Title: Squidge
Author: Ainsley Clark
Published: December 8, 2021
Last modified: December 21, 2021
---
Search plugins
This plugin **hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress**.
It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when
used with more recent versions of WordPress.
# Squidge
By [Ainsley Clark](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ainsleyclark/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/squidge.zip)
* [Details](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/squidge/#description)
* [Reviews](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/squidge/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/squidge/#installation)
* [Development](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/squidge/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/squidge/)
## Description
Squidge is a FREE WordpPress Plugin built for developers in mind compressing and
convert images using jpegoptim,
optipng, cwebp, and libavif. It’s extremley simple
to use and is designed to increase PSI and boost rankings.
### Why?
Image compression in WordPress can be costly, confusing and sometimes just simply
don’t work. We have aimed to simplify
the process by requiring the developer to
install the required package on the operating system and Squidge does the hard work
for you.
* **IT’S FREE**
* Unlimited file size, no limits.
* Optimised for your site to rank.
* CLI to regenerate all of your media files.
* Helper functions to output images in templates.
* Uses the native `cwebp` and `libavif` libraries.
### What does Squidge do?
Squidge compresses and converts image files when the user has uploaded a file to
WordPress.
* Compresses JPG images using `jpegoptim`.
* Compresses PNG images using `optipng`.
* Converts JPG and PNG images to `.webp` files using `cwebp` with the appended
extension e.g. `image.jpg.webp`.
* Converts JPG and PNG images to `.avif` files using `libavif` with the appended
extension e.g. `image.jpg.avif`.
### Render Images
To render images in templates, you can either set up nginx or apache rules to serve
images dynamically or used the
squidge_image helper function. This dynamically
checks if an `.avif` or `.webp` file is available on the file system and returns
the output.
### Function
```
/**
* Returns a element with source media for the standard file passed
* (such as a JPG), the .avif file, the .webp file (if to exist on the file system).
*
* Appropriate elements for image sizes with max widths.
* Finally, the main be outputted with alt and title text.
*
* - If lazy is true, the data-src or data-srcset will be appended.
* - If a class is set, the class will be outputted on the element.
*
* @param $image_id
* @param string $class
* @param false $lazy
* @return string
*/
function squidge_image($image_id, $class = '', $lazy = false)
```
### Output
```
```
### Credits
Written by [Ainsley Clark](https://github.com/ainsleyclark)
## Screenshots
* [[
* Plugin settings page
* [[
* Example compression tab
## Installation
1. Go to the [releases](https://github.com/ainsleyclark/squidge/releases) section
and download the plugin.
2. Upload the `squidge` plugin to your `/wp-content/plugins/` directory.
3. Activate the plugin through the “Plugins” menu in WordPress.
4. Check the Settings tab under `Settings | Squidge Options` to ensure the libraries
are installed, if they aren’t,
run the commands listed dependent on your operating
system.
5. Check the individual optimisation tabs and adjust settings accordingly.
6. Done!
## FAQ
### Does the plugin replace existing images?
Yes
### What are the supported operating systems?
Windows, Linux, & Mac OSX.
## Reviews
### [Settings page empty](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/settings-page-empty-8/)
[Hans Konings](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kamawp/) February 13, 2023
Doesn’t work at all. Tried it on two different websites. On both websites the settings
pages is empty. No setting adjustments possible.
### [Cool Idea](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/cool-idea-6/)
[pressport](https://profiles.wordpress.org/pressport/) December 30, 2021
This looks promising! It seems to be the only such solution for avif that can run
on the user’s own hosting.
### [Awesome plugin!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/awesome-plugin-6277/)
[OhColar](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ohcolar/) December 21, 2021
I’ll be using this plugin for all my projects for sure! It’s really useful as compression
can be a nightmare with WordPress. Can’t believe it’s free too.
[ Read all 3 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/squidge/reviews/)
## Contributors & Developers
“Squidge” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this
plugin.
Contributors
* [ Ainsley Clark ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ainsleyclark/)
“Squidge” has been translated into 2 locales. Thank you to [the translators](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/squidge/contributors)
for their contributions.
[Translate “Squidge” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/squidge)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/squidge/), check out
the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/squidge/), or subscribe to
the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/squidge/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/squidge/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 0.1.0
* Initial Release
## Meta
* Version **0.1.4**
* Last updated **4 years ago**
* Active installations **40+**
* WordPress version ** 5.5 or higher **
* Tested up to **5.8.13**
* PHP version ** 5.6 or higher **
* Languages
* [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/squidge/), [German](https://de.wordpress.org/plugins/squidge/),
and [Russian](https://ru.wordpress.org/plugins/squidge/).
* [Translate into your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/squidge)
* Tags
* [compression](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/compression/)[image](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/image/)
[image compression](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/image-compression/)
[lazy load](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/lazy-load/)[webp](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/webp/)
* [Advanced View](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/squidge/advanced/)
## Ratings
3.7 out of 5 stars.
* [ 2 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/squidge/reviews/?filter=5)
* [ 0 4-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/squidge/reviews/?filter=4)
* [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/squidge/reviews/?filter=3)
* [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/squidge/reviews/?filter=2)
* [ 1 1-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/squidge/reviews/?filter=1)
[Add my review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/squidge/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/squidge/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ Ainsley Clark ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ainsleyclark/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/squidge/)
## Donate
Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin?
[ Donate to this plugin ](https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=PQG5A34KWUXRJ)
