Title: Performance Degradation & SQL Query Termination
Last modified: April 7, 2026

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# Performance Degradation & SQL Query Termination

 *  [uxpagreg](https://wordpress.org/support/users/uxpagreg/)
 * (@uxpagreg)
 * [2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/performance-degradation-sql-query-termination/)
 * The Molongui Authorship plugin is generating excessively large SQL queries that
   are being terminated by the server environment (WP Engine). These queries attempt
   to retrieve metadata for a very high number of user IDs simultaneously, resulting
   in query lengths exceeding 26,000 characters.
 * **Technical Details:**
    - **Source File:** `wp-content/plugins/molongui-authorship/includes/authors.
      php`
    - **Trigger Line:** 1275 (approximate, based on logs)
    - **Error Type:** `KILLED QUERY`
    - **Query Pattern:** The plugin executes a `SELECT` on `wp_usermeta` using a`
      WHERE user_id IN (...)` clause containing hundreds of unique User IDs.
    - **Impact:** This causes significant slow-downs and timeout errors (502/504)
      on pages where the author box or author lists are rendered, especially on 
      sites with large user databases.
 * **Sample Log Entry:** `KILLED QUERY (26483 characters long generated in /.../
   plugins/molongui-authorship/includes/authors.php:1275): SELECT user_id AS object_id,
   meta_key, meta_value FROM wp_usermeta WHERE user_id IN ( [Hundreds of IDs] )`
 * **Suggested Fix for Developers:**
    - Implement pagination or batching for the `wp_usermeta` retrieval to keep query
      lengths within standard limits.
    - Add a configuration setting to limit the maximum number of authors processed
      per page load.
    - Introduce caching for these metadata results to reduce repetitive, expensive
      database calls.
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fperformance-degradation-sql-query-termination%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

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to reply to this topic.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/molongui-authorship/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=2121645)
 * [Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress](https://wordpress.org/plugins/molongui-authorship/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/molongui-authorship/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/molongui-authorship/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/molongui-authorship/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/molongui-authorship/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/molongui-authorship/reviews/)

## Tags

 * [database optimization](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/database-optimization/)

 * 0 replies
 * 1 participant
 * Last reply from: [uxpagreg](https://wordpress.org/support/users/uxpagreg/)
 * Last activity: [2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/performance-degradation-sql-query-termination/)
 * Status: not resolved