When editors add images every day, manual compression soon becomes a bottleneck. Automation helps, but begin with one small trial: WordPress stores the original and often several sizes used by cards, thumbnails and the theme.
Choose the sizes that matter
WordPress generates thumbnails and may generate additional sizes requested by a theme. Each selected size can use an API operation. Start with the variants your pages actually display.
Inspect a real page first: which variants appear in cards, the article body and the first-screen banner? Processing a size that the theme never serves consumes API operations without helping visitors. Record the original bytes for a few representative files and enable only the relevant sizes for the first trial. Expand the selection after the results have been checked on the site.
Connect your API key
Create an ANK PicPress account, obtain a key and save it under Settings → ANK Compress. Check the connection status and remaining balance. A Multisite network can share a key through the ANKIC_API_KEY constant.
Enter the API key only in the plugin settings; do not put it in page content or screenshots. After saving, check the connection status and remaining balance, then process one sample image. A saved key by itself does not prove that a file can be uploaded, processed and written back. If the trial fails, inspect the plugin message and the service address before attempting a large batch.
Three setup checkpoints
- Image sizesProcess the variants the theme actually serves.
- Key and balanceCheck the connection before the first sample upload.
- Live resultConfirm the browser receives the processed file on the page.
Enable background processing
Turn on processing of new uploads through WP-Cron. Upload a small static JPEG, PNG or WebP. The job starts after WordPress creates image sizes, so the result can take a little time.
WP-Cron normally advances when WordPress receives requests, so a quiet staging site may take longer to process its queue. Upload one ordinary image and watch the pending count rather than uploading dozens immediately. If it does not move, inspect the scheduler and the file-specific error. Confirm that the job has finished before judging the page, because the upload and the later compression are separate steps.
Verify one result
Find the image in the plugin table, compare sizes and inspect the actual page. If the job does not run, check the key, balance, WP-Cron and the error shown in the plugin.
Open both the media entry and a page that uses it. Compare the bytes before and after, then use the network panel to verify that visitors receive the processed variant rather than a stale cached copy. Check quality on a phone and a larger screen. If the result is unsuitable, restore the original through the plugin and confirm that the live page again serves the expected file.
A practical example
Upload one ordinary JPEG and note the time. Check which sizes are selected in the plugin, then let the WP-Cron job run. In the image table, inspect the original and the variants your pages use. Finally, open the published page and verify that the browser actually downloads the file you intended to optimize.
Before you publish
- Check the API connection and available balance before the upload.
- Use a file within the API limits for your first test.
- If the queue does not move, inspect WP-Cron and the file-specific error.
Explore more
Check the result on your own website and keep an original when you may need to restore it.