Optimizing Images for WordPress’ Divi Builder

ImageRecycle can do wonders for your WordPress blog and its images. With ImageRecycle’s compression, you can optimize images by compressing them by up to 80% of their original sizes. That is all well and good, but your WordPress media is not there just to occupy server space. Your WordPress media is there to be seen.

In reality, ImageRecycle and its compressed images blend in seamlessly with many WordPress editors. In the ongoing tour of how ImageRecycle can improve your WordPress blog, we take a look at the Divi Builder. More specifically, in this article we examine how ImageRecycle’s compressed media can be used with one of the most popular WordPress editors.

Optimizing Images for the Divi Builder

Divi is a popular WordPress post and page builder. On the surface, it is not all too different from Gutenberg; like WordPress’ Gutenberg, with the Divi Builder you can create posts and pages by organizing modules in the editor as you would with Gutenberg’s blocks. However, in many ways, Divi is also much more mature and powerful than Gutenberg.

The Divi Builder allows you to create posts and pages visually, and gives you more control over how your WordPress blog looks and feels. Among Divi’s modules, several are image-related. The Divi modules include the image and gallery blocks, which, incidentally, use WordPress’ native media library. Thanks to that, you can integrate ImageRecycle with the Divi Builder without altering your workflow.

To start optimizing images for the Divi Builder with ImageRecycle, first download and install the plugin. You will also need to activate a license from ImageRecycle’s configuration, under the settings menu. Input your API key and secret, save changes and finally activate media optimization.

While you are in ImageRecycle’s settings, you can also configure the plugin. For example, you can choose to resize images immediately upon uploading them. You can also compress images up to a certain size. Most importantly, it is up to you to choose whether to use best saving or lossless compression.

With best saving compression, you can reduce image sizes by up to 80%. With lossless compression, you can save up to 20% with image optimization, but you retain the possibility of reverting the changes at any time. You can read more about the difference between best saving and lossless compression here.

After you have activated your license, you can start compressing and optimizing image sizes. ImageRecycle’s compression functionality resides in the item with the same name under the Media menu. From here, you get an overview of all the files uploaded to your WordPress media library. The details include the image sizes, whether they have already been compressed and the compression rate.

If you are new to ImageRecycle, but not to blogging with WordPress, you will be pleased to know that the plugin comes with bulk optimization. That means you can compress all of the images in your WordPress media library, regardless of its size. You can also select a few images you want to optimize and apply bulk optimization on that set.

ImageRecycle automatically compresses new images on its own. You can use ImageRecycle’s page to monitor optimization results, optimize individual images and undo compression if you have enabled lossless compression. Once you finish optimizing your WordPress media library, it’s time to put your images to good use with the Divi Builder!

Using ImageRecycle’s Compressed Images in the Divi Builder

If you are new to ImageRecycle, but not to the Divi Builder, then the hardest part is behind you. The Divi Builder uses the WordPress media library… the same media library that you have just finished compressing and optimizing.

To start using your optimized images, head to any WordPress post or page and start creating using the Divi Builder. Choose any image-based module, namely one of the image or gallery blocks. Then, select the images that you want to add. That’s it.

There is nothing more to ImageRecycle’s integration with the Divi Builder. Your previously-optimized images reside in your WordPress media library, and Divi uses those compressed images in its content. ImageRecycle inserts itself into your workflow without disrupting it.

Although ImageRecycle does not change the way you work with Divi, it does affect your website. That image you just added? It is up to 80% smaller, resulting in faster loading times, higher SEO scores and better user retention on your WordPress blog. Just imagine how much you can save with larger galleries.

If you have settled in a comfortable blogging process, even the slightest changes to your workflow can seem like huge hurdles. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. ImageRecycle integrates seamlessly with your Divi workflow, letting you retain your tried-and-proven method while reaping the benefits of optimized images.