ATTENTION! AliDropship WOO ver. 1.1.0 - UPDATE

[Ekaterina Sayapina]

Storing images
As you know in AliDropship Woo plugin ver 1.0 we added the possibility to import products without saving images on your server. This feature is really helpful since importing products with all images to a WooCommerce website leads to the dramatic increase of the size of its databases and affects its performance. However, we got some issues with this feature. The standard Flex slider in Woo themes (if it is used) can’t recognise the external images (featured images), so we had to save and store all featured images on the server anyway.

Now this issue is solved by adding a new object type to the media that is accepted by all Woo themes.

​

​

To make this feature work correctly, you need to update your database after upgrading to the latest version of AliDropship Woo plugin.

Please check the instructions:

1. Update AliDropship Woo Plugin as usual.
2. Right after update you will see this message. Go to the migration page.

​

3. Click Update button and wait for the database updating process to be completed.

​

Displaying images in reviews
WP Dashboard => Settings => Nice Attributes.

​

 

[ahmadtalal0786]

wowwwwww.
thats one of the biggest addition regarding speed and performance of the website
but i have one simple yet more effective question.

what about the size differences, because woocommerce and some theme doesnt not crop external images to specific size. so in result the products images looks big and small in the shop page which degrade the overall impression of the website.

before I update my database according to this new feature. Does this new feature crop the image sizes according to specified image sizes defined by either woocommerce or theme?

 

[Yaros]

wowwwwww.
thats one of the biggest addition regarding speed and performance of the website
but i have one simple yet more effective question.

what about the size differences, because woocommerce and some theme doesnt not crop external images to specific size. so in result the products images looks big and small in the shop page which degrade the overall impression of the website.

before I update my database according to this new feature. Does this new feature crop the image sizes according to specified image sizes defined by either woocommerce or theme?

Resizing and cropping of external images is not possible.

 

[ahmadtalal0786]

Resizing and cropping of external images is not possible.

so then it means that it would be that bigger and smaller in size difference.

 

[Yaros]

so then it means that it would be that bigger and smaller in size difference.

Yes, it will depend on the theme.

 

[ahmadtalal0786]

Yes, it will depend on the theme.

so is it possible to have the same size of product images? I mean not cropping but to define something in css to render it the same.
by the way i am using flatesome theme

 

[Yaros]

so is it possible to have the same size of product images? I mean not cropping but to define something in css to render it the same

if you are using external images there is no possibility to resize them to meet the size requirements of a theme. If you want to edit any image you need to save it on your server.

 

[ahmadtalal0786]

if you are using external images there is no possibility to resize them to meet the size requirements of a theme.

Thank you, appreciate it.

 

[aminech]

Thank you that's really a great addition, Aliwoo is perfect now the only thing needed is the possibility to split variation.

I do have a suggestion,
Gallery loads two sizes of each image, one is the original image and one is the thumbnail 350x350 (the same applies for variations).
Wouldn't be a better practice to set the original image as thumbnail also since it will be loaded anyway for the large preview and it will be resized by theme's css?
That will avoid unnecessary bytes download and reduce page size and improve page speed.
I did a test on product and found thumbnails total size is around 750KB. That's 750KB that can be saved if only original images are loaded and used as thumbnails also.



I hope my idea is clear.

 

[Arnaldo]

Hi there and thank you for pushing great updates.

One question: From memory on the beta testing I remember @Vitaly Kukin showing us the possibility to add Aliexpress description images to gallery images in Woo from the chrome addon.

I didn't see this feature since in stable release. Is it still planned? Would be great.

Thank you all.

 

[Arnaldo]

Also another question more related to this update.

It is great to add this but do we have a way not to tell google our images doesn't come from Aliexpress CDN, like finding a way to tell google crawler not to index any images from Ali CDN.

So let's say I keep uploaded woo feature image on my server to benefit from onsite SEO,

Use Aliexpress CDN images for all other gallery images,

But hide the hotlinking from Aliexpress to Google?

Edit it in the robot.txt file at the root of site? Noindex?

Any input welcomed.

 

[profnoni]

When trying to update my alidropship woo plugin, from the current version 1.0.3.1 to version 1.1.0, I get the following error...

Update Failed: The update cannot be installed because we will be unable to copy some files. This is usually due to inconsistent file permissions.

Please, how do I solve this? Thanks

 

[Yaros]

When trying to update my alidropship woo plugin, from the current version 1.0.3.1 to version 1.1.0, I get the following error...

Update Failed: The update cannot be installed because we will be unable to copy some files. This is usually due to inconsistent file permissions.

Please, how do I solve this? Thanks

You need to remove the plugin completely through your cpanel and then install a new version via WP dashboard.

 

[Ekaterina Sayapina]

Hi there and thank you for pushing great updates.

One question: From memory on the beta testing I remember @Vitaly Kukin showing us the possibility to add Aliexpress description images to gallery images in Woo from the chrome addon.

I didn't see this feature since in stable release. Is it still planned? Would be great.

Thank you all.

This feature will be available shortly!

Also another question more related to this update.

It is great to add this but do we have a way not to tell google our images doesn't come from Aliexpress CDN, like finding a way to tell google crawler not to index any images from Ali CDN.

So let's say I keep uploaded woo feature image on my server to benefit from onsite SEO,

Use Aliexpress CDN images for all other gallery images,

But hide the hotlinking from Aliexpress to Google?

Edit it in the robot.txt file at the root of site? Noindex?

Any input welcomed.

Thanks for your suggestion! We'll consider this option.

 

[Arnaldo]

Another silly Idea. Add an option for a custom file hosting service existing or paid Alidropship inhouse service for hosting edited images.

The only drawback I could see apart cropping is that we won't be able to edit the watermark by liking directly on Aliexpress images.

Anyway, for me, it is no issue since I migrated on VPS. But still this addition is really great for a lightweight woocommerce for those on shared hosting.

You did great again!

 

[Yaros]

Thank you that's really a great addition, Aliwoo is perfect now the only thing needed is the possibility to split variation.

I do have a suggestion,
Gallery loads two sizes of each image, one is the original image and one is the thumbnail 350x350 (the same applies for variations).
Wouldn't be a better practice to set the original image as thumbnail also since it will be loaded anyway for the large preview and it will be resized by theme's css?
That will avoid unnecessary bytes download and reduce page size and improve page speed.
I did a test on product and found thumbnails total size is around 750KB. That's 750KB that can be saved if only original images are loaded and used as thumbnails also.

View attachment 5700

I hope my idea is clear.

It works like it should be, we will not step in the way the theme gallery works.

 

[ahmadtalal0786]

Anyway, for me, it is no issue since I migrated on VPS. But still this addition is really great for a lightweight woocommerce for those on shared hosting.

Would you mind if you tell me that which hosting company you are using for you vps server and can you tell us about its features and whether its worth it or not.
thankx

 

[Direct Webstore]

the only thing needed is the possibility to split variation.

Duplicate product as many times as you like ... delete variations you don't want in each duplicated copy. Edit titles/description in each copy. Done.

 

[Arnaldo]

Hi @ahmadtalal0786. I'm using a Vultr VPS with an opensource Cpanel equivalent called Cyberpanel.

It is an awesome free webpanel to administrate your VPS. But you should really know how to handle the command line and have good knowledge of server security if you chose that route. It is not for beginners at all. If not, go for managed VPS companies like Inmotion or Knowhost.

I will make here a future tutorial on this at a later stage. In the meantime don't hesitate to join Cyberpanel forum and Discord channel for support.

Cheers.

 

[Direct Webstore]

This feature is really helpful since importing products with all images to a WooCommerce website leads to the dramatic increase of the size of its databases and affects its performance.

Does the Original plugin have this problem too? I forget.