Mega menu pages take a long time to load

Hello Viktor,

Thanks for the details. I've checked your site, and I can see that pages opened from the Mega Menu are slow to load, but the Mega Menu itself isn't the cause — the same delay is present on every page, including Контакты. Two things are adding up:

1. Server response time — each page takes about 1.2–1.6 seconds before the first byte arrives. That time is spent on the server generating the page (PHP/database), before the template is even rendered in the browser.
2. Many separate asset files — each page loads 16 CSS files and over 40 JavaScript files individually (around 68 requests). On a first visit these queue up in the browser, which is what makes a page feel very slow right after you click a menu link.

To rule out the update, I tested Helix Ultimate 2.2.10 and then 2.2.11 on the same Joomla 6 installation. Pages reached from the Mega Menu load in about 0.3–0.5 seconds on both versions, with no difference between them. The 2.2.11 changes to the Mega Menu only affect the backend builder (saving and validation fixes) and don't touch frontend rendering.

Please try the following, in order:

1. Template Options → Advanced → enable "Compress CSS" and "Compress JS", then save. This merges the files into a single CSS and a single JS file and removes most of the request queuing. Clear your browser cache afterwards (Ctrl+F5).
2. System → Global Configuration → System → Cache → "ON – Conservative caching", and enable Gzip Page Compression under the Server tab if it isn't already. This cuts the server response time for repeat visits.
3. If the server response time is still over 1 second after that, ask your hosting provider to confirm that OPcache is enabled for PHP 8.4, and review how many system plugins are enabled — that part of the delay is at the hosting/PHP level rather than in the template.

If pages are still slow after steps 1 and 2, please share your Super User login via the hidden-content field below, and I'll take a closer look at the template and cache settings directly.

Best regards,

Hello Viktor,

Thanks for testing steps 1 and 2 and for the useful detail. If the same pages open normally in Google Chrome and are slow only in Microsoft Edge, the server and Helix Ultimate are serving the pages correctly. The template sends the same HTML, CSS and JS to every browser. The delay is coming from Edge's settings, extensions or cache on that computer, not from the Mega Menu or the 2.2.11 update.

Please check these in Edge, in order:

1. Test in an InPrivate window (Ctrl+Shift+N) and click a few Mega Menu links.

   • Fast in InPrivate: the cause is an extension or stale cache. Continue with steps 2 and 3.
   • Still slow in InPrivate: go straight to steps 4 and 5.

2. Clear Edge's cached files. Go to Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Clear browsing data → choose "Cached images and files". After you enabled Compress CSS/JS, Edge may still hold the old separate files.

3. Disable extensions. Go to edge://extensions and turn them all off. Ad blockers, VPN and translation extensions are common causes. Then test again and re-enable them one at a time to find the culprit.

4. Tracking prevention. In Settings → Privacy, search, and services, if Tracking prevention is set to Strict, switch it to Balanced. Or add vikru.ru under "Exceptions". Strict mode can hold up pages that load analytics, maps or fonts from other domains.

5. Microsoft Defender SmartScreen and Secure DNS. On every page navigation, Edge checks the URL with Microsoft's servers. If those servers respond slowly from your network, each click waits for the check.

   • As a test, temporarily turn off "Microsoft Defender SmartScreen" and "Typosquatting Checker".
   • Under "Use secure DNS", try "Use current service provider".
   • Then reload the page. If this fixes it, you can turn SmartScreen back on and leave the DNS setting changed, or keep the setting that works for you.

6. Make sure Edge is up to date at edge://settings/help.

If none of this helps, please send a screenshot of Edge's Network tab:

• Press F12, open the Network tab and tick "Disable cache".
• Click a Mega Menu link.
• Take the screenshot once the page has loaded, sorted by the "Time" column.

The screenshot will show exactly which request Edge is waiting on.

Best regards,