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How To Remove Unused Images in The Brizy Folder

Joseph Karout

Hello,

Can you please walk me through step by step on how to remove unused images that get stored in the brizy uploads folder?

First of all, when I got to wp-content/uploads/ I see the Brizy folder and 2019 and 2020 folders which contain my Wordpress images. Those images are also included in the uploads/brizy folder. This is what's really confusing.

Here are my questions:

1. If I delete an image in the Media Library front end of Wordpress, will that image get automatically deleted in the 2019/2020 and brizy uploads folders?

2. If the answer to #1 is no, what is the best way to remove that image from the uploads folder. Just delete the entire brizy folder or the image contained in the 2019/2020 folder?

3. Brizy creates 6 images when an image is uploaded in Wordpress. Where are they stored? File path?

Thank you for your assistance

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Comments

27 comments

Date Votes
  • Sandra Prunici

    Hi, 

    At the moment if you delete an image from WP Media Library it isn't deleted also from Brizy image folder. We continue to store them but we plan to improve this aspect and in the next updates we will add an option that will delete from Brizy image folder the unused images. It will not happen immediately but in a short time, the images will be deleted from Brizy folders. We don't recommend to delete manually the Brizy images as they are stored in a folder from the server, but you can check the "Uploads" folder and from there find the image and try to delete them from there.

    Best regards,
    Sandra

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  • Joseph Karout

    Ok thanks you Sandra for the clarification. Please please answer the following questions below. I don't want to keep following up with back and forths because some questions were under looked. And if you are unsure on how to answer any of the following questions, please follow up with your team.

    This entire fiasco of properly understanding the complexities of the way Brizy and Wordpress handles images are causing me to lose sleep, time, and money. This process has to be more simple going forward.

    1. Can I just delete the entire Brizy folder in the uploads directory and then the images I am using on my website will automatically regenerate in the Brizy folder?

    2. If Brizy isn't using the default Wordpress Media Library images stored in the 2019/2020 folders, then any image I upload in Wordpress will be stored in two places on my server: one in the 2019/2020 folders and the other in Brizy folder. This can clog my database overtime and is not efficient. Since I only need to use the Brizy folder for optimization, can I turn off Wordpress setting to disallow auto scaling or creation of the 2019/2020 folders?

    Again, there has to be a better, more streamlined way to remove unused images, avoid duplicate image storage, and image optimization.

    I am asking these questions because I plan on using Shortpixel plugin to optimize my images. Within that plugin, I can specify a folder path (e.g. uploads/brizy) to tell it not to optimize media library images since those aren't relevant for Brizy and Gtmetrix purposes.

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  • Sandra Prunici

    Hi,

    1 - No, you can't delete the entire Brizy folder, it can generate some problems in the database. If you delete some items for Brizy Image folder, they will not be automatically regenerate in the Brizy folder.

    2 - Each image is added in the Brizy image folder is added through the WP media library. In the first instance, it is added there, in the WP media library, then Brizy takes it from there and crops it in 6 examples. In this article, you can find more details regarding how brizy handle images.

    Now, we have an integration with ShortPixel plugin and it can optimize Brizy images. See this article.

    If I missed something to say, let me know and I will help you!

    Best regards,
    Sandra

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  • Joseph Karout

    Hi Sandra,

    Yes I have already read that article before.

    I don't like using the Shortpixel integration within Brizy plugin because it's limited in features. The actual Shortpixel plugin has Webp compression and other useful features.

    For point #1, I stumbled upon this community post.

    In there chris bernecker states that "he deletes the whole brizy folder in the upload section, brizy will then regenerate all images as needed when the pages get called"

    Can you please double check with Dimi on this as I am getting mixed feedback?

    Regarding point #2: If Brizy already uses the media library images and stores a copy of them in the uploads folder, to save database space, what would happen if I delete the media library images from the backend (from the server via cpanel/file manager)?

    To reemphasize, I am not deleting the images from the front end Wordpress media library dashboard. Only from the backend located in the 2019-2020 folders since that's where Wordpress stores them.

    If I delete these folders, will those images not appear on my website? In other words, are the images in those folders connected to the images displayed on my website or do the images on my website connect to the Brizy uploads folder?

    Thank you again Sandra for your kind help. I hope we can get to the bare bottom of this.

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  • Sandra Prunici

    Hi,

    I see that you checked other posts but still ask the same questions. :D
    All the information I say is verified with one of our developers.
    If you delete the entire folder with Brizy images then yes the folder will be regenerated but the images that contained the folder will not be generated again. Will be generated only images from our pre-made blocks and layout.
    In the Brizy image folder, we don't duplicate the images from Media Library. We stock only image sizes of the image from Media Library. These sizes are defined in the editor for desktop, tablet and mobile. In Media Library is stored the original image and some crops that makes WP with their default sizes. If you will delete the images from Media Library, then the images that weren't cropped, will not work in Brizy because the original image was deleted. Those images that were already cropped by Brizy will continue to work on Brizy pages, but if you will go to them and will want to make some changes then you will receive some problems. 
    I only want to insist that Brizy doesn't store images in the database, we only use data that you already have in DB from WP. We don't store some copies of the images. We store some dynamic sizes of the image, that has the original in the WP media library.

    Best regards,
    Sandra

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  • Joseph Karout

    Ok Sandra. Thanks for clarifying these points. I have some more questions to ask based on my recent investigation.

    I went to /uploads/2020/01 folder as an example. This is one out of many folders that Wordpress stores my default images from the Media Library and scales them appropriately for various devices. I am also using Astra theme which also scales these images.

    By default, Wordpress has three image scaling options available under Settings > Media. The default is 150x150, 300x300, and 1024x1024.

    Based on this screenshot, https://prnt.sc/ua3vm1, you'll find that the original raw image 3D-Avatars-Circular-Collection.png was scaled 8 times (3 from Wordpress and 5 from Astra) based on the original dimension for this image.

    Here are my questions now.

    1. The above screenshot shows 9 image copies including the raw one. But Brizy isn't using all of them. Brizy only uses the original raw image (3D-Avatars-Circular-Collection.png) and appropriately scales it 6 times (2 for desktops, 2 for tablets, and 2 and mobile including retina displays). Correct?

    2. If #1 is correct, then why do I need Wordpress and Astra to scale my images? It is just wasted database space. So if I am understanding this correctly, if I can find a way to tell Wordpress and Astra to not scale my images since Brizy does it better, would you agree I should do this?

    3. You say that Brizy doesn't store copies of the images in the server's database. But when I log into my cPanel I see this is not the case. Here is a good example: When I go to this file path: uploads/brizy/10186/assets/images/iW=1071&iH=any, you see this image: https://prnt.sc/ua4aog. That same image with a nearly identical file size and date is located here: /uploads/2020/02 displayed in this screenshot: https://prnt.sc/ua4baf.

    This is just one out of many I have seen. How do you explain this observation?

     

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  • Sandra Prunici

    Hi,

    1 - Yes, you are right.

    2 - I'm sorry to say but we don't recommend to use a way that will interrupt the WP and Astra to scale their images. It can negatively affect the entire site.

    3 - Yes but they aren't duplicated or there isn't the same original image is uploaded in the WP Media Library. At the moment it is working in such a way but we are working on a new feature that will better optimize and manage with the Brizy images. With this feature, all old images that aren't used in the Brizy builder will be deleted automatically from the Brizy folder. Also, we will have an option to delete all Brizy images from Brizy folder and then will be regenerated only those important images (images from Brizy layouts and pre-made blocks).

    Best regards,
    Sandra

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  • Joseph Karout

    Ok thank you very much for the confirmation.

    One last thing. Do you know when the Brizy update for automatically removing unused images from the uploads folder and the option to delete prior ones will be launched?

    Again, thanks a lot for clarifying all these important points!

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  • Joseph Karout

    And one other thing before I forget, like I said before Shortpixel plugin has an option where you can specify the path of where you wanted your images compressed. So I will be using something like this public_html/cubitize.com/wp-content/uploads/brizy since that is where all Brizy scaled images are stored, correct?

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  • Sandra Prunici

    Hi,

    Unfortunately, I can't say when we will release this feature but I can ensure you that it is in our priority list and we will strive to launch it as soon as possible. Our team are working hard on this and other features will come in the next period.

    Regarding the ShortPixel in this article, you can find all the information about it and use it correctly with Brizy.

    Let us know if we can help you with something else.

    Best regards,
    Sandra

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  • Joseph Karout

    Ok Sandra thanks.

    Sorry a couple more things to ask.

    1. When you run the shortpixel optimization tool within Brizy it compresses the images in the Brizy uploads folder AND the media library. Is this correct? So if I go to my media library images after compression, I should see them with a smaller file size, right?

    2. What would happen if I compress my images prior to uploading them in the media library and then run shortpixel optimization using the shortpixel plugin and specifying the Brizy uploads path? What I mean here is I compress the raw image beforehand, then when I upload in media library Brizy will take this compressed raw image and scale it appropriately. Afterwards, I tell shortpixel plugin to compress again this same image contained in the Brizy uploads folder. Will this count as a double compression and negatively effect the quality of the image? I am asking this question because if I do it this way, my database will weigh less since the media library and the Wordpress 2020 folder will have compressed images not just the Brizy uploads folder.

    3. When I am getting ready to upload my image, what is a good image dimension to use without wasting bandwidth and losing quality? I am trying to find that happy medium without sacrificing too much quality and space. For example if I was going to upload a 1200 x 628 image for a blog thumbnail that only requires 150 x 150 dimension, even if I compress this image, it will still be wasteful. Conversely, if I was going to upload a 500 x 500 image for a 1600 x 1050 front page cover/header the quality will look awful.

    So do you know if there is an image dimension cheat sheet for various types of sections (blog cover, thumbnail, featured images, hero covers, page body images, etc.)?

    Having such a powerful guide on this will be extremely helpful!

     

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  • Sandra Prunici

    Hi, Joseph,

    1 - Yes, ShortPixel will optimize all Brizy and non-Brizy images from the WP dashboard.

    2 - In this article, we already touched this aspect and there we don't recommend to upload already optimized images. "Don't upload optimized images in the WordPress Media Library, because Brizy will take them from there and create the different sizes I've mentioned above and those images will need to be optimised again. Don't use any image optimisation plugins because they don't access the image folder Brizy is storing the images in so they will not work.".

    3 - We suggest to upload big images, not with 3000x3000px but not also with 300x300 because in such a way the images will have high quality and will not look blurred in some cases. Even if you add an image with 1280x720, the WP will crop it in the right needed sizes for Thumbnails and other places you will need it and will use them in the right places. In such a way is working the image optimization. If you will add it in the 500x500px and will want to use the same image at the background of the block, column or row it will be stretched and look blurred.

    Best regards,
    Sandra

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  • Joseph Karout

    Ok Sandra thanks.

    One more thing.

    As a point of clarification, if I upload let's say a 1200 x 700 image, will I need to double its size for retina displays? Or does Brizy automatically have a retina integration so that this 1200 x 700 image will look sharp and crisp on retina devices without me having to double its dimension?

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  • Sandra Prunici

    Hi,

    Such an image is enough for retina one too and it will look fine on retina devices too.

    Best regards,
    Sandra 

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  • Thomas BüZi

    Hello Sandra!

    Are there any news regarding the analyzing and deleting unused pictures?

    We discovered that when we work on a page and store it several times through the design process, brizy is creating additional images, once we change the size, while the old version ist still existing in the file system. So, in the end, we have about 250 versions of one image, always slightly different cropped or sized, while we only use 3 or 4 of them.

    Please, we have serious issues with the sheer amount of files. Is there a way to clean out the unused images?

    kind regards,

    Tom

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  • Sandra Prunici

    Hi Tom,

    Brizy has a special method to handle images. In this article, you can find the full information about this. At the moment, I can suggest optimizing images using ShortPixel. We have a direct integration with this plugin, therefore, it can optimize the image from the Brizy image folder. In this article, you can find how to optimize images with ShoptPixel.

    At the moment, we didn't finish the functional I told in the previous message. It a complex feature and we need a bit more time to release, test and improve it. When it will be released, we will announce this on social media and also on our blog because it is a very important feature and we are very excited about it.

    Best regards,
    Sandra

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  • Joseph Karout

    Any news on deleting unused images in Brizy uploads folder? I just did a test, delete the image from the media library, but when I go to wp-content/uploads/brizy/imgs I can still see the old unused image. Brizy didnt automatically remove the image I deleted in the media folder.

    It has been more than 2 years and still no update on this feature?

    My databases are being clogged with superfluous unused media files.

    Is there a plugin or temporary fast solution you recommend in the meantime?

    What if I delete the images manually in cpanel file manager when I go to this path: wp-content/uploads/brizy/imgs?

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  • KC George

    Hi Joseph,

    We do not have any update on this. Deleting images from the Media Library does not delete it from the Brizy folders.

    Can you elaborate on how this affects your database? What tables are affected? Can you share the size of the affected tables? 

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  • Joseph Karout

    It simply consume unnecessary disk space on the server. Plus a clogged server is not good for speed.

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  • Joseph Karout

    What if I manually delete the unused images in wp-content/uploads/brizy/imgs to free up disk space? Will this cause an issue?

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  • KC George
    • Edited

    Hi Joseph,

    You could checkout these plugins and see if you can delete unused Brizy images. https://wpengine.com/resources/wordpress-media-library-clean-up/

    Deleting images one by one is not a recommended approach. Please take a backup and you can try this approach. In case if something gets messed up, you can restore from the backup.  

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  • Joseph Karout

    Can you please elaborate why deleting unused photos one by one in this folder wp-content/uploads/brizy/img is not recommended?

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  • KC George
    • Edited

    Hi Joseph,

    It can be difficult to confirm whether or not a particular image from the image folder is being used on the website. This strategy can result in some of your images missing on your pages. Therefore not recommended. However, you can always restore from a backup if you have one.

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  • Joseph Karout

    ok. Just to confirm. If I know images 1-10 on page 1 are no longer being used, I can manually delete them in this directory. Afterwards, I reupload new images on page 1 using Brizy builder and I should be ok, right?

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  • KC George

    Yes; this approach should be fine

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  • Joseph Karout

    Is there a reason why Brizy isnt creating 6 images for his screenshot: https://prnt.sc/J6HRkag-A74A

    I even tried searching the keywords "avoid-losing" and "welcome-video" in my hosting file manager and only 1 results shows up

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  • KC George

    Hi Joseph,

    Without some investigation, its difficult to comment on this.

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