Page is slow to load

A variety of things can cause a website to slow down like this. Unfortunately, this will require a commitment on your part to troubleshoot. I will try to help. The first step will be to ensure that your website is not infected with a virus or malware. If it is don’t worry, it can most likely be fixed. But, I would suggest installing and running one of the antivirus plugins on your website. Have you done this already?

You have broken links to JS files:

If you have added any optimization plugin, or added custom snippet to “defer” JS, disable those.

Kevin, thanks for your quick response. I’m running Wordfence Security 7.11.0 and have not received any virus/malware notifications.

Ashutosh, thanks for taking a look at my site.

I really don’t know enough about how my site was set up so not sure if I have any optimization plugins installed. There are plugins that claim to do things behind the scenes (ie WP LESS, Smush, Async JavaSCriupt to list a few) but they were all installed years ago.

Perhaps a recent update of something is causing the slowdown? I do have auto updates enabled for all plugins…

Perhaps this is also related to WPBakery Page Builder not loading. This is recommendation from their support FAQ:

“4.4 I see infinite loading (logo animation) when opening Frontend editor.

It seems there is a JS conflict between WPBakery Page Builder and 3rd party plugin. Try to disable all other plugins and see if WPBakery Page Builder works properly. If yes – activate other plugins one by one to determine which one causes conflict. Please make sure to back up the site before doing so.”

Any (simple) advice on how to identify/solve this issue?

Perhaps this is also related to WPBakery Page Builder not loading

Yes, it uses JS for the functionality, but if the JS links are invalid, it won’t work.

You have a custom theme, so it is hard to tell if it is a plugin or your theme.

Open functions.php (WP Dashboard ? Appearance ? Theme File Editor and select “Theme Functions” (functions.php) from the list on right side. Then click inside the editor, press CTRL + F to enter find mode, type defer and press enter. If there is a match, take a screenshot of the code, and share it here. Make sure that at least 3–4 lines before and after the matching text is visible. And don’t click “Update file” button.

Otherwise, go to WP Dashboard ? Tools ? Site Health ? Info, then select “Copy site info to clipboard” and paste the copied info here in a code block.

Ashutosh, thanks for the detailed instructions. Here is what I found:

I searched for "defer" in Theme Functions but there were no matches; here is the code that was present:


<?php

// includes

include('global/static_files.php');

include('global/menu.php');

include('global/disable_embed.php');

include('global/minify_html.php');

include('custom_types/options.php');

include('global/enable_sidebar.php');

include('global/enable_excerpt_on_pages.php');

include('global/disable_comments.php');

include('short_codes/last_posts.php');

include('short_codes/video.php');

include('global/gravity_forms.php');

include('short_codes/advantage.php');

And here is the site health info:

` wp-core

version: 6.4.2
site_language: en_CA
user_language: en_CA
timezone: +00:00
permalink: /%postname%/
https_status: true
multisite: false
user_registration: 0
blog_public: 1
default_comment_status: closed
environment_type: production
user_count: 2
dotorg_communication: true wp-paths-sizes

wordpress_path: /home/cbkwebsite/public_html
wordpress_size: 2.54 GB (2731586758 bytes)
uploads_path: /home/cbkwebsite/public_html/wp-content/uploads
uploads_size: 754.82 MB (791490489 bytes)
themes_path: /home/cbkwebsite/public_html/wp-content/themes
themes_size: 98.60 MB (103388315 bytes)
plugins_path: /home/cbkwebsite/public_html/wp-content/plugins
plugins_size: 265.86 MB (278778451 bytes)
database_size: 32.78 MB (34375878 bytes)
total_size: 3.67 GB (3939619891 bytes) wp-active-theme

name: Canada's Best Karate (canada-best-karate)
version: 1.0
author: Seo Twist
author_website: https://seotwist.com
parent_theme: none
theme_features: core-block-patterns, menus, widgets, widgets-block-editor, post-thumbnails, editor-style
theme_path: /home/cbkwebsite/public_html/wp-content/themes/canada-best-karate
auto_update: Disabled wp-themes-inactive (11)

Morello Child: version: 1.0.0, author: Tom Rhodes, Auto-updates disabled
Morello: version: 1.0.0, author: Tom Rhodes, Auto-updates disabled
Storefront: version: 3.5.0, author: Automattic (latest version: 4.5.3), Auto-updates disabled
Twenty Nineteen: version: 1.9, author: WordPress Team (latest version: 2.7), Auto-updates disabled
Twenty Seventeen: version: 2.5, author: the WordPress team (latest version: 3.4), Auto-updates disabled
Twenty Sixteen: version: 2.3, author: the WordPress team (latest version: 3.1), Auto-updates disabled
Twenty Twenty: version: 1.6, author: the WordPress team (latest version: 2.4), Auto-updates disabled
Twenty Twenty-Four: version: 1.0, author: the WordPress team, Auto-updates disabled
Twenty Twenty-One: version: 1.1, author: the WordPress team (latest version: 2.0), Auto-updates disabled
Twenty Twenty-Three: version: 1.0, author: the WordPress team (latest version: 1.3), Auto-updates disabled
Twenty Twenty-Two: version: 1.0, author: the WordPress team (latest version: 1.6), Auto-updates disabled wp-plugins-active (28)

Advanced Custom Fields PRO: version: 5.7.13, author: Elliot Condon (latest version: 6.2.4), Auto-updates disabled
Advanced Editor Tools: version: 5.9.2, author: Automattic, Auto-updates enabled
Async JavaScript: version: 2.21.08.31, author: Frank Goossens (futtta), Auto-updates enabled
Contact Form 7: version: 5.8.4, author: Takayuki Miyoshi, Auto-updates enabled
Disable Gutenberg: version: 3.1, author: Jeff Starr, Auto-updates enabled
Easy Appointments: version: 3.11.12, author: Nikola Loncar, Auto-updates enabled
Ebor Framework: version: 1.4.4, author: Tom Rhodes, Auto-updates disabled
Flamingo: version: 2.4, author: Takayuki Miyoshi, Auto-updates enabled
Force Regenerate Thumbnails: version: 2.1.3, author: Exactly WWW, Auto-updates enabled
Gravity Forms: version: 2.8.0, author: Gravity Forms, Auto-updates enabled
Jetpack: version: 12.9, author: Automattic, Auto-updates enabled
Meta pixel for WordPress: version: 3.0.14, author: Facebook, Auto-updates enabled
Page Links To: version: 3.3.6, author: Mark Jaquith, Auto-updates enabled
PHP Compatibility Checker: version: 1.6.3, author: WP Engine, Auto-updates enabled
Popup Maker: version: 1.18.2, author: Popup Maker, Auto-updates enabled
Shortcodes Ultimate: version: 7.0.1, author: Vova Anokhin, Auto-updates enabled
Slider Revolution: version: 6.2.1, author: ThemePunch, Auto-updates disabled
Smush: version: 3.15.2, author: WPMU DEV, Auto-updates enabled
Solid Backups: version: 9.1.4, author: SolidWP, Auto-updates enabled
Solid Central: version: 3.0.1, author: SolidWP, Auto-updates enabled
What The File: version: 1.6.0, author: Never5, Auto-updates enabled
Wordfence Security: version: 7.11.0, author: Wordfence, Auto-updates enabled
WordPress Importer: version: 0.8.1, author: wordpressdotorg, Auto-updates enabled
WPBakery Page Builder: version: 7.3, author: Michael M - WPBakery.com, Auto-updates disabled
WPFront Notification Bar: version: 3.3.2, author: Syam Mohan, Auto-updates enabled
WP LESS: version: 1.9.3-3, author: Oncle Tom, Auto-updates enabled
WP Webhooks: version: 3.3.2, author: Ironikus, Auto-updates enabled
Yoast SEO: version: 21.7, author: Team Yoast, Auto-updates enabled wp-media

image_editor: WP_Image_Editor_GD
imagick_module_version: Not available
imagemagick_version: Not available
imagick_version: Not available
file_uploads: 1
post_max_size: 128M
upload_max_filesize: 128M
max_effective_size: 128 MB
max_file_uploads: 20
gd_version: 2.3.3
gd_formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, XPM
ghostscript_version: 9.25 wp-server

server_architecture: Linux 3.10.0-962.3.2.lve1.5.25.10.el7.x86_64 x86_64
httpd_software: Apache
php_version: 7.4.33 64bit
php_sapi: cgi-fcgi
max_input_variables: 1000
time_limit: 90
memory_limit: 512M
max_input_time: -1
upload_max_filesize: 128M
php_post_max_size: 128M
curl_version: 7.87.0 OpenSSL/1.1.1d
suhosin: false
imagick_availability: false
pretty_permalinks: true
htaccess_extra_rules: true
current: 2023-12-15T20:34:47+00:00
utc-time: Friday, 15-Dec-23 20:34:47 UTC
server-time: 2023-12-15T20:34:35+00:00 wp-database

extension: mysqli
server_version: 5.7.34
client_version: 5.7.40
max_allowed_packet: 268435456
max_connections: 151 wp-constants

WP_HOME: undefined
WP_SITEURL: undefined
WP_CONTENT_DIR: /home/cbkwebsite/public_html/wp-content
WP_PLUGIN_DIR: /home/cbkwebsite/public_html/wp-content/plugins
WP_MEMORY_LIMIT: 40M
WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT: 512M
WP_DEBUG: false
WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY: true
WP_DEBUG_LOG: false
SCRIPT_DEBUG: false
WP_CACHE: false
CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS: undefined
COMPRESS_SCRIPTS: undefined
COMPRESS_CSS: undefined
WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE: Undefined
WP_DEVELOPMENT_MODE: undefined
DB_CHARSET: utf8
DB_COLLATE: undefined wp-filesystem

wordpress: writable
wp-content: writable
uploads: writable
plugins: writable
themes: writable jetpack

site_id: 175482705
ssl_cert: No
time_diff: false
version_option: 12.9:1702407271
old_version: 12.9:1702407271
public: Public
master_user: No master user set.
is_offline_mode: off
is_offline_mode_constant: off
current_user: #2 cbkadmin
tokens_set: None
blog_token: Not set.
user_token: Not set.
version: 12.9
jp_plugin_dir: /home/cbkwebsite/public_html/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/
plan: free
protect_header: false
full_sync: {"started":"Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000","finished":"Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000","progress":[],"config":[]}
sync_size: undefined
sync_lag: 0 seconds
full_sync_size: undefined
full_sync_lag: 0 seconds
idc_urls: {"home":"https:\/\/canadasbestkarate.ca","siteurl":"https:\/\/canadasbestkarate.ca","WP_HOME":"","WP_SITEURL":""}
idc_error_option: false
idc_optin: true
cxn_tests: {"8":{"name":"test__connection_token_health","label":false,"short_description":"Blog token validation failed.","long_description":"

A healthy connection ensures Jetpack essential services are provided to your WordPress site, such as Stats and Site Security.<\/p>

Error<\/span><\/span> Blog token validation failed.<\/p>

We recommend reconnecting Jetpack.<\/strong><\/p>","severity":"critical","action":"https:\/\/canadasbestkarate.ca\/wp-admin\/admin.php?page=jetpack#\/reconnect","action_label":"Reconnect Jetpack now","show_in_site_health":true,"pass":false,"group":["default"],"type":"direct"}}

Thanks to all who tried to assist me with this issue. I have come to the conclusion that it is beyond my skillset so I will be looking for a professional set designer to fix this or alternately, shut this site down and create a new one with an on-line website builder.