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AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild

By junkcoder

Site Administration & Utilities / Site Health & Diagnostics

AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild Review - In-Depth Analysis

AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild allows you to rebuild thumbnails on your site without server script timeouts. It processes thumbnails one at a time, making it suitable for sites with many images.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.97/10

User Rating

4.8/5 (based on 90+ reviews)

Active Installations

30,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild allows you to rebuild all thumbnails on your site. There are already some plugins available for this, but they have one thing in common: All thumbnails are rebuilt in a single step. This works fine when you don’t have that many photos on your site. When you have a lot of full-size photos, the script on the server side takes a long time to run. Unfortunately the time a script is allowed to run is limited, which sets an upper limit to the number of thumbnails you can regenerate. This number depends on the server configuration and the computing power your server has available. When you get over this limit, you won’t be able to rebuild your thumbnails.

Why would you want to rebuild your thumbnails? WordPress allows you to change the size of thumbnails. This way, you can make the size of thumbnails fit the design of your website. When you change the size to fit for a new theme, all future photos you are going to upload will have this new size. Your old thumbnails won’t be resized. That’s where this plugin comes into action. After changing the image sizes, you can rebuild all thumbnails. But instead of telling the server to recreate all thumbnails at once, they are rebuilt one after another. Rebuilding thumbnails for one photo won’t take all too long, so you won’t run into any script timeouts. Note that you still have to wait until all thumbnails have been rebuilt. If you close the page before the task is completed, you have to start all over again.

You can also select the thumbnail sizes you want to rebuild, so that you don't need to recreate all images if you've just changed one thumbnail-size. You can also choose to only rebuild post thumbnails (featured images).

This plugin requires JavaScript to be enabled.

Comparing to Alternatives

AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild is a specialized plugin designed to regenerate thumbnails efficiently, standing out among similar tools for its performance and ease of use.

Top alternatives

AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild

Strengths

Efficiently regenerates thumbnails without timing out on large image sets.
Simple and user-friendly interface.
Performs tasks that some alternatives cannot, such as handling large WooCommerce image sets.
Lightweight and focused on a single task, reducing complexity.

Weaknesses

No updates in several years, raising concerns about ongoing support.
Lacks automation features for new media uploads.
Limited to thumbnail regeneration without additional image optimization features.
No integration with WordPress core or WooCommerce automatic regeneration.

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback highlights the plugin's effectiveness and ease of use, though concerns about maintenance and support are noted.

Positive highlights

"Nice plugin, very useful, efficiency top." - Wabbitt83
"It did what Regenerate Thumbnails can't." - Fred
"Great plugin, easy to use and should be in Core." - Jasper MMM
"Still works great with large image libraries." - cr8n
"Excellent plugin though no recent updates." - 802jan

Common complaints

No updates in over three years leading to 'abandoned' warnings.
Lack of support responses for over a year.
No automation for regenerating thumbnails on new uploads.
Potential risks if used without backups due to lack of recent maintenance.

Weaknesses

Plugin appears abandoned with no recent updates.
Support is unresponsive, which may deter new users.
No proactive features like automatic regeneration on media upload.
Compatibility with latest WordPress versions may be uncertain.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users needing a straightforward, efficient tool to regenerate thumbnails, especially those managing large image libraries or WooCommerce stores, who are comfortable with using a plugin that may not receive frequent updates.

Not ideal for

Users seeking a plugin with active support, regular updates, automation features, or integration with WordPress core should consider alternatives or be cautious using this plugin.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers complete thumbnail regeneration functionality without any cost, providing significant value for users needing this specific feature.

Final Verdict

AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild is a highly effective and efficient tool for regenerating thumbnails, especially useful for large media libraries and WooCommerce stores. Its simplicity and performance are praised by users.

However, the lack of updates and support raises concerns about its long-term viability. Users should weigh the benefits against potential risks and consider their comfort level with using a plugin that appears abandoned.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild plugin.

ajax

thumbnail rebuild

regenerate thumbnails

Screenshots

FAQ

No. A rebuild writes the resized copies again and leaves the file you uploaded as it is. The only setting that touches an original is “Also optimise the full size original” on the Optimising tab, and even then only the lossless programs run on it – never a re-encode.