Custom PHP Settings vs Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN

This plugin can be used to customize php settings for you WordPress installation. The plugin will modify either the .htaccess file or .user.ini file in order to change the current php settings directly from within the settings page. Since the configuration file needs to be modified this file must be writable for this plugin to work as expected. Apache module When PHP is running as an Apache module the .htaccess file will be used to set customized settings; make sure so that this file exists and is writable by the webserver. CGI/Fast-CGI If instead PHP is running in CGI/Fast-CGI mode then a custom INI file will be used. The name of this file depends on the value of user_ini.filename in the php configuration, by default it is .user.ini. You can check the name of you custom INI file in the PHP Information table. The custom INI file should be placed under the root folder and most be writable by the webserver. Notice that there is also a User INI file cache TTL value in the information table, this value tells how long the custom INI file will be cached before it gets reloaded. For instance, if this value is set to 300 then any changes to your custom INI file will not be reflected for up to 5 minutes. The name for this setting in the php configuration is user_ini.cache_ttl. One important thing is to make sure that your .user.ini file is blocked by your webserver. If you are running NGINX this can be done by adding: location ~ /\.user\.ini { deny all; } to your server configuration. The same thing using Apache is done by adding the following to the configuration if not already done: order allow,deny deny from all Available Settings The settings table will display all non-system php settings that can be customized by the plugin. All modified settings will be displayed in red in this table. Some settings might be displayed in red because they are changed somewhere else, perhaps through a customized php.ini file, by WordPress itself, a plugin or in some other way. For instance if you have enabled WP_DEBUG in your wp-config.php file the error_reporting setting will turn red. If you have questions or perhaps some idea on things that should be added you can also try slack. Multiple Configurations The premium version adds support for creating multiple named configurations which all can hold their own custom PHP settings. You will then be able to easily switch between the different configurations entries applying them to you configuration file. Environment Variables In the premium version, when running PHP as an apache module and using an .htaccess file for configuration, you are able to add custom environment variables. These will be accessible by using the super global $_SERVER array. In order for this to work you will need to have the mod_env module enabled in your apache setup. Resources A complete list of settings that can be modified can be found here: List of php.ini directives Notice that directives marked as PHP_INI_SYSTEM can not be modified. Warning Make sure you know how a value should be configured and what different settings do before changing anything. This is important since some settings might render your page inaccessible, depending on what value you are using. A good example of this is the variables_order configuration: Sets the order of the EGPCS (Environment, Get, Post, Cookie, and Server) variable parsing. For example, if variables_order is set to “SP” then PHP will create the superglobals $_SERVER and $_POST, but not create $_ENV, $_GET, and $_COOKIE. Setting to “” means no superglobals will be set. If this value would be configured to EPCS then no $_GET superglobal would be set which would make your page inaccessible. Another example is setting the post_max_size to a very low value so that no form data is sent to the server, which in turn would result in that form data is never saved. If you by mistake changed some value and your site is now inaccessible you could simply manually remove everything from between the plugin markers in your .htaccess file: # BEGIN CUSTOM PHP SETTINGS PRO php_value variables_order EPCS <-- Remove # END CUSTOM PHP SETTINGS PRO If you are running PHP in CGI/Fast-CGI mode then instead remove everything between the plugins markers in your .user.ini file: ; BEGIN CUSTOM PHP SETTINGS php_value variables_order EPCS <-- Remove ; END CUSTOM PHP SETTINGS Support If you run into any trouble, don’t hesitate to add a new topic under the support section: https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/custom-php-settings/ You can also try contacting me on slack.

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.