AssetPilot – Granular control over frontend assets vs Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN

AssetPilot helps you speed up WordPress by controlling which scripts and styles load on which pages — without guessing handle names in functions.php. Scan a real page URL, see every enqueued asset (and many from the HTML), then create rules to disable, defer, async, preload, or set fetch priority — only where your conditions match (homepage, shop, mobile, logged-in users, specific URLs, and more). Built for site owners who want measurable wins and for developers who want conditional dequeue with guardrails: validation warnings, dependency insight, scan history, and Safe Mode if something breaks. Why AssetPilot instead of a simple “unload” plugin? See before you change — scan a URL and browse assets with origin, size, and usage hints. Rules, not one-off hacks — reusable conditions (page type, archive, WooCommerce views, device, auth, URL). Bulk actions — one rule for many handles (e.g. a plugin’s scripts everywhere except checkout). Safer changes — conflict checks, impact preview, optional verification, automatic runtime pause after repeated errors. Stay in control — dependency graph, recommendations, debug logs, and Safe Mode. What you can do Disable scripts and styles you do not need on specific views Defer or async JavaScript to reduce render-blocking work Preload critical scripts, styles, fonts, and images Set fetchpriority on images and preloads Target by singular page, post type, archive, URL fragment, query string, device, login state, user role, WooCommerce page type, and scan URL Create bulk rules from the asset list Review optimization recommendations from scan data Explore asset dependencies in a visual graph Keep scan history and compare what changed over time Typical use cases Stop a plugin’s CSS/JS on pages where it is not used (blog posts, landing pages, archives) Defer non-critical scripts on catalog pages while keeping checkout intact Preload hero fonts or LCP images on key templates only Audit what Elementor, WooCommerce, or form plugins actually enqueue before tightening rules How it works Open AssetPilot → Assets and scan a page (your homepage, a product page, a form page, etc.). Pick an asset (or select several for a bulk rule). Choose an action and conditions (where the rule applies). Review validation and impact, then save. Visit the front end — use Safe Mode anytime you need to disable all runtime rules instantly. The block editor includes an AssetPilot sidebar on supported setups so you can jump from a post to asset management with context. Requirements WordPress 6.2+ PHP 8.1+ Administrator access to configure rules Frontend runtime changes apply to public site views, not the WordPress admin dashboard. Getting started First rule in a few minutes Assets → enter your site homepage URL → scan. Find a script or style from a plugin you suspect is unnecessary on the homepage. Click to create a rule → choose Disable (or Defer for scripts). Set a condition such as “this scan URL only” or “non-WooCommerce pages” if you are testing carefully. Save, open the homepage in a private window, and confirm the site still works. Use Recommendations after a few scans for ideas (duplicate libraries, large files, low usage patterns). Create Rule is opened from assets or recommendations — it is the guided wizard for actions, conditions, validation, and review. Safe Mode If the site looks wrong after applying rules, enable Safe Mode while logged in as an administrator: /wp-admin/?assetpilot-safe-mode=1 Safe Mode turns off all frontend runtime rule changes for the whole site. The admin UI, REST API, scanning, and rule editing still work. Clear any page cache after enabling if changes seem to stick. If repeated frontend fatals occur, AssetPilot pauses runtime rules for 30 minutes automatically. Resume early from Settings or: /wp-admin/admin.php?page=assetpilot-settings&assetpilot-resume-runtime=1 Development Source repository: https://github.com/amrelarabi/assetpilot Human-readable UI source is in assets/src/. Production bundles in assets/build/ are built with @wordpress/scripts. Build (contributors only): npm install npm run build PHP lives under includes/ (Composer PSR-4, AssetControl\ namespace). Third-party frontend libraries: @xyflow/react (dependency graph), react-select (rule builder fields). Extension hooks: assetpilot_rest_register, assetpilot_admin_localize, assetpilot_admin_menu_pages, assetpilot_scan_saved, assetpilot_condition_handlers, assetpilot_site_key_scan_urls, assetpilot_site_key_scan_max_urls, assetpilot_key_pages_scan_complete

Compress images, optimize images, and enable image lazy load automatically with the powerful Smush image optimizer to keep your WordPress site fast, without losing quality. Smush makes it easy to optimize images, compress images, and deliver images faster across your entire WordPress site. This all-in-one image optimizer automatically reduces image file sizes, enables image lazy load, and serves modern formats like WebP and AVIF, all without breaking image quality or adding extra work. Whether you’re running a blog, store, or portfolio, Smush helps you optimize images at scale and keep your site fast with a trusted WordPress image optimizer. Trusted by 1+ Million Sites | 4.8/5 Star Rating Get everything you need to optimize images and speed up your site. Smush works out of the box with no complicated setup – just install and let it handle the rest. Compress images without losing quality Reduce image file size automatically while keeping your images sharp and clear. Smush is an easy-to-use image optimizer which let’s you compress images using both lossless and lossy compression, giving you the best balance of quality and performance without extra work. You can also compress images outside the media library using Directory Smush, making it easy to optimize images stored in theme folders, plugins, or other directories on your server. Lazy load images for faster pages Enable image lazy load across your site so images load only when needed. This image optimizer improves initial page speed and creates a smoother experience for visitors without extra configuration. Serve WebP and AVIF images automatically (PRO) Convert images to WebP and AVIF and serve them automatically to supported browsers. Smush helps you optimize images using next-gen formats to reduce file size and improve load times across your WordPress site. Deliver images faster with an Image CDN (PRO) Serve images through a global image CDN to reduce latency and improve load times for visitors around the world. 119 global CDN servers Up to 500 GB of bandwidth Faster image delivery based on visitor location Improved performance for image-heavy and high-traffic sites Automatically resize and fix image dimensions (PRO) Eliminate common PageSpeed warnings and improve layout stability with automatic image sizing. Smush dynamically resizes images to perfectly fit their containers, regardless of original size, helping fix the “Properly size images” warning in Google PageSpeed Insights. It also automatically adds missing width and height attributes to your images, improving rendering speed and reducing layout shifts. This helps you meet the “Ensure images have explicit width and height” recommendation without any manual work. Optimize your entire site, automatically Smush works across your whole site as a powerful image optimizer to optimize images as you upload them and maintain performance over time without manual work. Optimize images automatically on upload Compress images in bulk or individually Works with your existing media library No need to re-upload images Enable image lazy load across your site Convert images to WebP and AVIF Deliver images with an integrated image CDN Automatically resize and serve correctly sized images Optimize images outside the media library with Directory Smush Built for performance Smush improves page speed and overall performance by reducing image weight and improving how images are delivered. Reduce page load times Improve user experience Better performance for image-heavy pages Supports image lazy load and preload images (PRO) for faster perceived performance Works with your existing setup Smush is built to work with your current WordPress setup, including popular themes, page builders, and plugins. Compatible with Gutenberg, Elementor, WPBakery, and more Works with WooCommerce stores No need to change your workflow Easy to enable and configure Designed to be simple You don’t need to be a performance expert to optimize images with Smush image optimizer. Works out of the box Simple settings when you need them No technical knowledge required Safe to use on any site Why choose Smush? There are plenty of image optimization plugins, but Smush focuses on making it easy to optimize images, compress images, and improve performance without complexity. As a leading WordPress image optimizer, Smush gives you powerful optimization tools without the technical hassle. Trusted by over 1 million WordPress users Built specifically for WordPress Regular updates and improvements Backed by the WPMU DEV team Get started in minutes Install Smush, activate it, and start to compress images, optimize images, and enable image lazy load right away. This easy-to-use image optimizer helps most sites see improvements immediately without changing how they upload or manage images. About Us WPMU DEV is a premium supplier of quality WordPress plugins, services and support. Learn more here: https://wpmudev.com/ Don’t forget to stay up to date on everything WordPress from the Internet’s number one resource: WPMU DEV Blog Hey, one more thing… we hope you enjoy our free offerings as much as we’ve loved making them for you! Contact and Credits Originally written by Alex Dunae at Dialect (dialect.ca, e-mail ‘alex’ at ‘dialect dot ca’), 2008-11.