Once you submit your file for compression, WeCompress goes through multiple discrete actions in order to process the file.
Stage 1: File upload
WeCompress uses the standard upload facility available in your browser. The speed at which the file is uploaded is directly affected by the upload bandwidth available to the browser at the time the file is submitted. While a file is uploading WeCompress will show an 'uploading' message. If you are suffering from slow uploads then please check our tips for determining what is causing the issue.
Stage 2: File processing
Once the file has been successfully uploaded to WeCompress it will automatically start processing the file once resources are available. During periods where there are many files uploaded to WeCompress files could spend a short amount of time in a queue before the system automatically increases the resources and processing is started.
Once processing is started, the amount of time taken to process the file is roughly related to the size of the file. In general larger files will take longer to process but in most cases it shouldn't take longer than 30 seconds to 1 minute for the file to be processed.
Stage 3: File success or failure indication
If the file has been successfully compressed, WeCompress will show a message describing the level of compression along with a download button. If the file has not been successfully compressed WeCompress should show a message describing why is has not been compressed. For more information on why files are not compressed please see An explanation of WeCompress messages.
Stage 4: File download
Successfully compressed files can be downloaded using the download button. WeCompress will again use the default download facility of the browser in order to download the file. The file will be downloaded to the directory that is set in the browser preferences. Each downloaded file will have the same name as the original file but will have '(wecompress.com)' appended to the filename. This will make the file easy to identify and allow you to compare the file alongside the original.
