ASA2 Image Proxy

Get ASA2 Image Proxy

ASA2 Image Proxy is a WordPress add-on for ASA2 that routes external product image requests through your own server so the visitor's IP address is never exposed to the image origin (Amazon CDN, shop hosts, …). The proxy fetches images server-side once, caches the bytes, and serves all subsequent requests from the cache.

The add-on supports three cache backends that can be selected per installation:

• Filesystem — Default. Works on any host with a writable directory. Best for single-server setups.
• Redis — In-memory cache for high-traffic and multi-server setups. Requires the phpredis PHP extension.
• Memcached — Alternative in-memory backend for hosts that already run Memcached. Requires the ext-memcached PHP extension.

How It Works

1. ASA2 normally emits image URLs that point at the origin (Amazon CDN, shop URLs, etc.).
2. With the Image Proxy active, those URLs are rewritten to a WordPress route on your server.
3. On the first hit the proxy fetches the bytes server-side, optionally resizes them (fit-inside, never upscales), and stores the result in the configured cache backend.
4. Subsequent requests are returned straight from the cache — the third-party origin is never contacted again until the cache entry expires.

The visitor's browser only ever talks to your host, so visitor IPs, User-Agent strings, Referer headers, and cookies are never sent to the image origin.

Image Proxy vs. Local Images

The existing Local Images feature in ASA2 Core downloads product images to the WordPress Media Library and serves them from there. The Image Proxy streams them on-demand through a cache and never touches the Media Library. Both achieve "no third-party request from the visitor" but with different storage and freshness trade-offs.

Installation & Activation

1. If you haven't already, request your license on the ASA2 Image Proxy product page.
2. Download the ASA2 Image Proxy plugin ZIP file from your account at getasa2.com.
3. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin and upload the ZIP file.
4. Click Activate.
5. Go to ASA2 → Licenses and enter your ASA2 Image Proxy license key to activate it.

After activation, open ASA2 → Image Proxy in your WordPress admin and turn on the master switch:

Activate Image Proxy — Routes external product images through this server. When off, images load directly from their origin and expose visitor IPs.

See the Settings page for all activation options.

Requirements

• ASA2 (core plugin) must be installed and active.
• PHP 8.1 or higher.
• WordPress 5.9 or higher.
• GD is built into PHP — no extra extensions required for the default filesystem backend.

Permalinks

Pretty Permalinks are recommended but not required. On sites running Plain Permalinks the plugin automatically prepends /index.php to proxy URLs so the route still reaches PHP. Use Tools → Routing check to verify your setup.

Next Steps

• Dashboard — Activity overview, cache statistics, recent errors.
• Settings — Activation, general options, cache backend configuration.
• Cache Backends — When to pick filesystem, Redis, or Memcached.
• Tools — Purge cache, routing check, test fetch, signing secret, diagnostic report.
• Help (in-plugin tab) — Short cause + first fix for every error code, plus links into this documentation. Useful as a first stop when a Recent errors row needs interpreting.
• Security & Privacy — What the proxy hides, SSRF protection, signed URLs.
• Troubleshooting — Solve common issues, keyed by error code.