CodingBunny Image Optimizer

4.2.0: 2026-10-10

• New: Image Cleaner, Image Watermarker, Image Organizer and Image Protector are now built in as extensions, with an Extensions page to turn each one on or off.
• New: Extensions that are off are not loaded at all.
• New: Users of the former add-ons are migrated automatically: the matching extensions are turned on, the add-ons are deactivated and settings are kept.
• Improvement: Cleaner and Watermarker pages use the same header as the settings, with links to the active extensions in the sidebar.
• Improvement: Removed an obsolete watermark check that ran on every image URL.
• Fix: Protecting or unprotecting images in bulk no longer stops with an “Unauthorized action” error.
• Fix: The watermark settings page now loads the media picker and preview correctly.
• Fix: Deleting the plugin now also removes the data of all extensions.
• New: Text watermark patterns: single text, text repeated across the image, or repeated and tilted with an adjustable angle, with adjustable gaps between texts and rows.
• New: The Media Library shows the watermark status of each image, including images skipped because they are narrower than the minimum width threshold.
• New: The “Apply Watermark” bulk action reports how many images were skipped because of the minimum width threshold.
• Fix: The opacity setting is now applied to text watermarks too.
• Improvement: Image Protector no longer blurs protected images. When someone switches window or app, takes a screenshot, prints or opens the developer tools, the images are replaced by the same placeholder with a lock icon, and they come back as soon as the visitor returns to the page.
• Improvement: Image Protector no longer reloads the page every time the window gets the focus back, and no longer hides images while visitors type in a form.
• Improvement: Image Protector loads its script only on sites that have protected images.
• Improvement: Buttons, tables, notices, badges, cards and pagination share the same styles on every page of the plugin. Image Organizer uses the plugin colors.
• Security: Protected image links no longer accept the legacy key derived from the image title, which could be guessed. If you use a page cache, clear it after updating.
• Security: Category names are escaped in the category filter of the editor media window.
• Fix: Automatic watermarks are now applied to images uploaded from the block editor too.
• Fix: Image Protector reads Elementor CSS files from disk instead of downloading them on every page view.
• Fix: Some messages of the image conversion and attachment fix tools could not be translated.
• Fix: Deleting the plugin also removes the category order and colors of Image Organizer.
• Fix: Image Protector bulk actions only change the images the user is allowed to edit.
• New: Image Replacer extension: replace the file of an image keeping its ID, details and links.
• New: Regenerate Thumbnails extension, with cleanup of unused thumbnail sizes.
• New: SEO File Names extension: descriptive file names on upload, single and bulk renaming with automatic link updates.
• New: Where Used extension: see where each image is used directly in its details.
• New: Safe SVG extension: upload SVG files cleaned of dangerous code.
• New: Settings Import/Export, Duplicate Check, External Images Import and Upload Rules extensions.
• New: Auto Featured Image extension.
• Improvement: The Extensions page groups the extensions into the same sections as the sidebar: Cleanup, Protection, File Management and Tools.
• Improvement: Better color contrast in the sidebar and header for accessibility (WCAG AA).
• Improvement: Upload Rules uses toggles for the allowed formats, like the rest of the plugin.
• Fix: Upload Rules now also blocks disallowed formats when images are converted in the browser before the upload.
• Fix: Missing Images no longer lists existing images whose address contains a version parameter such as ?ver=.
• Fix: Image Watermarker backs up only the images it actually watermarks, and the backup statistics update right away.
• Fix: With automatic watermark and WebP/AVIF conversion both active, the watermark is now applied to the converted image and “Restore Original Images” works. Backups made by earlier versions in the original format are converted on restore.
• Fix: “Restore Original Images” only counts and updates the images it could actually restore.
• Fix: Image Protector no longer changes image addresses while images are uploaded from the block editor, so automatic watermarks and other upload features work there too.
• Improvement: New navigation, the same on every page of the plugin: Optimizer sections and extensions grouped into Cleanup, Protection, File Management and Tools, collapsible groups that are remembered, Image Cleaner sections with their counts, and a compact menu on small screens.
• Improvement: Image Cleaner scans unused and duplicate images in small steps with live progress, so they complete on very large Media Libraries without server timeouts.
• Improvement: Image Cleaner recognizes images used in content only through a thumbnail or “-scaled” address, so they are no longer listed as unused.
• Improvement: Image Protector only lists the protected images of the current page in the page code.
• Fix: Large images scaled down by WordPress (“-scaled”) are now converted to WebP or AVIF in their scaled size, instead of replacing them with the full-size original.
• Fix: PNG images with a limited color palette are now converted to WebP and AVIF correctly.
• Improvement: The plugin fields in the image details (category, file name, protection, watermark, replace, where used) are grouped in a single CodingBunny Image Optimizer box.
• Improvement: Regenerate Thumbnails shows how many images and thumbnails are missing, a visible progress bar and clear success and error messages.
• Improvement: Renaming and replacing images also updates links in Beaver Builder, Divi, WPBakery, Bricks, Breakdance and Oxygen layouts, widgets and settings, keeping serialized data valid. Entries that cannot be updated safely are skipped and reported.
• Improvement: Where Used also finds images in page builder layouts, custom fields, widgets and site settings.
• Fix: Image Protector hides images again when screenshot shortcuts are pressed (macOS Cmd+Shift+3/4/5, Windows Win+Shift+S, Print Screen) and keeps them hidden until the visitor interacts with the page again.
• Fix: Image Protector no longer hides images when the visitor clicks inside an embedded video or iframe.
• Fix: Image Protector shows the images again as soon as the developer tools are closed.
• Fix: Image Protector now also protects images loaded with AJAX on the front end, such as product quick views, and image links created with wp_get_attachment_url().
• Fix: Uploading an image no longer causes the conversion to be applied to another image processed in the same request.
• Fix: Deleting the watermark backups now redirects correctly and checks the user’s permissions before deleting anything.
• Fix: Image Cleaner only deletes items that are part of the last scan results, even if a modified request is sent.
• Improvement: Code checked with the official Plugin Check tool: all errors fixed (global names now use the plugin prefix and database table names are escaped).

• Developer: The Image Protector filters are now named cbio_protector_refresh_on_focus, cbio_protector_screenshot_extension_urls and cbio_protector_custom_js.

• New: Image Protector settings page: choose which protections to use (screenshots and window switching, developer tools, keyboard shortcuts, printing), customize the placeholder text, protect new uploads automatically and turn protection off for logged-in editors.

• Fix: Image Protector now serves the requested image size instead of always sending the full-size original, so protected thumbnails load much faster.
• Fix: Image Protector links use a secret key generated from your site salts instead of the image title, and the check on the request mode now works.

• Improvement: Image Protector links no longer contain a nonce, so they work correctly on cached pages.

• Improvement: Image Protector placeholders keep the size of the original image and show a blurred preview with a lock icon instead of a grey box.

• Fix: Image Protector no longer exposes the unprotected image sizes through srcset.
• Improvement: Image Organizer moves images by drag and drop without reloading the page: counts update instantly and a short message confirms the move.
• Improvement: Image Organizer shows images that have no category under Uncategorized and can export Uncategorized and Protected images too.
• Improvement: Image Organizer loads category counts with a single query, so the Media Library opens faster with many categories.
• New: Image Organizer adds a category filter to the media window of the post and page editor, and a Category field in the attachment details to change it.
• New: Image Organizer shows a Watermarked filter, next to Protected, when the Image Watermarker extension is active. It works in the Media Library, in the media window of the editor and for the ZIP export.
• New: Files uploaded while a category is open in the Media Library, in the “Add Media File” page or in the media window of the editor are added to that category automatically.
• New: “Move to category” bulk action in the list view of the Media Library.
• New: The Image Organizer panel can be collapsed to a narrow bar of icons that still accepts dragged images. The choice is remembered.
• New: When the Image Cleaner extension is active, Image Organizer shows an Unused filter and, next to each category, how many of its images are unused according to the last scan.
• Improvement: Image Cleaner has a new interface: summary cards, full-width tables with file name and path, “Select all”, a live count of the selected items, pagination and clear empty states.
• Improvement: Image Cleaner groups duplicate images, marks the copy to keep (the one in use or the oldest) and can select only the unused extra copies, so content is never broken.
• Improvement: Image Cleaner scans start from a button and no longer run again when the page is reloaded; the last scan time is shown in the site time zone.
• Improvement: After deleting items, Image Cleaner updates the results instantly instead of scanning everything again.
• Improvement: Missing Images also lists Media Library items whose file no longer exists.
• Fix: Orphan Thumbnails no longer lists files outside the year/month upload folders, such as watermark backups or files of other plugins, nor resized copies still listed in an image’s metadata.
• Fix: Orphan files are no longer selected by default.
• Fix: Deleted duplicate images are now removed permanently, freeing disk space, instead of being moved to a hidden trash.
• Fix: Item counts in the Image Cleaner menu are now correct right after a scan.
• Improvement: Automatic filters use the internal slugs cbio-protected, cbio-watermarked and cbio-unused, so they never clash with a category named “Protected” or “Watermarked”.
• Improvement: The Image Organizer panel can be resized by dragging its edge (from 220 to 600 px), with the arrow keys, or reset with a double-click. The width is remembered.
• Improvement: In the list view, changing category also updates the pagination and the item count.
• Fix: Image Organizer now checks permissions: only users who can manage categories can create, copy, sort or delete them, and users can only move images they are allowed to edit.
• Fix: The Uncategorized category can no longer be deleted.
• Fix: Moving images to a category that no longer exists no longer removes their category.
• Fix: Category names with special characters such as “&” are shown correctly.
• Fix: Exporting a category no longer loads the whole ZIP file into memory and keeps files with the same name.
• Fix: Removed a JavaScript error when switching category in the grid view.
• Fix: All Image Organizer messages can now be translated.
• Fix: Image Protector no longer causes a “chrome-extension://invalid” error in the browser console. The screenshot extension check is now off by default and can be enabled with the cbio_protector_screenshot_extension_urls filter.
• Fix: Other Media Library bulk actions no longer stop with “Insufficient permissions” for users who cannot manage the watermark.

4.1.0: 2026-10-06

• New (beta): AI alt text generation with OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude) or Google (Gemini), using your own API key. The AI features listed below are part of this beta.
• New: Connection test, adjustable language and maximum length for AI alt texts.
• New: AI alt texts use the WooCommerce product name and brand, and the SEO focus keyphrase (Yoast SEO, Rank Math, SEOPress, All in One SEO).
• New: Additional instructions, prefix and suffix for AI alt texts.
• New: Option to copy the generated alt text to the image title, caption and description.
• New: “Without alt text” filter and “Generate alt text” bulk action in the Media Library.
• New: Empty alt attributes of images already inserted in content are filled with the Media Library alt text.
• New: The Model field lists the models available with your API key, and a retired model is replaced automatically with an available one.
• New: Support for OpenAI reasoning models (GPT-5 and o-series), with automatic retry if a parameter is not supported.
• New: Protected words: alt texts containing them are never overwritten.
• New: Alt text coverage (images with alt text) in the sidebar.
• New: On upload, AI alt texts are generated in the background so uploads are not slowed down.
• Improvement: If the AI request fails, the template is used and the error is shown in the settings.
• Fix: The bulk alt text generation now verifies its security nonce.
• Fix: The alt text script is no longer loaded twice on the settings page.

4.0.3: 2026-10-04

• Fix: Lazy loading is now also applied to content images without width and height attributes, which WordPress skipped.
• Fix: The featured image of the current post or page is no longer lazy loaded when the theme displays it outside the loop.
• Fix: Turning lazy loading off no longer disables the native WordPress lazy loading.
• Improvement: Images marked as high priority are never lazy loaded.

4.0.2: 2026-09-30

• Fix: The “Optimize All Images”, “Fix Image Attachments” and “Generate Alt Text” buttons did nothing because their scripts were not loaded on the settings page.
• Fix: “Optimize All Images” no longer stops working when the media library bulk action is disabled.
• Fix: The main admin script is no longer loaded twice on the settings page.

4.0.1: 2026-09-29

• Improvement: Redesigned admin interface.
• New: Sidebar navigation with an “ON” badge on active features.
• New: Server information panel showing the image library in use, WebP and AVIF support, output format and conversion engine.
• Improvement: Restyled Free Add-ons page, now integrated in the same layout as the settings.
• Improvement: Invalid tab parameters now fall back to the Conversion tab.
• Improvement: Updated styles for the free add-ons, including result counters in the sidebar and a restyled pagination.

4.0.0: 2026-09-27

• New: All former PRO features are now included for free: quality settings, thumbnail sizes, bulk optimization, fix image attachments, ALT text generator and metadata removal.
• New: The Image Cleaner, Image Watermarker, Image Protector and Image Organizer add-ons are now free on GitHub.
• Removed: License system and “Account” page.
• Removed: “Dashboard” page and image statistics.
• Improvement: Obsolete license and statistics data is removed from the database on update.