In website operation, images are indispensable elements that attract visitors and convey information, and thumbnails play a key role in enhancing the beauty and loading efficiency of web pages in scenarios such as content lists and article recommendations.But as the website design evolves, the variety of display devices increases, and the demand for performance optimization grows, the original thumbnail size or format may no longer be applicable.For example, to improve website loading speed, convert all images to a more efficient WebP format, or to adapt to the new responsive layout, you need to adjust the thumbnail display size.

Dealing with such situations manually one by one is undoubtedly a time-consuming and labor-intensive task.It is fortunate that AnQiCMS is well-versed in this, providing us with an efficient solution: batch regenerate thumbnails to adapt to new display sizes or formats, so that the website can maintain **status** in both visual and performance.

Why is it necessary to regenerate thumbnails in bulk?

You may have encountered such a situation:

  1. Website revision and upgrade:When introducing a new design or page layout, the new theme template may have different requirements for the size and aspect ratio of thumbnails. The old thumbnails may appear to be cropped incorrectly, blurred, or out of proportion.
  2. Adapt to responsive design:With the increase in mobile device access, websites need to provide thumbnails optimized for different screen sizes to ensure a good visual experience on smartphones, tablets, and other devices.
  3. Performance optimization and new format:In order to enhance the website's loading speed and user experience, converting image formats from traditional JPG, PNG to more efficient WebP format has become a trend.But it is not enough to enable WebP for new image uploads; the existing thumbnail images also need to be converted to WebP.
  4. Adjust the image processing method:Whether you want to scale thumbnails proportionally along the longest edge, crop along the shortest edge, or pad along the longest edge, an update to the existing thumbnails is required when these processing methods change.

AnQiCMS's intelligent thumbnail processing mechanism

AnQiCMS has always been very intelligent and flexible in image processing.When we upload images, the system will automatically generate thumbnails according to the preset rules and handle them accordingly according to the global settings.

  • WebP image format enabled:You can choose whether to automatically convert the uploaded images to WebP format, thereby significantly reducing the image size without sacrificing too much quality.
  • Automatically Compress Large Images:For the original large image uploaded, AnQiCMS supports automatic compression to the specified width, effectively saving storage space and speeding up page loading.
  • Thumbnail size: You can customize the default thumbnail size to ensure that the image size is uniform and meets the design requirements when displayed on the frontend.
  • Thumbnail processing method:The system provides various processing options, such as 'Proportional scaling by the longest side' to display the image in its entirety; 'Filling with whitespace by the longest side' to display at a fixed size and centered, with the insufficient part filled with white; or 'Cropping by the shortest side' to ensure clear display of a specific area.

These flexible configurations lay the foundation for bulk thumbnail regeneration.

When and how to operate bulk thumbnail regeneration

Because AnQiCMS provides such a detailed image processing mechanism, when you adjust these global settings (such as thumbnail size, processing method, or WebP enabled status) and wish to apply these new settings to all uploaded images, the batch regeneration feature becomes particularly important.

The operation process is very intuitive:

  1. Adjust the global settings:Firstly, navigate to the "Backend settings" under the "Content SettingsPage.Here, you can adjust the image processing parameters mentioned above according to your needs, such as changing the default thumbnail size, selecting a new thumbnail processing method, or enabling the WebP image format (if it was not enabled before).
  2. Trigger batch generation:Complete the settings modification, and at the bottom of this page, you will find one namedBatch regenerate thumbnailsThe option of “”.
  3. Perform the operation:Click this option and the system will reprocess and generate new thumbnails for all uploaded images based on all the thumbnail sizes, processing methods, and WebP enabled status you have configured in 'Content Settings'.This is an automatic process, AnQiCMS will traverse all the image resources that need to generate thumbnails on the website and generate the corresponding new thumbnail files according to the latest rules.

This feature greatly saves the time and energy of content operators, no need to manually modify one by one, ensuring the consistency of website visual presentation and performance optimization.

Tips before operation

It is crucial to develop good habits before performing any batch operations:

  • Data backup:Although AnQiCMS system is stable and reliable, for double safety, it is strongly recommended to make a complete backup of the website data and files before performing batch operations.
  • Check settings carefully: EnglishAgain, please confirm that the parameters you have adjusted in the "Content Settings" meet your expectations, especially the thumbnail size and WebP conversion options, to avoid generating results that do not meet the requirements.
  • Select the appropriate time slot:Batch image processing may increase the server load in a short period of time. If your website has a high volume of traffic, it is recommended to perform operations during the low traffic hours of night or early morning.
  • Clear cache:After the batch operation is completed, the website front-end may not display the updated thumbnails immediately due to the reasons of browser cache or CDN cache.At this time, it is usually recommended to clear the website cache (there is a 'Update Cache' feature in AnQiCMS backend) and the browser cache, and refresh the CDN cache if necessary to ensure that the newly generated thumbnails take effect as soon as possible.

AnQiCMS's batch thumbnail regeneration feature is not just a technical tool, but also a powerful assistant for content operators to improve efficiency, optimize user experience and SEO performance.It allows the website to quickly adapt to the ever-changing network environment and user needs, maintaining competitiveness.

Common Questions (FAQ)

Q1: Will regenerating thumbnails in bulk affect the normal access to the website?

Q2：If I only want to regenerate the thumbnail images for specific categories or models, does AnQiCMS support this?A2：Currently, the "Batch Regenerate Thumbnails" feature of AnQiCMS background is a global operation for all image resources on the entire site, and it is not possible to specify to process images under a specific category or model directly.If you have this requirement, you can consider verifying it in a test environment, or through other technical means (such as directly operating on the thumbnail folder under the file storage directory, but this requires caution and ensuring a deep understanding of the AnQiCMS file storage structure).

Q3: After regenerating thumbnails in WebP format, will my old format images (such as JPG, PNG) still be retained?A3: When you enable the WebP format in the AnQiCMS content settings and perform batch regeneration of thumbnails, the system will create or replace the existing thumbnails with WebP format. In most cases, the original uploaded large image files (such as JPG or PNG) will be retained, while the old formatThumbnail fileWill be replaced by new WebP thumbnail file.This means that when the user visits, WebP thumbnails will be loaded, but the original JPG/PNG large images may still be contained in your media library.The specific behavior suggestions should be validated in the test environment to ensure they meet your expectations.