[Resolved] Pagespeed results for additional languages
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client is experiencing poor PageSpeed results for the English version of their multilingual website, while the Hebrew version shows good performance. Solution: We noticed that the Chat VS widget, which loads on the Hebrew site, does not appear on the English site. This could potentially cause loading issues. Additionally, the client might need a separate license for each domain to ensure optimal caching with WP Rocket, as per their support comment from 2019. WP Rocket's compatibility with WPML Here are further steps to improve performance: 1. Disable "display as translated" in WPML > Settings. 2. Turn off "Adjust IDs for multilingual functionality" at WPML > Languages. 3. Disable “Track where strings appear on the site” in String Translation. 4. On the WPML->Support-> troubleshooting page, run:
Cleanup and optimize string tables
Clear invalid strings
Remove ghost entries from WPML tables
If these steps do not resolve the issue, or if the solution seems outdated or irrelevant, we recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that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. If further assistance is needed, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum.
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Background of the issue:
I tested a new website that we just launched on PageSpeed. We use WPML for multilingual support and each language has its domain: Hebrew website (hidden link) and English website (hidden link).
Symptoms:
The PageSpeed results for the Hebrew language, the default language, are very good, but the results for the English version are terrible.
Questions:
How can I improve the PageSpeed results for the English version of the website?
When I visit the site I can see the following loading times:
2.00s for Hebrew
6.76 for the English version.
Are these numbers similar to what you are getting?
One thing I noticed is the Chat VS widget populates in the Hebrew page but it does not in the EN translation.
How is this added, and is that behavior expected? It could cause some loading performance issues if the browser keeps trying to locate the widget but it returns back 404 codes for example.
Thank you for your response.
The Chat VS is enabled by a small script that was added to the theme's footer and it's setup to work on the Hebrew website only. I don't think this is the cause. I'm getting terrible results both on the loading time and the overall PageSpeed score.
I think it's an issue with the WP-Rocket plugin that thinks the English website, due to the separate domain, is another website and is basically not enabled on the English website due to this.
I've contacted WP-Rocket's support as well and waiting for their response. I just thought you might be able to assist with this based on your prior experience.
Thank you for providing this additional information!
I was able to locate a comment by their support from 2019 regarding this question:
"Hi Matt 🙂 WP Rocket is compatible with multilingual websites: it can cache all your languages (domains) if you have multiple separate license keys (one for each of your language sub-sites)."
It looks like you might need a license per domain.
hidden link
(bottom of the page at the comments section)
Here are also some recommendations to help with the overall performance.
1. Consider disabling "display as translated" (Fallback mode) from post types, taxonomies, custom fields, etc. in WPML > Settings
2. Disable the setting to "Adjust IDs for multilingual functionality" at WPML > Languages > Make themes work multilingual.
Recommended themes should not need this setting.
3. Turn off “Track where strings appear on the site” in String Translation.
4. Go to WPML->Support-> troubleshooting page, and run:
"Cleanup and optimize string tables"
"Clear invalid strings" options.
"Remove ghost entries from WPML tables".
