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WOFF2 Only by Default: Font File Upload Options in Font Hero

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When you self-host fonts in WordPress, it's easy to think you have to upload every format (WOFF2, WOFF, TTF) just to be safe. That means more files to manage and a more cluttered upload screen. In this short video we explain why Font Hero shows only the WOFF2 upload field by default, and how to turn on the other formats if your project needs them.

Why WOFF2 is enough for most sites

Most of the time you only need one font file per weight, and it should be the smallest one. We didn't want to fill the interface with extra upload fields that most people will never use.

We checked this live on caniuse.com:

  • WOFF 2.0 - Web Open Font Format has 97.07% global usage coverage. Every current browser in the table supports it (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, Opera and the mobile browsers).
  • The only big gap is Internet Explorer, which doesn't support WOFF2 in any version.

So unless you still have to support IE, one WOFF2 file per font covers your visitors. You also keep the smaller file size, because WOFF2 compresses better than WOFF and TTF.

When you need WOFF or TTF

If a client still needs Internet Explorer support, WOFF2 alone won't do the job. Font Hero also lets you upload WOFF and TTF files:

  • WOFF works in Internet Explorer, so you can upload it as a fallback.
  • TTF/OTF only has partial support in IE 9–11. According to caniuse, it only works there when the font is set to "installable".

Both formats compress worse than WOFF2. That's why Font Hero offers only WOFF2 by default, which gives you the best optimization.

Enable more font file formats

  1. Enable the additional font file options in Font Hero.
  2. Click Save.
  3. Open a font and click Edit. You'll now see upload fields for the extra formats.

Your default setup stays clean, and you can add legacy browser support whenever a project needs it.

Get Font Hero → dplugins.com

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