A new proposal for WordPress 6.0 scheduled for release in May 2022 will enable automatic image conversion by default so that all uploaded images are displayed in the better WebP format. The WordPress developer community has overwhelmingly opposed the proposal because it would result in a massive increase in disk space usage.
It is recommended to enable WebP by default
WebP is a new image format that displays images in a fairly small file size. This means that many web pages will download at a faster speed, resulting in a better experience for users.
The WebP format should be more suitable for publishers as it is known that increasing site speed leads to higher ad revenue and sales.
So the proposal to make WebP the default seems like a good idea.
However, the proposal has met with enthusiastic, sometimes angry, opposition from the WordPress community.
Huge increase in disk space
One of the most important concerns expressed by the WordPress community is that this new feature will significantly increase disk space by 25% to 50% or more.
One developer reported that this would result in higher fees for publishers due to the need for more hosting web space. Developers point out that while bandwidth costs are cheap, disk space is not.
developer wrote in proposal comments:
“Unfortunately, essentially doubling the number of generated image files (i.e. disk space) has serious consequences.
This is not trivial. In the long run, this single “decision” will result in millions of dollars in increased hosting fees.
I can already see our customers running re-thumbnails and suddenly need to pay 25%-50% more for an upgraded host just for disk space. “
WordPress core committer Adam Silverstein, Google Developer Relations Engineer and WordPress Core Committer Respond in comments Those who don’t like the new feature can simply turn it off by adding a few lines of code in WordPress.
But this is not something normal users can do. To make matters worse, WordPress isn’t going to offer an on/off switch because they don’t want users to have to make a decision (more on that below).
Why WordPress’ WebP Proposal is a Bad Idea
Andrew Wilder, founder of NerdPress (@NerdPress), a company that supports and maintains Food and Lifestyle WordPress sites for hundreds of customers, explains in detail why the WordPress proposal is a bad idea
Andrew shares:
“On the surface, this seems like a good idea, since WebP images are generally smaller (similar quality) than JPGs.
However, I think this is a fundamentally flawed approach, as it causes the media library to bloat out of control (doubling the number of files), resulting in a website running out of disk space.
It will also make backup/restore/migration more difficult.
This proposal would effectively double the number of image files (over time) and potentially use 70% more storage space.
It doesn’t convert all images at once; the proposal is to start duplicating new images.
However, if someone “regenerates” the thumbnail (which is usually required after a theme change), it will also create a WebP copy at that point.
So when backing up the site, all those images need to be transferred to the backup location somehow. Good backup systems will be “incremental” so they only copy new files. But even good systems can time out or fail, especially when there are thousands of files in each of many folders.
For example: ManageWP (owned by GoDaddy) actually limits the maximum files it can back up to 1,000,000 files.
So if there are more than that on the server, the backup won’t work.
It sounds like a lot of files, but it’s actually quite easy to happen. A website, for example, has 15,000 images in the library and 50 thumbnails in size, or 750K thumbnails.
This excludes all other files on the server. So if we double it with a WebP image, we’re stuck. “
I asked Andrew what he thought of the sane approach WordPress should take to the proposed WebP feature.
Andrew replied:
“I think the best thing to do is to keep it as a standalone plugin rather than merge it into the core.
However, if they absolutely want to do it anyway, they should disable it by default on all sites, and it should be a setting on the Media Settings page.
In addition to the setting, there should be information explaining the pros and cons of enabling it – and perhaps a link to an article from a neutral source that clearly outlines why someone might or might not want to enable it. “
Is the lack of an on/off switch a heavy hand?
A major problem is the lack of an easy way to turn off this behavior.
A person Comment:
“It’s annoying that there isn’t an easy off switch, and it requires another plugin or snippet.
Setting up the API is not difficult to use. If you can convert WebP, you can give an off switch.
I have nothing against this feature. It will benefit many users and inconvenience some.
But it feels too heavy. “
WordPress doesn’t want to burden users with choices
Adam Silverstein responded to the criticism of the lack of an on/off option, reminding everyone that it is the official WordPress philosophy to make something out of the box work fully without the user having to make a decision. It is also WordPress policy to design for the many non-tech savvy people.
Adam specifically mentions the name “decide, not choose. “
According to this design philosophy, WordPress seeks to avoid letting users make decisions.
The official philosophy of WordPress is that design should be smart enough that publishers don’t have to decide whether to turn a feature on or off.
The policy states:
“As developers, we have a responsibility to make informed design decisions and avoid focusing technology choices on our end users.”
Adam Silverstein, Core WordPress Committer, persist in:
“The vast majority of users will benefit from this feature without needing to know or choose to turn on or off the technical details of specific image formats.”
a WordPress user respond:
“Decision rather than choice seems like a really bad argument here. It’s a checkbox on the settings page. One might argue that ‘discouraging search engines’ is a pointless choice because 99% of people want their site to be indexed, but this is a very useful option that avoids the need for a plugin to do what the core is supposed to do.”
free decision
Some decisions are so small that most people can accept that WordPress makes these decisions on behalf of the user.
But it’s not one of those decisions that a very dissatisfied WordPress user insists on.
them Say:
“I choose my images. I choose their format. It’s my decision, not where WordPress chooses for me.
…so yes, this behavior is extreme to me.
It will be permanently disabled on any website I control. “
WordPress to create a plugin?
Amid heated online discussion, Adam Silverstein came up with the idea of creating a plugin So that the publisher can disable the new WebP feature.
But even the idea ran into resistance, with one commenter asking how WordPress would notify users that a plugin was needed to turn off the default WordPress behavior.
They point out that it makes more sense to simply make it an option for WordPress, rather than impose this behavior on publishers and cause problems for people who don’t know plugins.
WordPress community unhappy with WebP proposal
The comments section on the WordPress WebP proposal is one of the longest threads I’ve seen in a long time.
Comments from the WordPress community on the proposal were overwhelmingly negative and strongly opposed to the proposed feature.
One commenter in particular may have summed up how well the proposal was accepted.
them shared:
“Honestly, this sucks on many levels, and while I find some of the directions WordPress core has taken in the past to be questionable, I ended up working on it, but I honestly don’t think it’s something I’ll accept .”
