FrontBlocks for Gutenberg/GeneratePress vs Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN

FrontBlocks is a lightweight toolkit that extends the WordPress Block Editor (aka Gutenberg) with layout controls, interactive blocks, and content enhancements. Build richer pages with the blocks you already use, without relying on a page builder or custom code. Turn Query Loops and grids into carousels, add animations and visual effects, improve layouts, and enable practical site utilities. FrontBlocks works with native WordPress blocks as well as supported GenerateBlocks elements, with optional integrations for WooCommerce, GenerateBlocks/GeneratePress and Gravity Forms. Container Edge Alignment Add custom controls to GenerateBlocks Container blocks and native WordPress Group/Container blocks to remove padding from the left or right side, creating edge-to-edge layouts. This feature only appears for containers using GeneratePress global max-width settings, perfect for creating asymmetric layouts where content extends to one browser edge while maintaining proper spacing on the other side. Carousel/Slider for GenerateBlocks Grid and Query Loop We have added options to Gutenberg blocks that enable you to create a carousel or slider using your preferred blocks. Supported blocks include GenerateBlocks Grid, GenerateBlocks Element, core/group, and the native WordPress Query Loop (core/query). To start using the carousel, go to the grid block or Query Loop block and select the ‘Carousel’ or ‘Slider’ option in the ‘FrontBlocks Grid Options’ section. Carousel/Slider attributes: – Autoplay: automatically changes the slides after a certain amount of time (in seconds). – Items to view: configure the number of items to display for different screen sizes: * Desktop (>1200px): number of items to show on desktop screens. * Laptop (992px-1199px): number of items to show on laptop screens. * Tablet (768px-991px): number of items to show on tablet screens. * Mobile ( , , , ) and event-handler attributes (on*) are stripped before saving, protecting against XSS attacks. Login Block: Add a native Gutenberg login form block to any page or post. Insert the block from the Gutenberg inserter under the FrontBlocks category. Features a toggle to switch between login form and registration form views, with fully customizable labels and styles. Ideal for membership sites or pages requiring a clean, integrated login experience without a shortcode. Post Meta (Native) — FrontBlocks PRO: Display custom field values from post meta inside native WordPress blocks directly in the editor. Select any registered meta key and output its value inline within heading, paragraph, or other text blocks — no shortcodes or custom PHP required. Useful for displaying dynamic data such as prices, dates, or any custom field stored in post meta. Available in FrontBlocks PRO. FAQ Schema (JSON-LD): Automatically generate FAQPage structured data for search engines. Enable the “FAQ Schema” toggle in any accordion block (core/details) to mark it as an FAQ item. FrontBlocks collects all enabled items on the page and outputs a valid FAQPage JSON-LD script in the footer, improving your chances of appearing as rich results in Google Search. Gravity Forms Inline Layout: Display Gravity Forms with fields and buttons on the same line. Perfect for newsletter signup forms (email + subscribe button) or search forms (input + search button). To use this feature: 1. Select a form in the Gravity Forms block 2. Find the “FrontBlocks Gravity Form Options” panel in the block settings where you can: – Enable inline layout with a simple toggle – Adjust the gap between elements (0-50px) – Responsive design: automatically stacks on mobile devices This feature eliminates the need for custom CSS to achieve inline form layouts. Stacked Images Block: Display a set of images with an animated stacking effect. Images appear layered on top of each other and animate in from a configurable direction (top, bottom, left, or right). Insert the block from the Gutenberg inserter under the FrontBlocks category and upload multiple images. Features: – Configurable animation duration and delay between each image. – Container height control to fit any layout. – Smooth entrance animations driven by CSS/JS with no dependencies. Events: Register and manage events directly from WordPress. Enable the Events feature from the FrontBlocks settings page and choose between two modes: a dedicated Custom Post Type (with its own menu and category taxonomy) or storing events as regular posts. Each event includes meta fields for: – All-day toggle – Start and end date and time – Cost – Event website URL Language Recommendation Banner: Display a smart banner that detects the visitor’s browser language and suggests switching to the matching version of the site. Enable the banner from the FrontBlocks settings page. The banner only appears when the site has a translated version matching the user’s browser language, and respects user dismissal via a cookie. Cookie Notice: Show a lightweight, configurable cookie consent banner with Accept and Reject actions. Choose between a full-width bottom bar, a boxed panel (bottom-left or bottom-right) or a centered popup, and customize the message, button labels, cookie policy page, accent color and cookie expiration. Google Tag Manager and/or GA4 are only requested and loaded after a visitor accepts — never before — and returning visitors who already accepted get the scripts on normal page load. The settings page also shows a simple accepted/rejected acceptance-rate stat (admins are excluded from the count). Implements Google Consent Mode v2, so it also holds back tracking from other analytics/ads plugins that respect it — including Google Site Kit — until the visitor decides. Advanced Cookie Management (FrontBlocks PRO): Extend Cookie Notice with separate Necessary, Analytics and Marketing preferences, a customizable preferences dialog and a reusable trigger that lets visitors update their choices later. Google Ads, Meta Pixel and Microsoft Clarity only run after the relevant category is accepted. It also supports the official Meta Pixel for WordPress plugin by holding its Pixel and Conversions API signals until Marketing consent. WooCommerce Features: Included features for WooCommerce FrontBlocks PRO. FrontBlocks PRO: FrontBlocks PRO is a premium plugin that extends the functionality of FrontBlocks. It includes additional features and improvements over the free version. Features: – Enable Gutenberg in the product editor. – Enable simple prices for variable products. – Block added after button. – Product description behaviour. – Disable zoom on product image. – Share buttons. – Custom Post Types Builder: Create and manage custom post types with advanced configuration options: * Create custom post types with a simple interface from the FrontBlocks settings page * Configure post type behavior (Post or Page style – hierarchical or not) * Enable/disable categories taxonomy for each custom post type * Add custom meta fields with multiple field types (Text, Textarea, URL, Date, File, Number, Email) * Individual settings page for each custom post type accessible from the post type menu * Delete custom post types easily with a single click – Disable tabs on the product page. – Horizontal product form layout (price, quantity, and add to cart button in one row). – Checkout Inline: Display billing/shipping fields (email + phone, address line 1 + address line 2) side by side in a two-column layout. Compatible with Block Checkout (WooCommerce 8+) and legacy shortcode checkout. – Full Page Scroll: Create fullpage scroll experiences with smooth section-by-section navigation and automatic side navigation dots. Perfect for landing pages, portfolios, and presentations. – Footer Patterns: Ready-to-use footer block patterns (3 columns, 4 columns, hero contact) for native WordPress and Gutenberg. – Login Block: Native Gutenberg block for user login and registration forms with customizable labels and …

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.