Setup Guide

Getting Started: Installation & Initial Setup

The first step is to get Image & Video Optimizer integrated with your website.

For BigCommerce Users:

1. Install from BigCommerce App Market: Navigate to the BigCommerce App Market within your BigCommerce dashboard.
2. Search for "Image & Video Optimizer": Find our app and click "Add to Site."
3. Activate Your Plan: As a BigCommerce app, you will be prompted to select and activate your desired plan (Free, Starter, Grow, or Advance) directly through BigCommerce's secure payment process. Your plan automatically activates upon selection, and your credits are immediately available.
4. Access Your Dashboard: Once installed and a plan is activated, you will be redirected to the Image & Video Optimizer dashboard within your BigCommerce site, where you can begin managing your optimizations.
   

For Direct Signups (Non-BigCommerce Users):

1. Visit Our Website: Go to https://mediacompresser.com/signup
2. Create an Account: Follow the prompts to sign up using your email and password.
3. Access Your Dashboard: After activation, you will be redirected to the dashboard to begin managing your optimizations.

Understanding & Managing Your Credits

Your plan provides a fixed number of credits per month.

Viewing Your Credit Balance:

1. Access Your Dashboard: Log in to your Image & Video Optimizer dashboard.
2. Credit Balance Display: Your current credit balance will be prominently displayed at the top right corner.
   

Upgrading Your Plan

If your credits are running low or you need higher optimization volumes or more advanced features, you can easily upgrade your plan.

1. Navigate to Pricing/Subscription: From your dashboard, locate the "Billing" or "Upgrade Plan" section in the left-hand menu.
2. Choose a Higher Plan: Select the Starter, Grow, or Advance plan that suits your increased needs.
3. Confirm Upgrade: Follow the prompts to confirm your plan upgrade. Your new credits will be immediately available.
   Note: If you are a BigCommerce user, this process will redirect you to your BigCommerce dashboard for plan management.

Optimizing Your Content: Step-by-Step

Optimize Images

Optimization Setting

Image & Video Optimizer offers both manual and automatic options for optimizing images:

1. Automatic: Your images will be automatically optimized and compressed to the best size without affecting the image quality.
2. Manual: You can control how much of the image quality you want to compress by default for all the uploaded images.
   

Image Upload & Optimization

1. Go to Optimizer Section: From your dashboard, navigate to Resource Optimizer and select "Optimize Images".
2. Upload Files: Click the "Upload Images to Optimize" button.
3. Select Files: Upload the files you want to optimize.
4. Start Optimization: Once files are uploaded, the optimization process will begin as per “Optimization Setting"
5. Review & Download: After optimization is complete, they are ready for use. You will see a preview of the optimized file, including its new size and compression percentage. You can then download the optimized files individually or as a batch.
   

Converting Images to/from JPEG/PNG/WEBP/GIF

Once the image is uploaded and optimized, you can convert it into formats like WEBP, JPEG, PNG, or GIF.
Pro Tip: WebP is a modern format with smaller file sizes and high quality.

1. Click "Manual Compression" from the Optimized Images page.
   
2. Adjust quality and choose format (WEBP, JPEG, PNG, GIF).
   
3. Click “Save & Download Compressed Image.”

Optimize Videos

1. Go to Optimizer Section: From your dashboard, navigate to “Resource Optimizer” and select the "Optimize Videos
2. Upload Files: Click the "Upload Videos to Optimize" button.
3. Select Files: Upload the files you want to optimize.
4. Start Optimization: Once files are uploaded, the optimization process will begin.
5. Review & Download: After optimization is complete, they are ready for use. You will see a preview of the optimized file, including its new size and compression percentage. You can then download the optimized files individually or as a batch.

Converting Videos to/from MP4/WebM/MOV/AVI/MKV

Once the video is uploaded and optimized you can conver them into desired video format i.e. MP4/WebM/MOV/AVI/MKV.

Here is how you can do it:

1. From the “Optimized Videos” page click on the “Manual Compression” option as highlighted in the attached screenshot.
   
2. In the pop you will see the preview of both original and compressed videos. Along with that an option at the bottom to convert the select video into a particular format i.e. MP4/WebM/MOV/AVI/MKV.
   
3. Once done, click on “Save & Download Compressed Video” which will download the optimized image ready to use.

Minify JavaScript & CSS

1. Go to Optimizer Section: From your dashboard, navigate to “Resource Optimizer” and select the "Minify JavaScript” or “Minify CSS” based on the file you want to minify.
2. Upload Files: Click the "Upload Javascript/CSS To Minify" button.
3. Select Files: Upload the files you want to minify.
4. Start Optimization: Once files are uploaded, the minification process will begin.
5. Review & Download: After optimization is complete, they are ready for use. You will see its new size and compression percentage. You can then download the optimized files individually or as a batch.