We are experiencing a significant performance issue on a website where our client is becoming frustrated with the time it takes to save changes in Elementor. I would like to provide some details about the situation.
The website is built using Elementor, and we frequently use it to edit pages. WPML is also installed to handle multilingual content. The problem occurs when saving changes in Elementor — the save action takes around 20 seconds to complete, which is clearly unacceptable for normal editing workflows.
During our tests, we noticed that when WPML String Translation is disabled, the TTFB (Time to First Byte) drops to around 3 seconds. This strongly suggests there is a performance issue when Elementor and WPML String Translation are used together.
Since WPML String Translation appears to be the plugin causing the delay, we would like to understand what might be causing this behavior and how we can optimize it so that editing and saving pages becomes faster.
What we have already tried:
1. Disabled automatic string registration.
2. Used the troubleshooting tools under WPML → Support → Troubleshooting, especially the options related to WPML cache and strings.
3. Regenerated the .mo and .po files.
4. Performed database optimizations, including adding index keys to the wp_options and wp_postmeta tables.
5. Removed unused strings in order to reduce the size of the WPML-related database tables.
6. Performed plugin conflict testing, keeping only WPML, WPML String Translation, and Elementor active.
6.1 When WPML String Translation is enabled, the TTFB is around 20 seconds.
6.2 When WPML String Translation is disabled, the TTFB drops to around 3 seconds.
What we need:
We would appreciate clear and concrete guidance on how to improve the TTFB when WPML String Translation is enabled, so that we can edit and save pages in Elementor without such long delays.
Our hosting environment:
The website is hosted on Pressable, where we have:
- 512MB RAM
- Object caching enabled
Pressable is a managed hosting service from Automattic, optimized for WordPress.
Screencast
We recorded a screencast demonstrating the issue. You can watch it here:
hidden link
In the video, you can clearly see the difference in TTFB with WPML String Translation enabled vs disabled.
Please let me know if you need any additional details or clarification.
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)
The original homepage does not open in Elementor, unless you try it in save mode. I then duplicated this page, and this version opens after a while.
The main error I see here is coming from an Elementor script:
@elementor/editor-site-navigation - Settings object not found
env.min.js?ver=3.35.6:1 @elementor/editor-site-navigation - Settings object not found
c @ env.min.js?ver=3.35.6:1
get @ env.min.js?ver=3.35.6:1
we @ editor-site-navigati…min.js?ver=3.35.6:1
(anonymous) @ editor-site-navigati…min.js?ver=3.35.6:1
This error occurs even if I test the site only with Elementor and Elementor PRO.
I can further confirm the about 28 seconds of load time on Elementor when testing only with Elementor and Elementor PRO.
Thank you for your answer. The main issue here is not the time Elementor takes to open up a page when you click to edit it, instead the issue is related to the time Elementor takes to save a page.
In my tests the huge loading time to save a page only happens when WPML ST is enabled, once we disable it, the time to save any editing in Elementor drops drastically.
So, could you please, make sure to replicate the exact same tests I outlined in my previous message? I provided the details and a screencast in my previous message showing how you can perform the exact same steps.
Please, let me know if you need any additional details from my side.
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)
Sorry for the misunderstanding!
The issue could be related to the error I mentioned in my last comment, as it is also not usual for Elementor to take up to 30 seconds to open.
About the error in the console:
What this means
The editor-site-navigation module in Elementor Pro is trying to load a settings object that isn’t being initialized.
Since I’ve confirmed it happens in a clean setup, this is likely a regression or bug introduced in Elementor 3.35.x rather than an external interference.
The stack trace (env.min.js?ver=3.35.6) shows it’s failing at the environment bootstrap stage, so the editor navigation can’t find its configuration.
Why it matters
This isn’t just a warning — it can block editor features like site navigation or cause degraded performance. It may even be what is causing ST to load longer.
Because it’s reproducible with Elementor Pro alone, it’s not WPML‑specific, though WPML may exacerbate the issue by adding load time.
Next steps for diagnosis
Rollback Elementor Pro: Try 3.34.x or earlier to see if the error disappears.
Report upstream: Since this is a core Pro module (editor-site-navigation), it should be logged with Elementor support.
So short: Elementor’s editor navigation script is looking for a settings object that isn’t there. If it happens even without WPML, it’s a bug in Elementor Pro itself, not just a plugin conflict.
I would suggest you first contact Elementor and consult about this error, or downgrade Elementor PRO and see if this solves the issue.
Once this error is sorted out, we can continue investigating further.
