Making internationalization/localization in WordPress faster than ever before.
This project uses a new approach to handle translation files in WordPress, making localization blazing fast.
An in-depth i18n performance analysis showed that localized WordPress sites load significantly slower than a site without translations.
With this plugin’s new approach to localization, this overhead is massively reduced, making your site fast again.
If your site is using a language other than English (US), you should see immediate speed improvements simply by activating this plugin.
WordPress 6.5 and newer
Important: this new functionality has been merged into WordPress 6.5! However, this plugin is still useful!
On WordPress 6.5+, this plugin automatically converts existing .mo files to .php and afterwards only loads the translations from the .php file.
This is useful for cases where language packs are not downloaded from WordPress.org but somewhere else.
Screenshots
Chart showing the load time improvement achieved with this plugin.
What makes this plugin so fast?
By converting .mo files to .php files, the translations can be parsed much faster.
Plus, .php files can be stored in the so-called OPcache, which provides an additional speed boost.
Can I use this plugin on my production site?
While the plugin is mostly considered to be a beta testing plugin, it has been tested and established to a degree where it should be okay to use in production.
Still, as with every plugin, you are doing so at your own risk.
Has this plugin been tested with other multilingual plugins?
Yes. This plugin has been tested with common multilingual plugins, such as WPML, Weglot, TranslatePress, MultilingualPress, and Polylang.
If you still encounter issues, please let us know.
Do I need to do anything special to enable this plugin?
No. Once the plugin is activated, it just works, and you should see speed improvements right away. If you run into issues, please open a new support topic.
Can I safely remove this plugin after installation?
Yes. Once you deactivate and uninstall the plugin, all .php files generated by it will be removed from the server.
How can I contribute to the plugin?
Contributions are always welcome! Learn more about how to get involved in the Core Performance Team Handbook.
Where can I submit my plugin feedback?
If you have suggestions or requests for new features, you can submit them as an issue on the GitHub repository.
If you need help with troubleshooting or have a question about the plugin, please create a new topic on our support forum.
Where can I report security issues?
To report a security issue, please visit the WordPress HackerOne program.
ChangeLog
For the plugin’s full changelog, please see the Releases page on GitHub.
1.2.0
- This plugin now requires WordPress 6.5
1.1.2
- Fixed a minor regression when assembling file paths to look up.
1.1.1
- Fixed: Addressed a slight performance regression in 1.1.0.
- Fixed: Addressed an issue with incorrect plural forms for certain locales.
1.1.0
- Enhancement: Support for this functionality existing in WordPress 6.5.
- Enhancement: Added hardening for file paths not being strings because of a faulty plugin filter.
- Enhancement: Invalidate OPcache after writing PHP files.
- Enhancement: Improve compatibility with pluralized strings referenced as singulars.
1.0.9
- Enhancement: Improved compatibility with WPML string translation add-on.
1.0.8
- Fixed: Added workaround for potential file permission issues.
1.0.7
- Fixed: Prevent issue where not all core translations were updated.
- Enhancement: Change the order translations are loaded in to improve backward compatibility.
1.0.6
- Enhancement: Remove JSON file support.
- Fixed: Add hardening when using translation file paths with symlinks.
1.0.5
- Enhancement: Improved compatibility with Loco Translate to avoid duplicate files.
1.0.4
- Enhancement: Several minor performance improvements.
- Enhancement: Use different file extension (
.mo.php instead of just .php) to prevent conflicts.
- Enhancement: “Import” existing translation file if one is already loaded for a text domain.
- Enhancement: Use WP Filesystem API if available.
1.0.3
- Enhancement: Improved compatibility with Query Monitor’s developer tools panel.
- Enhancement: Added new
performant_translations_load_translation_file filter.
- Enhancement: Enforce network-only activation on Multisite.
1.0.2
- Fixed: Add hardening for invalid values being passed to translation functions.
1.0.1
- Enhancement: Regenerate translation files when Loco Translate updates MO files.
- Fixed: Add hardening for invalid context being passed.
- Fixed: Fix handling of locales without plurals, such as Persian.
1.0.0
