wp_installer_settings is autoload and large

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Tagged: Account Issues, Known issue

This topic contains 70 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by benoitF-4 5 months, 4 weeks ago.

Assisted by: Bobby.

Author	Posts
January 30, 2026 at 9:50 am #17776618
Robert Rosanke	Hello, wp_installer_settings is 126 KB in size for us. We would also like to see an improvement! We have opened numerous tickets in the past and are only making slow progress. WPML causes us the most trouble in terms of tickets, debugging, and error frequency in our WooCommerce online store. WPML has improved in the past. Nevertheless, I would appreciate a higher level of commitment to performance and code quality.
January 31, 2026 at 5:31 pm #17780410
Bobby WPML Supporter since 04/2015 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: America/Los_Angeles (GMT-07:00)	Hello, Thank you for your patience, this fix is still scheduled to be included in the WPML 4.9 release. We’ll keep the erratum page updated and will post back here once it ships.
February 4, 2026 at 4:26 pm #17793079
Ton	So where does it say anything about this issue in the update? https://wpml.org/changelog/2026/02/wpml-4-9-better-automatic-translation-and-compatibility I don't see it anywhere. Is this fixed or not?
February 5, 2026 at 9:00 am #17794929
T4ng	Hi @Bobby, Could you please confirm whether this has been fixed, or if it’s still pending? A confirmation would be great news (and then an update of the related erratum + mention in the changelog). And if not, an update here would still be better than no update at all. Thanks!
February 5, 2026 at 8:18 pm #17797707
Bobby Supporter	Hi there, I am following up with our team and will update you shortly
February 6, 2026 at 7:03 pm #17801070
Bobby Supporter	Hello, The latest version of WPML 4.9 contains the fix for this issue. We have also updated the Errata Documentation here: https://wpml.org/errata/big-size-for-wp_installer_settings/
February 7, 2026 at 2:04 pm #17802026
sanderv-27	That is great news; after a very long wait the expectations where quite high. I need to run some more debugging / tests, but at a first glance it indeed seems the autoload database is considerably smaller. Especially the 'wp_installer_settings' is now not showing up anymore as the single biggest autoload setting. There is still some considerable autoload going on, is this really necessary for WPML? - icl_sitepress_settings - _icl_cache - wpml_strings_need_links_fixed - wcml_currency_switcher_template_objects - wpml_shortcode_list - wpml_language_switcher_template_objects - WPML(ST-MO) - wpseo_taxonomy_meta Some, if not most of these, seem unnessary to autoload by default? Why do you need current switcher template etc? Or are there still things i need to update/run after updating all the plugins?
February 9, 2026 at 5:45 pm #17806579
Bobby Supporter	Glad to hear this feedback, I will review your concerns with the team and update you once I have feedback.
February 10, 2026 at 7:44 pm #17811010
Bobby Supporter	Hi there, Some level of autoloading is expected and necessary for WPML to work correctly. In particular, settings related to language handling and the language switcher need to be available on every page load, since multilingual logic and the switcher itself are used site-wide. Autoloading these avoids repeated file lookups or recalculations, which would otherwise hurt performance. That said, the amount of data being autoloaded should stay within reasonable limits. The reduction you’re seeing (especially around wp_installer_settings) is expected after the update. There shouldn’t be any additional update steps required beyond updating all plugins. If autoload size still seems unusually high after this, the next step would be to review the site’s specific configuration to confirm everything is behaving as expected.
February 17, 2026 at 3:06 pm #17829609
T4ng	Hi, Thank you for the improvements. I appreciate this has been taken care of From my understanding, at least within the WordPress environment, autoloading is beneficial when the data is required on every page load or on key pages (e.g., homepage, SEO-focused content, etc.). However, autoloaded data is loaded on every request — including backend pages, AJAX calls, cron jobs, and other processes — whether it is needed or not. As a result, the more autoloaded options there are, the greater the impact on TTFB and the higher the memory usage per request. In short, while it may be tempting to autoload many options for convenience, this is often not ideal. Each website has different needs and should carefully evaluate what truly needs to be autoloaded. WordPress generally recommends keeping autoloaded options under 800 KB. I reviewed my wp_options table and noticed multiple WPML (and add-on related) entries set to autoload (or eligible for autoloading). I haven’t updated to the latest version yet, and I understand that this may already address part of the issue. However, if the only recent change concerns wp_installer_settings, I believe there may still be room for optimization. In my case, there are 85 WPML-related autoloaded entries. At first glance, some of them seem difficult to justify as autoloaded, for example: - _wpml_jobs_not_notified - wpml_strings_need_links_fixed - otgs-installer-log - wpml-updates-log - _transient_wpml_admin_text_import*** While some of these options are small in size and individually, have a small impact, the broader concern is cumulative impact. If each plugin does not carefully manage autoloaded options, this can significantly affect overall site performance. Can you explain if, and why these options are required? In my situation, I am approaching the recommended 800 KB threshold. For websites that use WPML more extensively, or many plugins, optimizing autoloaded options could have a meaningful performance impact. Thanks!
February 17, 2026 at 3:39 pm #17829687
benoitF-4	Hello everyone, I have been following this topic closely since the beginning because I am also affected by this issue. I am chiming in because I would like to say how much I agree with T4ng's last message. Indeed, large WooCommerce sites with many plugins are significantly slowed down by the use of WPML. Optimizing the preloaded options would be really beneficial for sites like ours.

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