# Image loading slowdown problems **URL:** \ **Category:** Wordpress Plugin\ **Created:** [July 8, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405 "2020-07-08T02:03:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![milhamah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@milhamah](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/u/milhamah)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405/1 "2020-07-08T02:03:18Z")
Hello, I use the Toocheke Premium theme on my WordPress-based website, and I’m using the latest version of WordPress and tested things using PHP 7.4.1 and 7.3. Last week I tried to activate the Patreon plugin for my website so I could make certain content subscriber-only. The plugin seemed to work for editing purposes, except one thing: My site slowed down from taking around 4 seconds to load to around 18-22. Individual images, including tiny icons, each took several seconds to load. This occurred even after strenuous optimization efforts. (My Google speed test score, with Patreon deactivated, is around 42 now.) I isolated all my plugins and found Patreon to be the one that critically slows things down. I’m wondering if the plugin is checking every single image I post to see whether it needs to be blocked to nonsubscribers. I tested it with all content being open to everyone. Have you heard of any similar plugin problems related to this and how to fix them? I’d like to still use Patreon on my Wordpress if at all possible. ---
**Author:** ![codebard](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/www.patreondevelopers.com/codebard/32/14_2.png) [@codebard](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/u/codebard)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405/2 "2020-07-08T12:44:32Z")
Have you activated image locking feature in ‘Patreon Settings’ menu? ---
**Author:** ![1Neurodivergent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/a9adbd/32.png) [@1Neurodivergent](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/u/1Neurodivergent)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405/3 "2020-07-28T13:47:03Z")
Hi! I’m having the same problem, and I am considering removing the plugin and even leaving Patreon. ---
**Author:** ![codebard](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/www.patreondevelopers.com/codebard/32/14_2.png) [@codebard](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/u/codebard)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405/4 "2020-07-28T16:42:56Z")
Do you have image locking feature turned on? ---
**Author:** ![jeranism](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/www.patreondevelopers.com/jeranism/32/401_2.png) [@jeranism](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/u/jeranism)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 10:17am UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405/5 "2021-04-10T10:17:23Z")
Damn I wish I would have seen these posts before spending this money. My site is so slow now and the reason is this plug-in. And I am not even using advanced features. All I need the pro version for is the VIP button but this has caused more harm than good. Now I have Patron pissed off which they weren’t with the free plugin. How do we get a refund. I guess I have to go with mpp ---
**Author:** ![mahrt](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/www.patreondevelopers.com/mahrt/32/1690_2.png) [@mahrt](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/u/mahrt)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405/6 "2021-04-12T15:23:57Z")
sadly I have also issues with image loading and site speed, please check this thread > [@Image Protect breaks picture loading](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-protect-breaks-picture-loading/4398): > > Hi dear Dev Team, using the official plugins including the paid Pro version from Codebard. When I delete the related code in htaccess file, all pictures will be shown correctly - but of course the Patreon Image Protect is then disabled. When I put the code into htaccess file back in, all the images on the side in frontend and backend start acting weird and do not load correctly. Please help as I can’t use the site and plugin that way and protect my images. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![codebard](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/www.patreondevelopers.com/codebard/32/14_2.png) [@codebard](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/u/codebard)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405/7 "2021-04-12T15:35:31Z")
Just open a refund request at [codebard.com](http://codebard.com). Image locking is an advanced feature and if you enable it, your web hosting account may not be sufficient to handle it. You should make sure you have a capable hosting account before turning that feature on. And image locking feature is not specific to Patron Pro. Its a feature of the free plugin. This is not something that can be worked around through code. Image locking requires the image request to be handled by PHP rather than Apache/Nginx (or other webservers). Otherwise images cant be locked. PHP needs to receive the image request, check if the user is a qualifying patron, then serve the image if conditions are filled. Trying a hosting with SSD storage may help. I havent seen much performance difference in between showing the image via webserver and PHP in such setups. PHP-FPM seems to perform the best. ---
**Author:** ![jeranism](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/www.patreondevelopers.com/jeranism/32/401_2.png) [@jeranism](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/u/jeranism)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405/8 "2021-04-12T20:09:40Z")
Ok. So I’m not doing image locking. There were not any issues before I installed pro. Everything worked great. Then I added pro and it was syncing posts and creating them. After this caused a meltdown I removed all the syncing. I’ve never had any image locking. I do need the pro plugin because I now have VIPs. But with syncing off and image locking off, why is one of the plugins making constant queries to various Patron posts. It has no reason to. It need only block certain WP posts as it was doing before. It has no reason to talk to Patreon beyond oauth in my mind. As I mistaken? ---
**Author:** ![codebard](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/www.patreondevelopers.com/codebard/32/14_2.png) [@codebard](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/u/codebard)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405/9 "2021-04-14T23:00:49Z")
The image resolution in the attachment you mailed is way too low to make any detail out of it. You need to forward an image with a higher resolution. ---
**Author:** ![jeranism](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/www.patreondevelopers.com/jeranism/32/401_2.png) [@jeranism](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/u/jeranism)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 2:36am UTC](https://www.patreondevelopers.com/t/image-loading-slowdown-problems/3405/10 "2021-04-15T02:36:54Z")
Got it. On it. Thanks. Additional images coming. I’m going to run the query monitor again to see if they are the same calls