Backed by Awesome Motive.
Learn more on our Seahawk Blog.

WebP Is Coming To WordPress 6.1 By Default

Written By: author avatar Komal Bothra
author avatar Komal Bothra
Hey, I’m Komal. I write content that speaks from the heart and makes WordPress work for you. Let’s make your ideas come alive!
webp

Since the introduction of WordPress 5.8 a year ago, users have been able to upload and use WebP images in their content, adding freedom. The Performance Team in March 2022 proposed that WordPress be able to enable WebP by default in the core to expand support for the image format. Among many things that can be done here is to generate WebP images for new JPEG uploads and use WebP images for the website’s content. However, following critical feedback, the controversial proposal was held in April. 

A JavaScript snippet will detect browsers without WebP support and load JPEGs instead, as suggested by the Performance team. In addition, the following are additional WebP revisions that are included by default: 

In WordPress 6.1, only core image sizes are automatically generated as WebP versions by default, as opposed to all other image sizes. To receive automatic WebP versions, custom image sizes must first opt-in or opt out if they are exclusive to exceptional cases that WebP does not support.

To keep secondary (WebP) sub-sizes, they must be smaller than the primary MIME type if they are to be kept at all.

You should only generate WebP images for image sizes intended for use in front-end content that is visible to users. There is no need to store images in WebP format that you will never use, so this saves you storage space.

The generation of additional MIME types can be controlled by adding a filter based on the sub-size of an image. This allows the developers to restrict specific sizes of images used in the front-end content, such as those not used in the back-end. 

Defaulting to WebP will only affect newly uploaded images after it has been incorporated into the core, so it will not affect current photos. Existing uploads would not automatically be converted to WebP when they are updated. WP-CLI or a plugin such as Regenerate Thumbnails would be the best option for users who want to convert past uploads into thumbnail images. 

There has been a mixed response to the proposed revisions so far. However, it appears there is substantial support for the new approach, and other team members are encouraging the team to consider some of the practical implications for end users who could be affected by this change. 

According to several commenters, WordPress should consider adopting the more modern AVIF format instead of its excellent quality and compression compared to the outdated design. 

This initiative has been categorized as a progressive enhancement. Would it be better if it supported future-proof formats like AVIF instead of falling back gracefully to older designs? Kevin Batdorf, a JavaScript developer, said in response to the question. Browsers will add support for these standards as they develop. 

Moving to WebP support felt a bit like when WordPress added the REST API when everyone was transitioning to GraphQL simultaneously. It’s great to have REST and WebP, but they’re both current generation technologies, and they’ll feel stale pretty quickly.” 

Related Posts

WordPress 6.7 has officially arrived, and it’s packed with exciting new features and enhancements designed

It’s that time of the year again – the final major update has landed, and

Automattic Inc., the parent company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, and Tumblr, announced its acquisition of Texts.com,

Komal Bothra February 17, 2025

How to White-Label WordPress Admin Dashboard: Your Best Guide

Have you ever thought about how great it would be to white-label WordPress admin dashboard?

WordPress
Komal Bothra February 14, 2025

How to Install WordPress on Windows 11 (5 Easy Ways)

Want to install WordPress on Windows for local development? Installing WordPress on Windows 11 is

Tech WordPress
Komal Bothra February 13, 2025

Google Cache Pages Removed? View Google Cache Easily

Ever stumbled upon a webpage that’s suddenly missing or recently updated, but you need to

Tech

Get started with Seahawk

Sign up in our app to view our pricing and get discounts.