How it works

Think of two moments:

1. Someone opens a page. The plugin looks for photos in the HTML. SVG files are ignored. If a WebP (or AVIF) copy already exists, the page is pointed at that copy. If not, the plugin can create the copy during that page load, then point at it, as long as there is enough time and memory.

2. You click Generate Images. The plugin lists photos in the folders you ticked, then converts them one by one while you wait in the administrator.

Where files go: with the default output folder webp, a file images/stories/photo.jpg becomes images/webp/stories/photo.webp. The original photo.jpg stays.

If Image Format is Both, supporting browsers can get AVIF, then WebP, then the original. You do not have to write that HTML yourself.