WordPress/Elementor/JetEngine Developer — WooCommerce Product Loop Performance Fix

# WordPress/Elementor/JetEngine Developer — WooCommerce Product Loop Performance Fix ## Project summary We run a WooCommerce store on Elementor Pro + Crocoblock (JetEngine, JetSmartFilters, JetWooBuilder). A performance investigation identified that our category and search pages take 8.5–9.3 seconds to generate, and traced the cause to how product cards are rendered — not the server, database, or hosting, all of which are confirmed healthy. **Root cause:** category/search pages render each product card through JetEngine's Listing Grid widget, which pipes every card through the full Elementor dynamic-template rendering pipeline. This costs ~6.6 seconds of pure PHP execution per page. A native WooCommerce loop renders the same cards in milliseconds. We need an experienced Elementor/JetEngine/WooCommerce developer to implement the fix on our staging site, verify it thoroughly, and deploy to production. ## What's already done We have a first-draft PHP plugin (delivered via Code Snippets) that: - Registers a custom shortcode that outputs the product grid - Renders WooCommerce's native product loop against the existing `$wp_query` (no new query — inherits whatever category/search/filtered context WordPress has already built) - Reproduces the current card design confirmed from the live DOM: product image with existing hover-grow animation, YITH wishlist icon, category label, product title, price - Fires standard WooCommerce hooks (`woocommerce_before_shop_loop_item`, `woocommerce_after_shop_loop_item`, etc.) so third-party plugins that hook into the loop (badges, swatches) still work - Uses standard numbered pagination (`woocommerce_pagination()`) — **by decision, not infinite scroll** — since the existing scroll-based "Load More" behaviour would need extra work to coordinate with AJAX filtering, and we're treating that as unnecessary added risk. Standard pagination is the accepted trade-off. This draft is a starting point, not a finished solution — it hasn't been tested against the live filter/pagination/badge/swatch stack and will need real debugging in situ. ## The exact widget being replaced - Elementor Theme Builder → **Product Archive** template - A specific JetEngine Listing Grid widget (its element ID and listing ID will be shared with the hired developer directly) - Current query: `product_cat` taxonomy, 16 products per page, infinite scroll enabled, wired to JetSmartFilters ## Scope of work 1. **Review and fix our draft plugin** against the real staging environment — expect it needs debugging, not a rewrite from scratch 2. **Swap the widget** in the Product Archive Theme Builder template: shortcode in, JetEngine Listing Grid widget deleted (not hidden — hidden widgets can still render server-side) 3. **Re-point JetSmartFilters** — all filter widgets currently query against the JetEngine listing need to be re-provider'd to WooCommerce Shop/Products, with apply mode set to page-reload (not AJAX, since the infinite-scroll listener the AJAX apply currently targets won't exist anymore) 4. **Full QA pass** on staging before anything touches production: - Product cards: pricing including sale/discount-rules pricing, stock badges, category labels, wishlist icon - Pagination (numbered, not infinite scroll) - Every filter type and filter combinations - Sorting - Search results page specifically (separate query path from category pages) - Mobile breakpoints - Any homepage/featured sections using a *different* Listing Grid instance — confirm those are untouched 5. **Performance verification** — before/after page generation time and query count (Query Monitor is already installed) on the same URLs, targeting the report's benchmark: ~8.5s down to ~1.5–2.5s on category/search pages 6. **Production deployment** once staging is signed off by us ## Stack - WordPress, WooCommerce (HPOS enabled) - Elementor Pro + Theme Builder - JetEngine, JetSmartFilters, JetWooBuilder (Crocoblock) - YITH WooCommerce Wishlist - Query Monitor (already installed for diagnostics) - Code Snippets plugin (current delivery method for custom PHP — no direct file/FTP access) ## What we'll provide - Staging site access - The draft plugin file - A full technical performance report (PDF) covering the root-cause diagnosis, server/DB health checks (both confirmed fine, do not need re-investigating), and the original resolution plan this work is based on ## Ideal candidate - Strong hands-on experience with Elementor Theme Builder + JetEngine/JetSmartFilters specifically, not just general WordPress - Comfortable reading WooCommerce hook/action flow and reproducing existing hook timing correctly - Someone who will actually test filter/pagination/badge interactions thoroughly rather than declaring it "done" once cards render