I am experiencing serious performance issues on my WordPress website (https://www.kefaloniapress.gr), which is using the Newspaper theme with the td-composer plugin.
According to my PHP-FPM slow log and process traces, there are frequent slow executions (5–6+ seconds) directly tied to MySQL queries triggered by shortcodes and blocks from td-composer. Specifically, I have traced the following function calls in the stack:
– td_block.php → td_data_source.php → WP_Query → get_posts() → mysqli_query()
These queries appear to originate from blocks such as td_block_3 and td_global_blocks, and are responsible for consistently slow responses and elevated server load. The issue becomes more critical during traffic spikes, causing degraded performance, long page load times, and even occasional 502/504 errors.
My server has sufficient resources (32GB RAM, 8 CPU cores), and I have implemented full caching (object cache and page cache). Despite that, the problem persists, and appears to be directly related to the dynamic queries used by the theme/plugin.
Could you please assist with optimizing these queries or advise on best practices to reduce the load caused by td-composer shortcodes and blocks?
Or can someone help me address the problem on a paid plan ?
Thank you in advance for your support.
