The best part? All modern browsers now fully support WebP. You can also take it a step further with AVIF, the next-gen format offering even better compression — and yes, most of the tools below support that too.

Here are five excellent free online WebP converters that make switching to modern formats quick and painless.

1. TinyPNG

TinyPNG has been my trusty companion for image compression for a long time. Initially renowned for its PNG and JPEG optimisation, it’s now embraced WebP and AVIF formats. The interface is delightfully simple — drag and drop, select “Convert my images automatically”, and let it work its magic. For WordPress users, their plugin offers seamless integration, allowing the optimisation of up to 100 images monthly for free.

2. Squoosh

Developed by Google, Squoosh stands out for its versatile features in image optimisation, including WebP conversion. Its real-time preview functionality lets users fine-tune compression settings, striking the perfect balance between image quality and file size. Squoosh’s simplicity and effectiveness cater to a wide range of users, offering an excellent platform for image optimisation.

3. BIRME

BIRME, an acronym for Batch Image Resizing Made Easy, excels in bulk image resizing and offers WebP conversion as part of its toolkit. This online tool streamlines the process for those dealing with extensive image libraries. BIRME’s user-friendly interface and batch-processing capabilities make it a practical choice for projects requiring efficient image conversion.

4. Bulk Resize Photos

BulkResizePhotos is all about speed and privacy. Operating entirely in your browser, it ensures your images never leave your device. The tool excels in rapid batch conversions, offering options to resize, compress, and convert to WebP or AVIF. It’s my go-to when I need quick results without compromising on privacy.

5. ShortPixel

ShortPixel’s online tool is a powerhouse for image optimisation. Beyond converting to WebP or AVIF, it offers intelligent compression that maintains image quality. The online tools allow you to drag and drop (or select) up to 50 files, and I have found this to have better compression than Tinypng generally. This has become my go-to image compression tool, replacing Tinypng.

Their plugin integrates seamlessly for WordPress users, automating the optimisation process and even serving images via their CDN for enhanced performance. It’s a comprehensive solution for those serious about site speed.

Final Thoughts

Each of these free online WebP converters has its strengths — whether you want granular control, lightning-fast bulk conversion, or just a smooth drag-and-drop experience. Adding them to your image workflow can drastically reduce page load times and improve Core Web Vitals.

Want WordPress integration? TinyPNG and ShortPixel have free plugins.
Need speed and privacy? BulkResizePhotos runs 100% in-browser.
Like fiddling with settings? Squoosh gives you all the knobs and sliders.

No matter your needs, there’s a tool here that’ll save you time and bandwidth. Your users (and your PageSpeed score) will thank you.

Before you proceed with installing a new utility, keep in mind that preventing you Mac from sleeping has to be done with care, especially when the lid is closed. This can cause your Mac to overheat in the long run. Remember, your Mac needs regular rest just like you and me!

Caffeine

Caffeine is a tiny program that puts an icon in the right side of your menu bar. Click it to prevent your Mac from automatically going to sleep, dimming the screen or starting screen savers. Click it again to go back. Right-click (or ⌘-click) the icon to show the menu.

This is one of the most popular programs that I have found that does this job. While it is very easy to use, it is limited in features.

Jiggler

Jiggler is a little freeware app with one purpose: to keep your Mac awake. Jiggler just wiggles your mouse every once in a while, keeping your machine awake and happy. When you want to stay awake, run it. When you don’t want to, quit it. You can even run it while you’re working, because you can set it not to wiggle your mouse unless your computer has been sitting idle for a while.

NoSleep

NoSleep makes closing of your MacBook lid possible without going to a sleep mode. Now you shouldn’t have to plug your mouse and monitor to stay computer awake – just activate it by clicking a menu bar icon or check a tick in the System Preferences and continue downloading huge files and watching favorite movies over the network with lid closed.

Owly

Say hello to Owly, a cute little fellow who lives in your Mac’s menu bar and does its best to prevent your Mac from automatically sleeping. What this means is that Owly ensures your Mac’s screen never goes dim, no screen savers appear and that your Mac doesn’t enter sleep mode.

By right clicking the Owly icon on the menubar, the app can toggle on/off. When the icon is red, Owly is active and will keep your Mac wide awake. When the icon is black, the app is no longer actively ensuring your Mac doesn’t enter sleep.

Amphetamine

Amphetamine can keep your Mac, and optionally its display(s), awake through a super simple on/off switch, or automatically through easy-to-configure Triggers. Amphetamine is extremely powerful and includes advanced features for those who need them, yet remains intuitive and easy-to-use for those who don’t need all of the bells and whistles.

pmset

pmset manages power management settings such as idle sleep timing, wake on administrative access, automatic restart on power loss, etc. This comes inbuilt within your Mac and you can activate it by opening a new Terminal window and running:

pmset noidle

To exit pmset, simply hit Control+C and your Mac will go to sleep as per your settings.

Are you already running any of these utilities on your Mac? If so, which is your favourite application?

This tutorial assumes that you are comfortable with creating a single variable data table.

We’ll once again be looking at our Compound Interest example where you will be calculate what the amount you will receive at a certain interest rate after a specific period of time. You can also skip to the bottom of this post to download the example.

Create a new excel file and lay it out as shown in the screenshot above. Alternatively, you can start with the excel file from our previous example. In cell A5, enter the formula =B1*(1+B2)^B3.

As you can see, the $5,000 invested at 7.5% for 5 years will give $7,178.15.

A reminder of the formula for calculating compound interest:

A = P * (1 + r/n) ^ nt

Where:

• P = principal amount (initial investment)
• r = annual interest rate (as a decimal)
• n = number of times the interest is compounded per year
• t = number of years
• A = amount after time t

We will be varying the annual interest rate and the number of years to find the varying results.

After you have created the file according to the screenshot above, select the data range A5:F10.

In Excel, go to Data > What-If Analysis > Data Table or you can use the shortcut key Alt + D + T in this order in Windows.

This will popup a window where you will be asked to enter Row Input Cell and the Column Input Cell. Select the Column Input Cell as $B$2 and the Row Input Cell as $B$3 and hit OK.

The cells will be populated as shown in the screenshot below. As usual, you can choose to format the same currency.

How does it work?

Cells B6:F10 hold the formula {=TABLE(B3,B2)}.

Here, the values B4 to F4 are substituted for B3 in the formula in cell A5 and values A6 to A10 are substituted for B2 in the formula in cell A5 and the results are then populated accordingly.

Hence, for 1 year at 8%, the amount is $5,400, for 3 years at 10%, the amount is $6,655.00 and so on.

You can download the sample XLSX file for your reference.

Excel Help describes a data table as:

A data table is a range of cells that shows how changing one or two variables in your formulas (formula: A sequence of values, cell references, names, functions, or operators in a cell that together produce a new value. A formula always begins with an equal sign (=).) will affect the results of those formulas. Data tables provide a shortcut for calculating multiple results in one operation and a way to view and compare the results of all the different variations together on your worksheet.

Defining the problem

Consider a case of compound interest, where you invest a certain amount of money in a bank deposit and the amount is compounded every year.

Formula for calculating compound interest:

A = P * (1 + r/n) ^ nt

Where:

• P = principal amount (initial investment)
• r = annual interest rate (as a decimal)
• n = number of times the interest is compounded per year
• t = number of years
• A = amount after time t

Now, if suppose we want to see what the final amount will be at different interests rates, we can use a data table.

The solution

Open a new excel file and enter the following as given in the screenshot below:

The cell B5 has the formula =B1*(1+B2)^B3

As you can see, the $5,000 invested at 7.5% for 5 years will give $7,178.15.

Now, we will create a data table to see what amount we will receive by changing the interest rate.

Fill cells A6 to A10 with different interest rates. I’ve filled it with values from 6% to 10%. Now, select the cells A5:B10.

In Excel, navigate to Data > What-If Analysis > Data Table. You can use the shortcut key Alt + D + T in this order in Windows.

This will popup a window where you will be asked to enter Row Input Cell and the Column Input Cell. Select the Column Input Cell as $B$2 and leave the Row Input Cell blank and hit OK.

The values will be filled in as shown below. You can choose to format them as currency, but that I have left it up to you.

How it works?

Well, we did get the results, but the question remains on what just happened.

To understand this simply, the Column Input Cell is the variable whose value we are going to vary. If supposing the data was presented horizontally instead of vertically which is our case, then you would need to select it as a Row Input Cell.

The values in cells A6 to A10 are then passed to the formula in cell B5 and the corresponding results are populated in cells B6 to B10.

If you look at cells B6 to B10, they contain the formula {=TABLE(,B2)}

Can you try creating a Data Table using a Row Input Cell? Why don’t you post your solution below or on your blog and post a link below in the comments area.

We created a One Variable Data Table. The next step is learning how to create a Two Variable Data Table.

Like me, if you’re familiar with WhatsApp web and have used it extensively, then you’ll be pleased to know that Signal has you covered via their desktop apps as well as one for your iPad. The latter in particular is fantastic if you use your iPad a lot and find it easier to respond there with a full keyboard.

Step 1: Install Signal on your mobile

Simply visit https://signal.org/install on your phone and it will direct you to the correct location to install Signal i.e. the App Store for iPhone users and the Google Play Store for Android users.

Once installed, open the app and follow the setup instructions which requires you to provide it with your phone number and verify this with an incoming one-time-password.

Step 2: Download Signal for Desktop

Once you have installed Signal on your mobile, you can then go ahead and install Signal on your desktop. The first step is to visit the Get Signal page and on the right you’ll notice links to download Signal for Desktop. You have clients for Mac, Windows and Linux.

You can hit the nice blue button and download the software for your computer (in my case it is for Mac). Once downloaded, open the installation file. For Mac, you just need to drag Signal into your Applications folder. On Windows, you’ll run through the typical installer.

Step 3: Link Signal for Desktop

Once installed, you can open Signal on your desktop and you’ll be presented with a screen similar to the screenshot below. The square in the centre holds a QR Code which you’ll need to scan using your phone – I’ve blanked it out in the screenshot.

Open your signal app and then open settings. A quick way to do that is to hit your profile photo/avatar in the top left. Once there navigate to Linked Devices and hit the + button on Android or “Link New Device” on iOS.

If you haven’t used your camera before in Signal, it might ask you for permission which you’ll need to give. You can always disable it later in your phone settings.

Once you scan the QR Code, you will be asked to name the device. When you hit Finish linking phone, Signal for Desktop will sync your phone contacts and groups to the desktop which took several seconds for me.

As a security measure, you will not be able to see your chat history on this newly linked device, but once you start using it the messages appear on both your mobile and this device.

That’s all folks! Say hello to better battery life on your phone.

This plugin came as a request from an existing user of Top 10 and I noticed that there isn’t a similar free plugin in the WordPress repository – at least not one that has been recently updated!

Popular Authors can be used in three ways:

1. Widget: simply drag and drop “Popular Authors” widget into your theme’s sidebar and configure it
2. Shortcode [wzpa_popular_authors], so you can embed it inside a post or a page
3. Template tag: Use wzpa_list_popular_authors() to display the popular authors anywhere on your theme

The Widget

The widget is the easiest way to display the top authors – simply drag and drop it into the theme and you’re good to go. Plus you have a few options to play with. I’ll update the widget to add a few more parameters than can be customised.

Shortcode and Template tag

These are perfect if you want to insert the top list into your website at custom places that don’t support the widget. Both the shortcode and the template tag take several optional parameters.

Refer to this article on the shortcode attributes for more details on what attributes you can use with the shortcode. For the template tag, you will pass these as an arguments array.

Future plans

I pushed this out as a simple release with the basic functionality of the shortcode and the widget – both of which use the function to output the data. I’ve got several plans to develop this plugin and you can always track the latest features in Github.

A few immediate features include, adding a support for Co-Author Plus so as to give multiple authors credit for the number of views tracked, adding an option to display the author thumbnail and adding a new tab in the Top 10 settings page to set a few global options.

As always, I’m always happy to get feature requests. You can post them in the support forum or create a Github issue. Please note that Github issues not related to support requests are deleted or closed.

Download Popular Authors

NPV

From the official help article, NPV takes the following syntax:

NPV(rate,value1,[value2],...)

The function uses the following arguments:

• Rate Required. The rate of discount over the length of one period
• Value1, value2, … Value1 is required, subsequent values are optional. 1 to 254 arguments representing the payments and income
• Value1, value2, … must be equally spaced in time and occur at the end of each period
• NPV uses the order of value1, value2, … to interpret the order of cash flows. Be sure to enter your payment and income values in the correct sequence
• Arguments that are empty cells, logical values, or text representations of numbers, error values, or text that cannot be translated into numbers are ignored
• If an argument is an array or reference, only numbers in that array or reference are counted. Empty cells, logical values, text, or error values in the array or reference are ignored

Simply put, you feed your cash flows to NPV and it will chomp them up and give you the net present value of those cash flows at the specified rate. One important point to remember is that these cash flows are assumed to be at equal periods and hence this can be used if your cash flows are arranged in this manner.

However, if you have date dependent cash flows, or if you’d like to make your model more dynamic, then XNPV is a better function to use. That’s also why it is my favourite NPV calculator and one that I’ve used extensively.

XNPV

From the official help article, XNPV takes the following syntax:

XNPV(rate, values, dates)

The XNPV function takes the following arguments:

• Rate Required. The discount rate to apply to the cash flows
• Values Required. A series of cash flows that corresponds to a schedule of payments in dates. The first payment is optional and corresponds to a cost or payment that occurs at the beginning of the investment. If the first value is a cost or payment, it must be a negative value. All succeeding payments are discounted based on a 365-day year. The series of values must contain at least one positive value and one negative value
• Dates Required. A schedule of payment dates that corresponds to the cash flow payments. The first payment date indicates the beginning of the schedule of payments. All other dates must be later than this date, but they may occur in any order

You can download the Excel file at the end of this article that will show how to use both NPV and XNPV. You’ll note the slight difference in the final results which is mainly because of the more accurate dates being used by the XNPV function.

Although this is a more detailed approach to calculate NPV, it gives you more flexibility vs. using the in-built Excel NPV functions.

Using this method, you will:

1. Calculate the discount factor that is to be applied in each year based on a specific discount rate
2. Apply this discount factor to the cash flow of each year to get the present value of the cash flow of that year
3. Sum up these cash flows to arrive at the NPV

This does sound like a lot of work. Don’t worry, we’re going to take the calculations one step at a time!

1. Calculate the discount factor

From the previous post, you would have learnt that you can calculate the present value of next (read first) year’s cash flows using $100/(1+5%) where $100 is the cash flow and 5% is the discount rate.

For the second year’s cash flows you will use $100/(1+5%)^2 and so on.

This portion: 1/(1+5%) and 1/(1+5%)^2 are the discount factors for the first and second year.

Putting this in Excel is very easy and this is what the formulae would look like in Excel to calculate the discount rates for the next 3 years. You can extend these to as many years as needed.

2. Apply this discount rate

Next, multiply the discount rate you calculated in the previous step to the cash flow in the same year

3. Sum the PVs of all the cash flows

Now, add the various cash flows that you calculated in the previous step to get the net present value of the stream of cash flows.

You can see the three steps in the screenshot below.

The above method assumes that the cash flows are at the end of the year. If you’re assuming mid-year cash flows then the recommended method is to discount the first year by 0.5 (instead of 1), the second by 1.5, etc. The rest of the calculations remain the same.

In the next post, I will show you how to use in-built Excel functions to calculate the NPV.

Since everything is changing rapidly, people need to learn how to be effective in simple daily tasks.

One thing that has become a usual work routine is managing different electronic documents that you receive. No matter which profession you’re a part of, handling several files is a typical daily task. Most commonly those files are in PDF, the most used format in the business world. The problem occurs when you want to edit a particular document and since PDF is not editable by default, you cannot change it that easily. Let’s face it, your time is important and dealing with these issues is not something that you want to spend most of your day on.

Luckily for you, there are some tools that can make PDF editing a walk in the park. Investintech’s online PDF OCR service lets you convert scanned and native PDFs to Word with the click of a button.

What makes this tool different is that it’s simple to use, completely free, with no limitations to the file size or the number of conversions. It is completely web-based which means no boring downloads and endless installations. Great thing is that it can convert PDF to Word in a quick three-step process:

Step 1)  Select a PDF file from your computer that you would like to convert. Since it has an advanced OCR technology, it converts both native and scanned PDF.

Step 2)  Type your email address to receive your converted file.

Step 3) Simply press the Start button and you are done. Soon enough, you will receive an email with a link to your converted file.

An important thing to notice is that this PDF tool provides some of the most advanced features for an online tool which keeps your converted file as close as possible to the original document. Also, for security reasons, files are deleted from Investintech’s servers after 24 hours.

Give it a try and let us know the results.

This is a guest post by the team at Investintech

Introducing NPV, PV and FV

Net Present Value, as the name suggests, is the sum of the present values of future cash flows. Both incoming (i.e. receipts) and outgoing (i.e. payments) are considered for calculating the NPV. So, what’s present value (PV)?

Let’s try to understand this via a simple example.

Imagine that you deposit $100 in the bank today for one year only at an annual interest rate of 5%. After one year, the bank would return the principal ($100) along with some interest ($5), which is a total of $105.

You’ve probably heard the saying “a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow”. In our example, our dollar today is worth 1.05 dollars in a year. The Future Value (FV) of $1 is $1.05.

Mathematically: At the end of Year 1, the Future value of $100 = $100 * ( 1+ 5% ) = $105

Reversing this, $105 next year is worth $100 today (assuming that the discount rate is 5%). Hence the present value of $105 is $100.

Still with me? Good. Now let’s complicate this example further by adding in yet another year.

If, instead of paying you back the principal at the end of the year, the bank just paid you the interest ($5) and rolled over the principal for another year.

And, then after another year has passed, the bank paid back the principal and interest i.e. a total of $105, what would the present value of this $105 be today?

If you’re thinking $95.24, then you’ve hit the nail on the head and you can skip the explanation below. If that’s you in the image below, then read on.

To find out what the present value of the $105 in Year 2 is today, we need to take two steps back in time.

Step 1: In Year 1, the present value of the $105 is $100 (just like we calculated in our previous example)

Step 2: In Year 0, i.e. today, the present value of this $100 is: $100/(1+5%) = $95.24

Note that in the example above, we’ve ignored the $5 that the bank paid us at the end of Year 1. Keeping with the calculation in Step 2 above, the present value of $5 would be $5/(1+5%) = $4.76.

And, $4.76 + $95.24 = $100!

Looking at this example:

$4.76 is the present value of $5 received in Year 1

$95.24 is the present value of $105 received in Year 2

$100 is the sum of the present values of the receipts of Year 1 and Year 2. In other words, $100 is the net present value of two cash flows of $5 and $105 received in the following two years.

Summary

By now, I hope I have cleared any doubts or questions you’ve had on Net Present Value and you should conceptually be able to calculate the NPV of a set of cash flows and decide if a project is feasible based on the cash flows.

In the next post, I’ll explain how you can calculate NPV in Microsoft Excel. Stay tuned.