Shifter supports WebP media format under Media CDN-enabled environment. Just enable Media CDN, Shifter converts media to web format without changing the original.
What is WebP
"WebP is a modern image format that provides superior lossless and lossy compression for images on the web. Using WebP, webmasters and web developers can create smaller, richer images that make the web faster.
WebP lossless images are 26% smaller in size compared to PNGs. WebP lossy images are 25-34% smaller than comparable JPEG images at equivalent SSIM quality index."
Advantage
Shifter delivers contents from visitors nearest CDN's edge location. With this feature enabled, jpeg, gif and png files are provided in webP format so that your websites will be lightweight without any additional coding or plugins.
How to enable WebP for Shifter websites
Only enable Shifter Media CDN feature on your Shifter site if you're Tier2 or greater plan user.
Please follow the steps on the support document Shifter Media CDN to enable it.
Once Media CDN is activated, Shifter transfers all media in your WordPress Media Library to the dedicated CDN. It converts JPG, GIF and PNG files to WebP without changing filenames, including their extensions. You can export original files anytime.
When Shifter receives requests from supported browsers, Shifter delivers WebP media.
WebP-supported web browsers
Desktop
Firefox version 65+
Google Chrome version 32+
Microsoft Edge version 80+
Opera version 19+
Safari version 16+
Mobile
Google Chrome for Android version 25+
Native web browser, Android 4.2+ (JB-MR1)
Safari on iOS version 14+
Safari still doesn't support this file format, so you can just access the supported browser to confirm how WebP works.
For more supported browser details, please access Google's documents:
How to check files are converted
Check header requests with accessing supported browser or use cURL command with -H 'Accept: image/webp' option.
Media CDN and WebP are disabled
Shifter returns image/jpeg.
Content-length is 26897 bytes which is the size of the file.
% curl -I https://clever-hertz8618.on.getshifter.io/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/soworthloving-wallpaper.jpg -H 'Accept: image/webp'
HTTP/2 200
content-type: image/jpeg
content-length: 26897
date: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 04:36:31 GMT
last-modified: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 04:34:53 GMT
etag: "6efb832a0033f2199f26eb52ed14b310"
server: AmazonS3
x-cache: Miss from cloudfront
via: 1.1 2e231341de86384b8185d321eaa7acd3.cloudfront.net (CloudFront)
x-amz-cf-pop: NRT20-C2
x-amz-cf-id: n0NFaYithmfLAuhv6CNv-cWznOOw5FLEmAaFM1igi0iqYLd36RBMkg==
Media CDN and WebP are enabled
Access with -H 'Accept: image/webp' option.
Shifter returns image/webp for content-type.
Content-length is 12548 bytes, it's almost 50% smaller than same jpeg file.
% curl -I https://cdndev.getshifter.co/93503e0d641b7f5c447f04f624f3146f43bd02e0/uploads/2013/03/soworthloving-wallpaper.jpg -H 'Accept: image/webp'
HTTP/2 200
content-type: image/webp
content-length: 12548
date: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 04:21:35 GMT
last-modified: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 03:36:12 GMT
etag: "c555359498717d5822c2dc4179e3624e"
cache-control: max-age=31104000
x-amz-version-id: ecyi3o5z2Y0PZNBNpvlzL4WNqPno.qKc
accept-ranges: bytes
server: AmazonS3
x-cache: Hit from cloudfront
via: 1.1 0bc155b40d887df7641ec94214c25e5d.cloudfront.net (CloudFront)
x-amz-cf-pop: NRT20-C4
x-amz-cf-id: jPJssfofnVm1vPjLY9Djfl0ggZlVjUPUZmt48sQK4FALRUGpTxB1qg==
age: 21
Q & A
Q. Are original files deleted after uploading or converting?
A. No. Shifter doesn't delete original files. Shifter Media CDN only converts them to WebP and delivers them to the browser.
Q. What happens if WebP-unsupported browsers access the files?
A. Media CDN returns original files (jpeg, gif or png).