threadi

I understand your frustration here. I’ve been there myself. In one of my plugins, I return files in a similar way – mostly images, but also PDFs.

It’s important to note that you shouldn’t use PHP’s built-in functions to read and output the files. WordPress provides WP_Filesystem for this purpose: https://developer.ww.wp.xz.cn/reference/functions/wp_filesystem/

In my case, I use this (simplified) code, for example:

require_once ABSPATH . '/wp-admin/includes/file.php'; // @phpstan-ignore requireOnce.fileNotFound
require_once ABSPATH . '/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-filesystem-base.php'; // @phpstan-ignore requireOnce.fileNotFound
require_once ABSPATH . '/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-filesystem-direct.php'; // @phpstan-ignore requireOnce.fileNotFound
\WP_Filesystem();
global $wp_filesystem;

// return header.
header( 'Content-Type: ' . $mime_type );
header( 'Content-Disposition: inline; filename="' . $filename . '"' );
header( 'Content-Length: ' . wp_filesize( $file ) );

// return file content via WP filesystem.
echo $wp_filesystem->get_contents( $file ); // phpcs:ignore WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput
exit;

Maybe this will help you with your situation.

How well a WordPress-based website performs depends primarily on the plugins you use as well as the theme. WordPress performs very well without plugins and with a default theme. So you should check your project to see what’s causing the slow loading times.

Here’s an article on the topic: https://developer.ww.wp.xz.cn/advanced-administration/performance/optimization/

My recommendation is to first see what optimization options are available or offered by your current setup. Some themes also have their own caching features. Removing older plugins that no longer perform as well as they should today can also help.

After that, you can look into using one of the free plugins to optimize your website’s output: https://ww.wp.xz.cn/plugins/search/optimize/ – it’s hard to say which one is best in general. It always depends on the project’s structure.

In your video, you’re launching the Block Editor instead of Elementor. To use Elementor to edit your pages, you’ll need to either click the large “Mit Elementor bearbeiten” button at the top of the Block Editor or click “Bearbeiten mit Elementor” in the page list where you were previously.

By the way, if you have general questions about WordPress, feel free to use the German-language forum: https://de.ww.wp.xz.cn/support/forums/

I recommend getting in touch with Elementors’s support about this via https://elementor.com/support/ since you are using a commercial plugin which could not be supported here in the forums.

You’ll need to check with your team. This is a contractual matter between your project’s hosting provider and your organization. WordPress can’t help with this.

It might be helpful to ask your team who pays the hosting bills – who handles that and is therefore the contractual partner.

There are often several ways to solve a problem. If editing the code works for you, that’s fine.

You can change the admin email address in several ways:

• Use phpmyadmin from your hosting control panel. Open the “options” table (has a prefix like “wp_” and change the value of “admin_email” to your address.
• Or go to /wp-admin/options.php. Search for “admin_email” and enter the new address there. Save the form then.
• Or use the plugin: https://ww.wp.xz.cn/plugins/change-admin-email-setting-without-outbound-email/

The theme you’re using is actually 16 years old. Yes, it’s time to switch it out.

Theoretically, you can use any other theme. I would recommend the following approach:

• First, create a backup of everything. This is very important. If you don’t have a plugin for this, ask your hosting provider if they create backups and how to use them in an emergency.
• Then use this plugin to create a copy of your project on your hosting: https://ww.wp.xz.cn/plugins/wp-staging/
• In this copy, change the theme to one you want to use instead, just to test it out. For example, you could use the latest classic default theme, “TwentyTwenty-One.” This is very simple, but you can first check whether it’s generally possible with your content.
• Once you’ve found a way to do this, you can either revert the changes using WP Staging or make the changes directly on the live site.
• Only then should you try changing the PHP version again. However, the plugins you’re using might also cause issues. Make sure everything is up to date and that you’re not using any plugins older than 2–3 years.

As an alternative to this approach, you can, of course, run the tests directly on your website using a new theme. Depending on how long that takes, however, your website might literally look like a construction site to visitors during that time.

If you get stuck on anything along the way, you can also seek personal assistance. You’re sure to find someone here: https://jobs.wordpress.net/