[This is part of the Common WordPress Mistakes series to help bloggers, churches, ministries and nonprofits avoid common mistakes when creating a new website using the WordPress CMS.]
Ah, yes, another wonderful day in WordPress world.
This next tip is good to know, as you can avoid using extra server storage space you may not need to be using in the first place. Failing to compress your images or fully understand your Media Settings is a common WordPress mistake better avoided earlier than later.
Common WordPress Mistake
There are additional, more aggressive approaches you can take when it comes to optimizing your images, but I think this is more than enough to overcome anything deemed as a “common” WordPress mistake.
Fail to Compress Images
An easy aspect to overlook in WordPress is image compression and/or sizing. WordPress makes image management super easy as every time you upload an image, it duplicates and resizes them automatically.
So, based on the Media Settings picture below, if you upload an image that’s 1200px x 900px, you will then have four images added to your WordPress content folder.
It would contain the original, followed by the Large, Medium and Thumbnail size base on your defined settings. There are a few things you can do to minimize the footprint your images use.
Here’s how to avoid bloating your media folder:
Don’t Upload Huge Images
The first thing you need to do is stop uploading giant photos! When my wife first started our family blog, she would upload the 1mb+ photos, making the WordPress install use far more space than it needed to. Why store images on your website you’ll never use, especially when they’re this big!
Resize Your Images
At least resize your images to the Large size defined in your Media Settings. If I am sure I won’t be using the Large size, I resize to the more common Medium dimension, thus eliminating the original and Large size image versions in WordPress. This reduces your WordPress footprint even more.
Optimize Your Images
While you’re at it, you may as well optimize your images. There are multiple ways you can approach this (I recommend ImageOptim), I’ve found using a desktop app is the easiest. You can try any of these on for size and they usually can be found at no cost.
From those more experienced WordPress users, what’s your favorite image optimization app?
Eric J says
Wouldn’t uploading larger images make your blog more future proof as screens get wider and wider?
Eric Dye says
Yes, but within reason. Figure out what your largest image should be, and roll with that—IMHO.