Slow website

This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
The client reported a slow website performance issue when WPML was activated. They experienced significant delays, particularly when switching languages or after certain updates.

Solution:
We conducted multiple tests to isolate the issue:
1. We tested the site with all plugins enabled except WPML, and noted the load times.
2. We then enabled WPML along with its addons and noted a minimal impact of less than 1 second on load times compared to when WPML was disabled.
3. Further testing with a reduced set of plugins (only essential ones like WooCommerce, Dokan PRO, Rankmath PRO, Contact Form 7, Elementor PRO) showed that WPML's impact was still less than 1 second.
4. We also tested by toggling various combinations of plugins to check for conflicts, particularly noting the performance with 'Exclusive Addons Elementor', which temporarily spiked the load times.

From these tests, we concluded that WPML itself does not significantly impact site performance. Issues observed were likely due to conflicts with other plugins or temporary spikes unrelated to WPML. We recommended:
- Deactivating unnecessary plugins.
- Using WPML's troubleshooting options to optimize performance.
- Keeping all plugins updated.

If the solution provided here does not resolve your issue or seems irrelevant due to being outdated or not applicable to your specific case, we highly recommend checking related known issues, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If problems persist, please open a new support ticket.

This is the technical support forum for WPML - the multilingual WordPress plugin.

Everyone can read, but only WPML clients can post here. WPML team is replying on the forum 6 days per week, 22 hours per day.

Tagged: Not WPML issue, Performance

This topic contains 5 replies, has 3 voices.

Last updated by Andreas W. 7 months, 2 weeks ago.

Assisted by: Andreas W..

Author	Posts
May 3, 2024 at 8:16 am #15590093
Atiq Rahman	Slow website
May 3, 2024 at 6:18 pm #15592594
Bobby Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: America/Los_Angeles (GMT-08:00)	Hi there, While you're waiting for assistance, please share with us access to your staging site to continue with the debugging process.
May 4, 2024 at 8:53 pm #15593802
Andreas W. Supporter Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	Thank you for providing access to a staging site. The original homepage loads on my test in 4-6 seconds. the translated homepage loads in average one second faster than the original homepage. If I disable WPML the original homepage still needs 3-4 seconds to load. An impact of 1 second by WPML is in this case expected. Some suggestions: - Deactivate the plugin "String Locator" as you do not need it when using WPML. You can use WPML's own options to locate strings and this plugin could interfere with hooks that we are already using in our plugin - Make sure that all plugins are updated - Your site is using many plugins. In case you have a plugin active that has no functional purpose on the website, please deactivate and delete such plugin(s). - Run the WPML Troubleshooting Options at WPML > Support > Troubleshooting. Use the options inside the section "Clean Up" and the option to "Cleanup an optimize string tables" at the bottom of the page. While WPML is not active and running the available updates I get a fatal error when going to hidden link. This error is not WPML-related as WPML is currently not active on the site. If you can provide us FTP access we can investigate further, as the site is currently not responsive. The private reply form is enabled again.
May 7, 2024 at 3:44 pm #15602964
Andreas W. Supporter Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	I can sadly no longer connect to your site: When trying to log in I get: Error - Please try again later Could it be that you recovered the site from a backup and the provided user account is not longer existing?
May 9, 2024 at 10:52 am #15610067
Atiq Rahman	Hi, i have restored backup please use same credentials for login. thanks
May 9, 2024 at 2:48 pm #15611288
Andreas W. Supporter Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	I ran another test again. 1) All plugins enabled, but without WPML: The first page load on the homepage takes almost 7 seconds. The second page load takes a little less than 6 seconds. - The site appears slow, even when WPML is disabled. 2) Enabling WPML plus our Addons: The first page load on the homepage takes almost 6 seconds. The second page load takes a little less than 5 seconds. - I can not confirm any issue related to WPML so far. 3) Testing the site with only WooCommerce, Dokan PRO, Rankmath PRO, Contact Form 7, Elementor PRO, and WPML plus our Addons: Page loads on the homepage take almost 2-3 seconds. 4) Testing only with WooCommerce, Dokan PRO, Rankmath PRO, Contact Form 7, and Elementor PRO (without WPML): Page loads on the homepage take almost 2 seconds. - This clarifies that the impact of WPML is less than 1 second. 5) Now, I ran the site in similar setup like in step 4) and enabled all recently activated WooCommerce Addons. Page loads on the homepage take almost 2-3 seconds. 6) Then I enabled "Exclusive Addons Elementor" and at this point, I can confirm a spike in page load of 6-8 seconds but it seemed to be kind of temporary. 7) Tested again with all plugin incl. WPML and addons: - Page loads on the homepage take almost 3-4 seconds. 8) If I now enable "Exclusive Addons Elementor" the page load is a little higher, but still between 3.5-4.5 seconds. I can sadly not clarify what is causing the high page load time, but it is not WPML. After having almost all plugins disabled and enabled again the load time appears to be 2-3 seconds lower than before.