of existing WebP files with a verified backup.
Starting a queue: Step 2 asks you to confirm the exact number of eligible files. Start with a small selection and compare Before/After.
Originals: JPEG and PNG originals are not replaced. A WebP copy is kept only if it is smaller and its dimensions (and PNG transparency) match. Existing files are never overwritten. Animated images are never re-encoded.
Delivery (optional): Serve WebP where supported adds the verified WebP to WordPress-generated image markup and keeps the original as fallback. Purge page, LiteSpeed or CDN caches after changing it.

7. Backup protection and restoring images

Before an image is changed, an encrypted, authenticated backup of the original is created and checked. Backups are stored outside the uploads folder and are never deleted automatically.

One image: Media Library → the image → Restore original.
Several or all: Image Optimizer → results → Restore Selected or Restore All Originals.

Each restore checks the backup before replacing the file and checks the restored file afterwards. If any check fails, the current image is left unchanged. After a restore the WebP copy stays on disk but is no longer served.

8. Savings and unchanged files

Original-file savings are bytes saved on files that were actually replaced, such as compressed WebP originals.
WebP copy savings compare the copy with its original. Because the original is kept, a WebP copy does not free disk space; it makes pages lighter.
Unchanged means the result would not have been smaller or could not be verified, so the original was kept.
Failed items show the reason. Fix the cause, then use Retry Failed.

9. Troubleshooting and server-load protection

"Recovery setup is incomplete"	Complete all three Backup & Recovery steps. Nothing was changed.
Setup buttons disabled	Open WordPress admin with `https://`.
"That location cannot be used"	Choose a folder outside your website, or ask your host to create a private, owner-only folder.
Another optimizer is active	Optimization pauses while known optimizer plugins are active. Turn off their image optimization first.
Queue waiting or paused	When the server load or memory limit is reached, the queue waits and shows the reason and retry time. After repeated errors it pauses so you can check the cause, then Resume.
Slow progress	Queues continue in the background through WP-Cron, which runs when the site has visitors. A server cron or WP-CLI (`wp easytools-images optimize`) gives steadier progress.
"Name too long"	On hosts with a filename limit below 255 bytes, add `define( 'ETIO_COMPANION_NAME_MAX', 143 );` to `wp-config.php`.

For shared hosting, start with small batches and keep the default processing limits under Settings → Processing limits.

10. Updates and Update Center

From version 3.3.1, new releases appear on the normal WordPress Dashboard → Updates screen.
The plugin reads the EasyTools Update Center release feed and installs a package only when its address and SHA-256 checksum match the published release. A mismatched package is refused and the installed version stays unchanged.
The optional EasyTools Client Updater is not required, and both can be installed together.
Sites on an earlier build install 3.3.1 once by uploading the ZIP (Replace current with uploaded). Settings, backups, keys and history are kept.

11. Known limitations and safe recovery practice

No automatic or scheduled optimization in this version.
AVIF copies are not created. WebP is the supported copy format.
Importing a recovery kit is done with WP-CLI (wp easytools-backups import); there is no web import.
Before installing a version older than 3.3.1 on a site set up in WordPress admin, add the ETIO_RECOVERY_DIR line shown under Backup & Recovery to wp-config.php.
WebP delivery does not change CSS backgrounds, hard-coded HTML or CDN-rewritten URLs.
Duplicate and "unused" findings are estimates; review them yourself.

Never delete or edit the recovery or backup folders, store the kit and passphrase together, or create new keys on a site whose keys are lost. New keys cannot open existing backups; import your recovery kit instead.