← fakhar.tech · plain-text CV

Fakhar Ul Islam

Senior Software Engineer and Development Team Lead at Techsa, Lahore. 8+ years and 1,500+ websites shipped — and the infrastructure they run on.

I lead a development team through scoping, code review and delivery, and I run our servers, DNS, email and security. Most engagements start with a site that is slow, failing or compromised; I find the cause, fix it, and make sure it stays fixed.

stack

WordPress · WooCommerce · PHP · MySQL · JavaScript · React · Next.js · Node.js · Shopify · REST APIs · Linux · Nginx · Redis · Cloudflare · AWS

And whatever the problem requires.

case files

The site that wouldn't load

Publisher · WordPress · ~40k posts

problem

Homepage TTFB was over 6 seconds and the host kept throwing 504s during traffic spikes. Two previous agencies had added a caching plugin and called it done.

investigation

Profiled a cold request with Query Monitor + slow query log instead of guessing.
Found 3.1 MB of autoloaded options — every request was loading dead plugin settings into memory.
The homepage ran 11 separate WP_Query loops, four of them ordering by a meta value with no index.
The caching plugin was bypassed for any visitor with a tracking cookie — effectively all of them.

decision

Don't add another cache on top of a slow origin. Make the origin fast first, then cache the right things at the right layer.

build

Cleaned autoload: 3.1 MB → 190 KB, with a migration that's safe to re-run.
Collapsed homepage loops into two queries with a transient-backed fragment cache.
Persistent object cache (Redis) + Cloudflare edge caching with proper bypass rules.

result

Time to first byte: 6.2s → 0.21s
Queries / page: 212 → 31
504s / week: ~40 → 0

WordPress · PHP 8 · MySQL · Redis · Cloudflare

The WooCommerce checkout problem

E-commerce · WooCommerce · 3 payment gateways

problem

Checkout abandonment jumped after a redesign. No errors in the logs, no complaints — just fewer orders.

investigation

Replayed checkout on a throttled mobile profile: the place-order button took 4s to become interactive.
A shipping plugin re-calculated rates on every keystroke via admin-ajax, each call ~900ms.
Two gateways were loading their SDKs on every page of the site, not just checkout.

decision

Keep the plugins the business depends on, but control when they run. Rate calculation on intent, not on input.

build

Debounced + cached shipping rate lookups by address hash.
Conditional script loading: gateway SDKs only where the gateway is actually rendered.
Moved a custom fee rule from a 'woocommerce_cart_calculate_fees' free-for-all into one tested class.

result

Checkout interactive: 4.1s → 1.2s
admin-ajax calls / checkout: 38 → 3
Checkout completion: baseline → +18%

WooCommerce · PHP · JavaScript · Stripe · REST API

The 200K+ postmeta problem

Directory site · ACF · 200k+ meta rows per content type

problem

Filtering listings by three fields took 8+ seconds. Everything was stored in ACF fields, so every filter was a stack of JOINs on wp_postmeta.

investigation

EXPLAIN showed full scans: meta_value isn't indexed and ACF stores numbers as strings.
Each extra filter multiplied the rows examined — 3 filters meant ~1.2M rows touched.

decision

Keep ACF for editing. Stop using postmeta for querying. A typed, indexed lookup table kept in sync on save.

build

Custom table with typed columns + composite indexes that match the actual filters.
Sync on acf/save_post, plus a WP-CLI command to backfill and verify.
Filter endpoint rewritten against the lookup table; WP_Query only hydrates the final IDs.

result

Filter query: 8.4s → 38ms
Rows examined: 1.2M → ~900

WordPress · ACF · MySQL · Custom tables · WP-CLI

The multilingual relationship problem

Corporate site · WPML · 6 languages

problem

Relationship fields pointed at the English versions of posts, so German pages linked to English case studies, and translations kept 'fixing' themselves back.

investigation

ACF relationship fields stored raw post IDs; WPML's translation of those fields was set to 'copy'.
Some content had been duplicated rather than translated, so there was no trid to map through.

decision

Store the relationship once, resolve it per language at render time, and repair the translation graph.

build

Filter on acf/format_value that maps IDs through wpml_object_id with a fallback.
Audit script to find orphaned duplicates and reconnect them to their translation groups.

result

Wrong-language links: 1,140 → 0
Editor steps per update: 6 languages → 1

WordPress · WPML · ACF · Custom post types

The server that needed saving

Agency · 12 WordPress sites on one box

problem

Load average sat above 20. One site getting traffic took the other eleven down with it. The proposed fix was a server three times the price.

investigation

Every site shared one PHP-FPM pool with pm.max_children set to the default.
Bots were hitting uncached search and xmlrpc.php around the clock.
MariaDB was using the default buffer pool on a box with 16 GB of RAM.

decision

Isolate, then cache, then block. Buy hardware only if the numbers still say so afterwards.

build

Per-site FPM pools with memory-based limits, so one site can't starve the others.
Edge rules to challenge bad bots and cache anonymous traffic.
Tuned InnoDB buffer pool + slow query log review for the worst offenders.

result

Load average: 20+ → 1.4
Server upgrade: 3× cost → not needed

Linux · Nginx · PHP-FPM · MariaDB · Redis · Cloudflare

The design that needed to convert

SaaS marketing site · Next.js + headless WordPress

problem

A good-looking landing page with a 5 MB hero video, a layout shift under the CTA and a lead form that lost submissions silently.

investigation

CLS of 0.34 came from web fonts and a late-loading cookie banner pushing the CTA down.
The form posted to a third-party script that failed on ad-blocked browsers without telling anyone.

decision

Keep the design intent, remove the cost. The page should feel the same and weigh a fifth.

build

Poster image + on-intent video, font metric overrides, reserved space for the banner.
Form posts to our own endpoint first, then fans out. Failures are visible and retried.

result

CLS: 0.34 → 0.01
Page weight: 5.6 MB → 0.9 MB
Lost leads: unknown → 0

Next.js · React · WordPress REST · Tailwind

also shipped

Custom WooCommerce B2B portal — Tiered pricing, quotes, account approvals (WooCommerce · PHP, 2025)
Headless publishing stack — WordPress editorial, Next.js front, ISR (Next.js · WP REST, 2025)
Booking engine plugin — Availability, deposits, calendar sync (PHP · MySQL · JS, 2024)
Multisite migration — 38 sites consolidated, zero downtime (WordPress · WP-CLI, 2024)
Shopify → WooCommerce move — Products, customers, orders, redirects (Shopify API · WooCommerce, 2023)
Internal ops dashboard — Orders + fulfilment across 3 stores (React · Node.js, 2023)

contact

Have something difficult? fakhardev@gmail.com

The full portfolio is at fakhar.tech.

Fakhar Ul Islam

Senior Software Engineer and Development Team Lead at Techsa, Lahore. 8+ years and 1,500+ websites shipped — and the infrastructure they run on.

case files

The site that wouldn't load

Publisher · WordPress · ~40k posts

problem

Homepage TTFB was over 6 seconds and the host kept throwing 504s during traffic spikes. Two previous agencies had added a caching plugin and called it done.

investigation

Profiled a cold request with Query Monitor + slow query log instead of guessing.
Found 3.1 MB of autoloaded options — every request was loading dead plugin settings into memory.
The homepage ran 11 separate WP_Query loops, four of them ordering by a meta value with no index.
The caching plugin was bypassed for any visitor with a tracking cookie — effectively all of them.

decision

Don't add another cache on top of a slow origin. Make the origin fast first, then cache the right things at the right layer.

build

Cleaned autoload: 3.1 MB → 190 KB, with a migration that's safe to re-run.
Collapsed homepage loops into two queries with a transient-backed fragment cache.
Persistent object cache (Redis) + Cloudflare edge caching with proper bypass rules.

result

Time to first byte: 6.2s → 0.21s
Queries / page: 212 → 31
504s / week: ~40 → 0

WordPress · PHP 8 · MySQL · Redis · Cloudflare

The WooCommerce checkout problem

E-commerce · WooCommerce · 3 payment gateways

problem

Checkout abandonment jumped after a redesign. No errors in the logs, no complaints — just fewer orders.

investigation

Replayed checkout on a throttled mobile profile: the place-order button took 4s to become interactive.
A shipping plugin re-calculated rates on every keystroke via admin-ajax, each call ~900ms.
Two gateways were loading their SDKs on every page of the site, not just checkout.

decision

Keep the plugins the business depends on, but control when they run. Rate calculation on intent, not on input.

build

Debounced + cached shipping rate lookups by address hash.
Conditional script loading: gateway SDKs only where the gateway is actually rendered.
Moved a custom fee rule from a 'woocommerce_cart_calculate_fees' free-for-all into one tested class.

result

Checkout interactive: 4.1s → 1.2s
admin-ajax calls / checkout: 38 → 3
Checkout completion: baseline → +18%

WooCommerce · PHP · JavaScript · Stripe · REST API

The 200K+ postmeta problem

Directory site · ACF · 200k+ meta rows per content type

problem

Filtering listings by three fields took 8+ seconds. Everything was stored in ACF fields, so every filter was a stack of JOINs on wp_postmeta.

investigation

EXPLAIN showed full scans: meta_value isn't indexed and ACF stores numbers as strings.
Each extra filter multiplied the rows examined — 3 filters meant ~1.2M rows touched.

decision

Keep ACF for editing. Stop using postmeta for querying. A typed, indexed lookup table kept in sync on save.

build

Custom table with typed columns + composite indexes that match the actual filters.
Sync on acf/save_post, plus a WP-CLI command to backfill and verify.
Filter endpoint rewritten against the lookup table; WP_Query only hydrates the final IDs.

result

Filter query: 8.4s → 38ms
Rows examined: 1.2M → ~900

WordPress · ACF · MySQL · Custom tables · WP-CLI

The multilingual relationship problem

Corporate site · WPML · 6 languages

problem

Relationship fields pointed at the English versions of posts, so German pages linked to English case studies, and translations kept 'fixing' themselves back.

investigation

ACF relationship fields stored raw post IDs; WPML's translation of those fields was set to 'copy'.
Some content had been duplicated rather than translated, so there was no trid to map through.

decision

Store the relationship once, resolve it per language at render time, and repair the translation graph.

build

Filter on acf/format_value that maps IDs through wpml_object_id with a fallback.
Audit script to find orphaned duplicates and reconnect them to their translation groups.

result

Wrong-language links: 1,140 → 0
Editor steps per update: 6 languages → 1

WordPress · WPML · ACF · Custom post types

The server that needed saving

Agency · 12 WordPress sites on one box

problem

Load average sat above 20. One site getting traffic took the other eleven down with it. The proposed fix was a server three times the price.

investigation

Every site shared one PHP-FPM pool with pm.max_children set to the default.
Bots were hitting uncached search and xmlrpc.php around the clock.
MariaDB was using the default buffer pool on a box with 16 GB of RAM.

decision

Isolate, then cache, then block. Buy hardware only if the numbers still say so afterwards.

build

Per-site FPM pools with memory-based limits, so one site can't starve the others.
Edge rules to challenge bad bots and cache anonymous traffic.
Tuned InnoDB buffer pool + slow query log review for the worst offenders.

result

Load average: 20+ → 1.4
Server upgrade: 3× cost → not needed

Linux · Nginx · PHP-FPM · MariaDB · Redis · Cloudflare

The design that needed to convert

SaaS marketing site · Next.js + headless WordPress

problem

A good-looking landing page with a 5 MB hero video, a layout shift under the CTA and a lead form that lost submissions silently.

investigation

CLS of 0.34 came from web fonts and a late-loading cookie banner pushing the CTA down.
The form posted to a third-party script that failed on ad-blocked browsers without telling anyone.

decision

Keep the design intent, remove the cost. The page should feel the same and weigh a fifth.

build

Poster image + on-intent video, font metric overrides, reserved space for the banner.
Form posts to our own endpoint first, then fans out. Failures are visible and retried.

result

CLS: 0.34 → 0.01
Page weight: 5.6 MB → 0.9 MB
Lost leads: unknown → 0

Next.js · React · WordPress REST · Tailwind

also shipped

Custom WooCommerce B2B portal — Tiered pricing, quotes, account approvals (WooCommerce · PHP, 2025)

Headless publishing stack — WordPress editorial, Next.js front, ISR (Next.js · WP REST, 2025)

Booking engine plugin — Availability, deposits, calendar sync (PHP · MySQL · JS, 2024)

Multisite migration — 38 sites consolidated, zero downtime (WordPress · WP-CLI, 2024)

Shopify → WooCommerce move — Products, customers, orders, redirects (Shopify API · WooCommerce, 2023)

Internal ops dashboard — Orders + fulfilment across 3 stores (React · Node.js, 2023)