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:
add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', function() {
wp_dequeue_script('wc-cart-fragments');
});
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 If these steps do not resolve the issue or if the solution seems outdated or irrelevant to your case, please visit our support forum at WPML Support Forum and open a new support ticket.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.
