Newsmag Theme + WordPress Creating Too Many Image Sizes – Best Practice?

Hi everyone,


I’m running my site on WordPress with the Newsmag theme, and I’ve noticed that my server is filling up quickly because of duplicate image sizes.


Here’s what I found:

• WordPress generates its default sizes (thumbnail, medium, large, etc.).
• The Newsmag theme also adds its own hardcoded image sizes through add_image_size().
• This means for every image upload, my site creates a lot of different versions, and it’s eating up server space.

My questions are:

1. Which image sizes are actually necessary for Newsmag to function correctly (so I don’t break layouts)?
2. Is it better to disable WordPress default sizes or theme sizes?
3. Are there any plugins or safer methods recommended for managing image sizes in Newsmag?
4. Should I run something like Regenerate Thumbnails after cleanup?

I’d love to hear suggestions from anyone who’s dealt with this issue in Newsmag or other news/magazine themes.


Thanks in advance

Which image sizes are actually necessary for Newsmag to function correctly (so I don’t break layouts)?
Ans: All images size required as it is built in wordpress.

Is it better to disable WordPress default sizes or theme sizes?
Ans: No, Keep it as default.

Are there any plugins or safer methods recommended for managing image sizes in Newsmag?
Ans: Use plugin like: Converter for Media, imagify, WebP Converter For Media, Webp Express etc.

Should I run something like Regenerate Thumbnails after cleanup?
Ans: Depended on your needs.

Newsmag (and many WP themes) auto-create multiple image sizes, which eats up storage and slows things down. Best practice is to audit which sizes are actually used, then disable the extra ones in functions.php or set them to “0” in Media settings. After that, run a plugin like Regenerate Thumbnails to clean up old unused sizes. Also, stick with optimized formats (WebP/JPG) and lazy loading for better performance.