Do I need to use an image optimization plugin or CDN on Rocket.net Managed WordPress?

You may ask, do I need to use an image optimization plugin or CDN (Content Delivery Network) on Rocket.net Managed WordPress?

To answer the question directly: no. You are not required to use an image optimization plugin or an external CDN for WordPress images on Rocket.net Managed WordPress. If you have an external CDN for your images, you should disable it so you can get the full benefit of your hosting here.

Part of the reason for this is due to Cloudflare Enterprise and how it handles images.

How Cloudflare Enterprise handles images

Cloudflare Enterprise uses a technology that Cloudflare calls Polish. Polish is unique because it works to optimize images from your website as part of the cache. In other words, unoptimized images are compressed before they reach the browser. Since the optimization is done in Cloudflare Enterprise, the original files are not altered.

Depending on the type of image, Polish removes unnecessary data from the image before sending it to the browser. For some types of images, it removes unnecessary data while also compressing the image data itself. Images can be anywhere from 21% to 48% smaller, depending on a number of factors.

Furthermore, Cloudflare delivers images in the WebP format if the WebP version is significantly smaller than lossless or lossy compression, and if the browser has the following in its Accept header:

Accept: image/avif,image/webp,image/*,*/*;q=0.8

Will I see the .webp file type in WordPress or in the source code?

In short, no. Because the optimizations are done in Cloudflare Enterprise, the source files are never changed, and the HTML is delivered unmodified.

You can verify that Polish is working by viewing the HTTP headers for images loaded on your site. In the Chrome developer console, click the Network tab, and then load your site. Search for the word “polish” and then click one of the results.

You can also use the Waterfall view in GTMetrix.com to see the headers which will show which images are being served as WebP images.

For more information about how Cloudflare’s Polish feature works, go to https://developers.cloudflare.com/images/polish.

Does this mean image size doesn’t matter?

No. You still need to be careful about not using excessively large images for your site. For example, uploading a full size image in the 10-20 Megapixel range will take a long time to download to a browser, even if it is optimized by Cloudflare. You should still resize images to web-friendly sizes before adding them to your WordPress site. Plugins such as Resize Image After Upload will do this for you, and are a worthwhile addition to your site.

Conclusion

There is no need to use an image optimization plugin, CDN, or other method of optimizing and serving sites faster. There is still a need to adhere to best practices with regard to image size, but nothing else is needed.