Troubleshooting Common EWWW Image Optimizer Activation and Settings Issues

Encountering problems when trying to activate, deactivate, or configure the EWWW Image Optimizer plugin is a common frustration for WordPress users. Based on community reports, these issues often stem from a few specific causes rather than a problem with the plugin itself. This guide will walk you through the most frequent culprits and how to resolve them.

Common Symptoms

Users often report the following problems:

• Inability to activate the plugin, sometimes with an error about an invalid plugin header.
• Being unable to deactivate the plugin, resulting in a "too many redirects" error.
• Plugin settings that won't save or seem to revert after saving (e.g., Debug mode or Automatic Scaling staying enabled).
• Encountering a 500 error or redirect loop on the plugin's settings page, particularly on Multisite installations.

Why This Happens

Overwhelmingly, the root cause for these behaviors is not the EWWW Image Optimizer plugin's code but the server environment it's running in. The most common reasons are:

1. Object Caching: Many hosting providers use object caching (e.g., Redis, Memcached) to speed up sites by storing database query results. This cache can prevent the plugin from reading your most recent settings changes, making it seem like your selections didn't save.
2. General Server Caching: Aggressive page or browser caching can sometimes interfere with admin requests, preventing activation, deactivation, or proper loading of settings pages.
3. Corrupted Installation: In rare cases, a file may not download or install correctly from the WordPress repository, leading to activation errors.
4. Multisite URL Bug: A past, now-fixed bug in the plugin caused a double "network" segment in the settings URL for Multisite networks, leading to 500 errors.

How to Fix It: Step-by-Step Solutions

1. Clear Your Caches

This is the first and most important step for most issues, especially settings that won't save.

• Object Cache: If you have a caching plugin, use its features to clear all caches. If you don't, or if the problem persists, you will likely need to contact your web host and ask them to flush the object cache or the Redis/Memcached cache specifically.
• Page/Browser Cache: Clear your site's page cache from your caching plugin or host's control panel. Additionally, clear your browser's cache and cookies for the site, as some settings page errors (like kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 303) can be browser-related.

2. Reinstall the Plugin

If you are getting an error during activation (like "no valid header"), the installation files may be corrupted.

1. Delete the plugin from your WordPress dashboard (or via FTP/SFTP by removing the /wp-content/plugins/ewww-image-optimizer/ folder).
2. Wait a few minutes. In some cases, a cached version of the plugin zip file on your host's network might be the issue, and waiting can allow this cache to clear.
3. Reinstall the plugin fresh from the WordPress plugin repository.

3. Check for a Multisite URL Bug

If you are on a WordPress Multisite network and get a 500 error on the settings page, check the URL in your address bar. A historical bug created a URL with "network" repeated twice (e.g., .../network/network/settings.php...).

• Solution: Manually correct the URL in the address bar by removing the duplicate "network/" segment. Then, ensure your plugin is updated to the latest version, as the EWWW Image Optimizer team has released a fix for this issue.

4. Manual Plugin Deactivation (Last Resort)

If you cannot deactivate the plugin through the WordPress admin dashboard due to redirect errors:

1. Access your site's files via FTP, SFTP, or your host's file manager.
2. Navigate to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
3. Rename the ewww-image-optimizer folder to something like ewww-image-optimizer.OFF.
4. This will automatically deactivate the plugin. You can then delete the folder to complete removal.

Note: The plugin is designed to clean up its database tables upon uninstallation. If you deactivate it manually, you can safely remove its database tables if desired. These are typically wp_ewwwio_images and wp_ewwwio_queue (the queue table should be empty). You can also remove any options from the wp_options table with 'ewww' in the option_name.

When to Seek Further Help

If you have tried all the steps above and the problem continues, the issue may be more specific to your server configuration. Your next step should be to:

• Contact Your Web Host: Explain the issue and ask them to check your server's error logs for any relevant messages. They can also confirm if any special server-level caching or firewalls are blocking admin-ajax.php requests or interfering with plugin functionality.
• Check for Conflicting Software: Ensure that another plugin or Apache module (like ModPagespeed) isn't causing a conflict. For example, ModPagespeed can independently generate WebP images even after EWWWIO has been deactivated.