WP Smush, Queen of image optimization, just added image lazy loading to her bag of tricks… And it’s free!
If you thought Smush couldn’t get any better after 3.0, think again. Our CDN upgrade unlocked the future of site speed and WordPress performance – instantaneously delivering next-gen images at the right size for every container from our global image delivery network – 45 points of presence at 40 Tbps.
How does it get any better than that!?
Smush now has an 11 out of 10. Defer offscreen images in WordPress with the flip of a switch using the new Smush lazy loader.
And that’s not all.
If you’re not already using Smush, install it now for a performance boost and follow along with our detailed run down. Get it on WordPress.org or use your 30-day free Membership for unlimited access to all the Pro features.
Now that you’re all set up, let’s look at the latest and greatest features included in Smush.
Lazy Load Your Images (Because Lazy is the New Overachiever)
What is lazy loading you ask? It’s when a page only loads the section being viewed and delays your other resources from populating until they are needed.
If your page has a bunch of images below the fold, lazy loading can drastically speed up your PageSpeed.
Smush now gives you full control over when and where images should populate.
Smush lets you choose what image files types should be deferred, from JPEG and PNG to GIF, and SVG.
You can also set if images should load based on location. Maybe you want images in the body to lazy load but not in the widgets. Smush can handle that. Just check the output locations you want lazy loaded and Smush will handle the rest.
The lazy load module also includes both fade and spin animations you can set for how images should appear when they scroll into view.
You can even include or exclude pages from lazy load by post type, category, tag, URL, class or ID. It’s ready out of the box and insanely easy to create custom configurations.
Smush CDN now Supports Mapped Domains
Smush 3.2 also includes a Multisite upgrade. The Smush CDN now supports mapped domains. If you are using Smush on your Multisite network take advantage of resizing, WebP image support, and CDN delivery.
No special settings for this one. Just activate the Smush CDN on your mapped domains to get a huge speed upgrade.
New and Improved Smush Settings Manager
For our long-time users, Smush has a few fancy new settings for improving how plugin data is stored and managed.
First off, when upgrading from Free to Pro all you need to do is install and activate the WPMU DEV Dashboard plugin and our API will take care of the upgrade for you. Super simple.
Testing for conflicts or troubleshooting your site and need to uninstall Smush? Smush gives you the option to preserve your settings and data.
And if you’re all tangled up and want to start from scratch, or maybe you’re taking over a site and you have your own configuration you prefer, you can reset smush to default factory settings with a click.
Results That Don’t Lie
As you can see, Smush 3.2 brings some great new tools for improving your site speed. But what I really wanted to know was how much I could improve my site by slapping Smush and Hummingbird on it.
So, I ran a page speed test on my portfolio site. A site with a lot of rich images and super slow. No surprise here, but Google PageSpeed Insight clocked my desktop at 77 and mobile at 48 :grimacing: Not good.
I reran my test after turning on Hummingbird Pro and Smush Pro, and activating the CDN and Lazy load, and it shot up nearly 20 points to 94 desktop and 68 mobile. Just basic adjustments. Configuring for your site and running through the rest of the settings I’m sure you can do even better. (Post on that in the works).
Want to get even more out of your site? Just ask. Our support team is standing by to make sure you’re getting the most out of our optimization sweet.
Get started with your free membership and get Smush image optimization, Hummingbird for performance, and our entire suite of services and support for unlimited sites. It’s everything you need to make WordPress better. You’re gonna love it.
