Version: 1.0
By: Leonard Blauhorn
Contact: e-mail me
(considered as quote requests)
Thank you for downloading this plugin. If you have any questions that are beyond the scope of this help file, you are welcome to contact me, but please note any work done will be billed at my standard hourly rate..
Before you proceed, make a backup of your STORE_ROOT/includes/functions/html_output.php file. Installation is done at your own risk.
Unzip the files from "files" directory to your computer. Rename "YOUR_ADMIN" folder to the name of your actual admin directory. Connect to your server via FTP. Now, upload your files using your FTP client (I recommend using Filezilla) to the store root. Be careful, the store root directory on the server is where your store is installed, not necessarily domain root.
One core file is overwritten (includes/functions/html_output.php) - there is one new block of code added to that file and is commented. If you made ANY changes to your html_output.php file, make sure you carefully merge the changes. You can use any code editor or find the differences using WinMerge or similar tools.
This line was added to Zen Cart 1.5.7 so you can skip this file if you're using 1.5.7 or newer. (at time of release of this plugin, current Zen Cart version is 1.5.6c)
After you have finished uploading the files, go to your Zen Cart admin section and the plugin will auto-install. You'll find the new entries under Configuration->ZX Optimized Images.
To configure the module, go to Admin->Configuration->ZX Optimized Images.
The plugin is disabled by default. You'll need to set the status to 'on' if you want to enable the plugin.
If you have Image Handler installed, I suggest setting 'IH resize images' to 'no' because it's redundant.
If the plugin is enabled, images will automatically be optimized when you add it in the admin product page.
If your images were added earlier, you can go to Admin->Tools->ZX Optimized Images and start optimizing your images. You can choose what to optimize and set limits to avoid server timeout.
If your images were added earlier and you didn't go through the admin-side optimization, images will automatically be optimized when you visit the site and the image is requested.
NOTE: frontend optimization is not recommended because it takes some time and slows the site down because images are resized and sent to a 3rd-party optimization service and retrieved from the remote server after being optimized. However, it's a one-time process and once an image is optimized, the optimized version is saved on your server and the optimization process doesn't run again.
The plugin is based on resmush.it service which is currently free. It uses their API and requires curl. If your server doesn't support curl (for whatever reason), you won't be able to use this plugin.
Images are first resized to various dimensions based on your settings in Admin->Configuration->Images and are then sent to resmush.it for optimization - this ensures the best optimization possible.
Original images are left on your server INTACT and can be found in images directory (where you uploaded it). Optimized images are stored in /images/optimized/ directory and are loaded based on the zen_image request. If the zen_image function requests dimensions other than the ones specified in admin, a new image will be created and optimized, and then stored for future use.
No issues detected so far.
reSmush.it limits its use to PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP and TIF pictures for FREE up to 5MB.
If you find this module useful,please consider donating via PayPal to info@zenexpert.com to ensure this module is supported and improved ($5 - $10 recommended).
Please note that I don't provide support for this module via email for free. Any private support is considered commercial work and will be billed at our standard hourly rate.
If contacting me with a request for any kind of tech support, please make sure you include a link to your site - all problems are usually very simple, but I can't go guessing what happened in YOUR case.
Stay up-to-date: you can always find the most recent version here.
Once again, thank you for downloading this file. As I said at the beginning, I'd be glad to help you if you have any questions relating to this file. No guarantees, but I'll do my best to assist.
Leonard