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[Resolved] WooCommerce extremely slow when WPML is enabled (2+ minutes load time)
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client reported extreme performance issues with their WooCommerce site when WPML Multilingual CMS and WPML String Translation were enabled, causing page load times to exceed 2 minutes. The slowdown was suspected to be due to heavy database queries or translation-related overhead.
Solution: We identified that the AJAX request for WooCommerce Fragments (get_refreshed_fragments) was causing longer load times, as every fragment passed through translation filters. A known bug in WCML caused fragments to refresh multiple times unnecessarily. We suggested a workaround to disable cart fragments if an auto-updating mini-cart was not needed, using the following code:
Additionally, we found that the first uncached page load was extremely slow regardless of WPML being active, indicating a potential issue with the caching setup. We implemented the above workaround in the Child Theme, which improved the load time to about 6 seconds with WPML enabled.
We also recommended ensuring that the WPML Multilingual & Multicurrency for WooCommerce addon was enabled and that WPML and its addons were updated.
If you're experiencing similar issues, we recommend trying the provided workaround and checking your caching setup. It's also important to ensure that all WPML components are up to date. If these steps do not resolve the issue or if the solution seems outdated or irrelevant to your case, please visit our support forum at WPML Support Forum and open a new support ticket. We also highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins.
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Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)
I have analyzed the issue on your site, but it was not that easy, as it appears that some of the media is missing on my local copy after migration, and this leads to unexpected results in site performance:
At least one reason for a longer load time of at least 5-8 seconds is an AJAX request for WooCommerce Fragments (get_refreshed_fragments).
This call regenerates the mini‑cart HTML.
With WPML/WCML active, every fragment is passed through translation filters. That means:
- Each product name, price, and string is checked against WPML’s String Translation tables.
- For variable products, attribute labels are also translated.
WCML has a known bug: fragments are refreshed multiple times, even when the cart is empty, so you pay the translation overhead unnecessarily. This will be patched in WCML 5.6.
Workarounds:
- Disable cart fragments if you don’t need an auto‑updating mini‑cart:
I have change some of the setting on my site due to error:
/** Redis optimization for WooCommerce + WPML **/
define('WP_REDIS_MAXTTL', 3600); // Locks TTL to 1h instead of "forever"
define('WP_REDIS_SERIALIZER', 'igbinary'); // Faster and smaller serializator
define('WP_REDIS_SCHEME', 'tcp'); // stabile
define('WP_REDIS_DISABLED', false); // cache stays on
ModSecurity switched from Comodo (free) to OWASP (free).
Copilot says it has less false positives for wp + woocommerce. And should help with: WPML parameters, rest api, ajax requests, woocommerce endpoints, stripe/paypal hooks.
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)
At the moment, WPML was not active, and the site was still very slow. See screenshot: it took more than 90 seconds for the homepage to load.
This indicates that the issue is not directly related to WPML, since the plugin is not running. After reloading the page another time, the cache begins working, and the load time drops to about 5 seconds.
Now, if I disable GTranslate and enable WPML, I again see this very long load time on the first page load. However, as mentioned, I can confirm the same behavior even without WPML active. On the second load, once the cache is working, the page load time is currently around 6–7 seconds with WPML, since I implemented the workaround in the Child Theme.
- Please check your caching setup. It looks like the first uncached request is extremely slow, regardless of WPML being active.
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)
Indeed, I checked this today on the production site. When loading the page for the first time, it took 90 seconds to load, while running GTranslate (WPML not invovled).
After refreshing the page, it took about 5 seconds.
Then I saw the same pattern when disabling GTranslate and enabling WPML, but after all, the long load time seems to be there even without WPML.
I am not sure which would be the next step to take when it comes to cache. I would suggest consulting the respective support teams for each plugin.
Note that I included a workaround in the Child Theme, which might be the reason why the site now loads in about 6 seconds with WPML. This is a known issues and it will be handled in the upcoming WCML update.
If you still experience load times of more than 6 seconds while running the site with WPML, please let me know, and I will investigate further.
I believe I’ve identified where the issue was coming from on my side. I’ve now activated WPML again and at the moment it’s working as expected. Page load times are in line with what you mentioned (around 5–6 seconds).
The main problem seems to have been caused by a very high number of incoming requests on my server, including traffic from some suspicious/unknown servers, which likely contributed to the extreme initial load times I was seeing.
Given that the site now behaves correctly with WPML enabled, I wanted to ask if you would suggest changing or adjusting anything further on your side, or if you think the current setup is fine for now.
