PixelVault – Media Library Folders & Asset Manager vs Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN

📁 PixelVault is the free way to organize your WordPress media library with unlimited, drag-and-drop media folders, and now to present those folders as a downloadable Document Library on the front end. Sort images, videos, PDFs, audio, and documents into nested, colour-coded folders right inside the Media Library, then publish any folder as a browsable asset manager for your visitors. Stop scrolling through hundreds of unsorted attachments. PixelVault lets you categorize media into folders and subfolders, filter instantly, and find any file in seconds — a proper file manager for your WordPress media. Folders are virtual — physical files never move, no URLs change, nothing breaks, and standard WordPress export/import keeps working without any special steps. 🆕 Document Library block (new in 1.2.0) Turn any media folder into a browsable, downloadable document library on the front end, no page builder required. The PixelVault Document Library Gutenberg block renders a folder as an accessible file browser with a sidebar folder tree, breadcrumb navigation, in-library search, pagination, and per-file downloads. 🗂️ Folder tree and breadcrumb: visitors browse nested folders without page reloads 🔍 Search and pagination: find files fast inside large folders ⬇️ Per-file download plus Download-all ZIP: grab one file or the whole folder in a click 🎨 Three design presets (Cards, Compact, Minimal), with an accent colour and a framed option ♿ Accessibility-first: full keyboard navigation (WAI-ARIA tree pattern), screen-reader friendly 📱 Fully responsive: grid and list layouts adapt to mobile 🔒 Respects folder visibility: restricted folders stay hidden from guests Perfect for knowledge bases, press kits, resource centres, download portals, and product documentation. ✨ Core Features 📂 Unlimited nested folders and subfolders — no depth limit, no folder count limit 🔗 Assign files to multiple folders — one file can appear in as many folders as you like 🎨 Folder colour coding — colour-label folders for instant visual orientation 🖱️ Drag-and-drop sidebar — reorder folders, move files, and create subfolders by dragging ⚡ Auto-assign uploads — new files go straight into whichever folder is selected 🔍 Search and sort — find folders instantly; sort manually, by name, or by file count ⌨️ Keyboard shortcut — press “n” to create a new folder 🖲️ Right-click context menu — Rename, Delete, Lock, Create subfolders, Copy gallery shortcode, Import ZIP to folder, Download all files 🌐 RTL language support — full right-to-left layout 🛠️ Organisation and Productivity Tools 📦 ZIP File Import Right-click any folder and choose “Import ZIP to folder”. Upload a .zip archive and PixelVault extracts and assigns every image, video, audio file, and PDF directly into that folder. 🗺️ Media Usage Map Right-click any image and choose “Where is this used?” to see every post, page, or custom post type that references the file — useful before replacing or deleting files. ⬇️ Bulk Download as ZIP Right-click any folder to download all its files as a ZIP archive. 🔒 Folder Locking Lock any folder to prevent accidental renaming, deletion, moving, or file reassignment. Locked folders display a padlock badge. 📊 Storage Analytics Full storage overview with total size, average file size, file-type breakdown chart, top-10 largest files, and per-folder size distribution. Available under Settings → Analytics and as a WordPress Dashboard widget. ✏️ Bulk Alt Text Editor Batch-edit alt text on all images that are missing it — useful for accessibility and image SEO. Edit multiple files at once without opening each one individually. 🔄 Media Replace Swap any file in place, keeping the same URL and attachment ID. All existing references on posts and pages continue to work automatically. 🎯 Smart Filters Dynamic built-in views that update automatically: Missing Alt Text, Unused Files, Recent Uploads, and Large Files. 🗂️ Auto-Categorise Existing Media Bulk-organise your existing media library in one click via the import icon at the bottom of the folder panel. Choose a rule: 📅 By Year — creates a folder per year (e.g. 2023, 2024). 🗓️ By Month — creates a folder per month (e.g. January 2024, February 2024). 🏷️ By File Type — creates Images, Videos, Audio, PDFs, Documents, and Spreadsheets folders. Choose Unassigned only to leave already-organised files untouched, or All files to reassign everything. PixelVault previews the result before making any changes. 🚚 Import from Other Plugins One-click migration from FileBird, Real Media Library, WP Media Folder, and Enhanced Media Library. Folder hierarchy and all file assignments are copied automatically. Go to Settings → Tools → Import from Another Plugin. The original plugin’s data is never modified. 💾 Export and Import Back up your entire folder structure as a JSON file and restore it on any WordPress site — no SQL required. 🔐 Role Permissions Granular folder access per WordPress user role: control who can create, edit, and delete folders independently. 🧩 Gutenberg, Elementor, and Divi 📚 PixelVault Document Library block — publish a folder as an accessible, downloadable file library with a folder tree, search, pagination, and Download-all ZIP 🖼️ PixelVault Gallery block — insert a folder’s contents as a responsive gallery with lightbox directly in the block editor 📝 [pixelvault_gallery] shortcode — classic editor, widgets, and theme template support 🎛️ Elementor — folder panel works inside the Elementor media modal 🏗️ Divi — folder panel works in the Divi backend builder and the Divi Front End Builder 🌍 Universal compatibility — PixelVault hooks into WordPress’s native media modal, so it works with any theme or page builder 🏛️ Architecture: Virtual Taxonomy PixelVault stores folder assignments in WordPress’s native taxonomy tables (wp_term_relationships). Physical files stay exactly where they are. Deleting a folder never deletes files. 👩‍💻 For Developers Full REST API and documented action/filter hooks. 🔌 REST API — Full CRUD at /wp-json/rayetun-medianest/v1/folders. Authenticate with X-WP-Nonce. ⚙️ Action hooks (selection): rayetun_medianest_folder_created( $term_id, $folder_id, $args ) rayetun_medianest_folder_renamed( $term_id, $new_name ) rayetun_medianest_folder_moved( $term_id, $new_parent, $old_parent ) rayetun_medianest_folder_deleted( $term_id, $folder_object ) rayetun_medianest_folders_reordered( $ordered_term_ids ) rayetun_medianest_attachment_assigned( $attachment_id, $term_ids, $context ) 🔧 Filter hooks (selection): rayetun_medianest_get_folders( $folders, $post_type ) — modify the folder list rayetun_medianest_auto_assign_target( $term_id, $attachment_id ) — override the upload target folder rayetun_medianest_smart_folders( $defs ) — register custom dynamic folders JavaScript hooks (via @wordpress/hooks) let you add items to the folder/image context menus and the bulk-action bar. A full list of PHP and JavaScript hooks with examples ships in HOOKS.md inside the plugin.

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.