WP Asset Optimizer Documentation

Overview

WP Asset Optimizer is a lightweight, high-performance WordPress plugin engineered to accelerate page load speeds by managing enqueued scripts, delaying third-party tracking JavaScript, minifying CSS, stripping core WordPress bloat, and automatically converting uploaded images to WebP format.

Built with a modern React Admin UI (@wordpress/components) and powered by custom WordPress REST API endpoints for smooth, asynchronous performance without full-page reloads.

Requirements

Installation

Step 1 — Download the Plugin

After purchasing from AppSumo, redeem your license key at wp-asset-optimizer.pages.dev/redeem.html to download the plugin ZIP file.

Step 2 — Upload to WordPress

1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard
2. Navigate to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
3. Click Choose File and select the downloaded wp-asset-optimizer.zip
4. Click Install Now
5. Once installed, click Activate Plugin

Step 3 — Access the Dashboard

Navigate to WP Asset Optimizer in the WordPress admin sidebar to access the plugin dashboard and start optimizing.

Alternative: Manual Installation

Extract the plugin directory into your WordPress plugins folder:

wp-content/plugins/wp-asset-optimizer/

Then activate it through the Plugins menu in WordPress admin.

Quick Start

After activation, follow these steps to get immediate speed improvements:

1. Enable Bloat Removal — Go to the Bloat tab and toggle on the removal options (emojis, embeds, generator tags, Heartbeat API)
2. Configure Script Delayer — Go to the Scripts tab, add your tracking scripts to the delay list (Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, Hotjar)
3. Enable CSS Minification — Go to the CSS tab and enable minification
4. Turn on Image Optimization — Go to the Image tab and enable automatic WebP conversion

Script Management & Delayer

Take control of every JavaScript file your WordPress site loads on the frontend.

Enqueued Script Inspector

The plugin scans and inventories all active JavaScript assets loaded on front-end page requests. View the full list in the Scripts tab of the admin dashboard.

Granular Dequeue Controls

Disable heavy or unnecessary scripts site-wide with a single toggle. Each script is listed with its handle and source, so you can identify exactly what to remove.

Interaction-Based Script Delayer

Delay the execution of third-party tracking scripts until real user interaction. Supported triggers:

• Scroll — Fires when the user scrolls the page
• Click — Fires on the first click/tap
• Keypress — Fires on any keyboard input

This means your pages render fast while analytics (Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, Hotjar, chat widgets) still fire correctly after engagement.

CSS Optimization

Stylesheet Management

View all enqueued CSS stylesheets and selectively disable unused ones. Control which styles load site-wide to prevent unnecessary CSS from being downloaded.

Non-Render-Blocking CSS

Load selected external stylesheets asynchronously to prevent them from blocking the initial page render. Critical CSS loads normally while non-critical CSS is deferred.

CSS Minification

Automatically strip whitespace, comments, and unnecessary characters from your CSS files. Smaller CSS files reduce transfer size and improve download speed.

WordPress Bloat Cleaner

WordPress ships with several frontend features that many sites don't need. WP Asset Optimizer lets you disable them with simple toggles.

Automatic Image Optimizer

WebP Conversion

Automatically converts uploaded JPEG and PNG files to lightweight .webp format. WebP images are typically 25-35% smaller than their JPEG equivalents with no visible quality loss.

EXIF Metadata Stripping

Removes camera information, GPS location data, color profiles, and other metadata from image uploads. This can reduce file size by several KB per image.

Quality Tuning

Fine-tune the compression settings from the Image tab:

• JPEG Quality Target — Set the quality level (default: 82)
• PNG Compression Level — Adjust PNG compression (default: 6)

Admin Dashboard

The plugin uses a modern React-based admin interface built with @wordpress/components. The dashboard is powered by custom REST API endpoints for smooth, asynchronous interactions — no full-page reloads.

Access the dashboard at: WordPress Admin → WP Asset Optimizer

The dashboard is organized into tabs:

• Scripts — Manage and delay JavaScript files
• CSS — Manage stylesheets and enable minification
• Bloat — Toggle WordPress bloat removal options
• Image — Configure WebP conversion and quality settings

Configuring the Script Delayer

To delay third-party scripts until user interaction:

1. Go to the Scripts tab in the WP Asset Optimizer dashboard
2. Find the script you want to delay in the enqueued scripts list
3. Add the script's keyword to the delay list (e.g., google-analytics, fbq, hotjar)
4. Save your settings

The script will now only load after the user scrolls, clicks, or presses a key on the page.

Image Settings

Configure image optimization from the Image tab:

• Enable WebP Conversion — Toggle automatic conversion of JPEG/PNG uploads to WebP
• Strip EXIF Metadata — Toggle removal of camera/GPS/color data from images
• JPEG Quality — Set the JPEG quality target (1-100, default: 82)
• PNG Compression — Set the PNG compression level (1-9, default: 6)

REST API Endpoints

The plugin registers custom endpoints under the asset-optimizer/v1 namespace:

Development Setup

The plugin uses @wordpress/scripts for bundling React components and styles.

1. Install Dependencies

npm install

2. Development (Watch Mode)

Starts Webpack in development mode with live recompilation on save:

npm run start

3. Production Build

Compiles minified, production-ready assets into the build/ directory:

npm run build

Uninstallation

When deleted via the WordPress Admin Plugins menu, uninstall.php automatically runs and cleans up all database options created by the plugin across single sites and multisite networks:

• wp_asset_opt_dequeue_rules
• wp_asset_opt_captured_scripts
• wp_asset_opt_captured_styles
• wp_asset_opt_delayed_keywords
• wp_asset_opt_bloat_settings
• wp_asset_opt_image_settings
• wp_asset_opt_css_settings

FAQ

Will this break my site?

No. Every optimization is individually toggleable. If something doesn't look right, simply disable that specific optimization from the dashboard.

Do I need coding skills?

Not at all. The plugin features a visual React-based admin dashboard with simple toggles. If you can use WordPress, you can use WP Asset Optimizer.

Will my analytics still work?

Yes. The script delayer waits for real user interaction (scroll, click, or keypress) before firing scripts. Once interaction happens, scripts execute normally — no data is lost.

Does it work with any theme?

Yes. WP Asset Optimizer works with any properly coded WordPress theme and page builder.

What happens to my images?

Original images are preserved. The plugin creates WebP copies alongside the originals and serves the WebP version to browsers that support it.

License

Distributed under the GPL-2.0 License. See LICENSE for details.

Need help? Visit our Support page to submit an inquiry.