Menu Sync feature is not respecting hierarchy and is missing pages

This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
You are trying to use the same menu across all languages on your site without translating it from English. However, when using the Menu Sync feature, the menu items and hierarchy are not consistent across languages.
Solution:
1. WPML automatically attempts to translate menus if they are not already translated. To prevent this, you should create a separate menu for each language.
2. Since WordPress does not allow selecting original pages on a translated menu, you can use custom menu items to display English pages across all language versions of your site.
3. For detailed guidance on translating menus with WPML, visit https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/translating-menus/

Please note that the solution provided might be outdated or not applicable to your specific case. We highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If the issue persists, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum for further assistance.

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Tagged: Documentation request, Not WPML issue

This topic contains 5 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Andreas W. 1 week, 4 days ago.

Assisted by: Andreas W..

Author	Posts
February 6, 2025 at 4:22 pm #16676436
jamesH-2	Background of the issue: I'm trying to use the same menu across all languages on the site. We don't want the menu translated from English into any other languages. We tried to use the Menu Sync feature, but the menu is not coming up the same across all languages. There are items missing and the menu hierarchy is not being respected. You can see the issue on these pages: hidden link && hidden link Symptoms: The menus are not the same across both languages. There are items missing and the menu hierarchy is not being respected. Questions: Why is the Menu Sync feature not respecting the menu hierarchy? Why are there items missing from the menu in different languages after running menu sync?
February 6, 2025 at 7:49 pm #16677031
Andreas W. Supporter Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	Hello, The menu hierarchy can only be respected by WP Menus Sync if the pages that are used for all parent menu items are translated and published. Are all those pages translated and published? Best regards Andreas
February 7, 2025 at 2:37 pm #16680227
jamesH-2	Thank you for your reply. No, they are not all translated. Since they are not, and we can't use the Menu sync feature to accomplish what we need, how can we use the English navigation for all languages?
February 7, 2025 at 10:00 pm #16681334
Andreas W. Supporter Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	WPML will try to automatically translate menus, if they are not translated. To avoid this behavior, you need to translate the menu by creating one menu for each language. Due to the design of WordPress, it is not possible to select an original page on a translated menu, but you could use custom menu items to display the English pages in all your languages if this is what you are trying to do. How to translate menus with WPML: https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/translating-menus/
February 12, 2025 at 2:57 pm #16697451
jamesH-2	We have 26 languages on the site and the menu is quite large. Are you suggesting we re-create the menu in each of the 26 languages using custom links? This is not an ideal solution, as any time we need to update the menu it would need to be updated in 26 places. There is no other way?
February 12, 2025 at 8:26 pm #16699012
Andreas W. Supporter Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	What you are expecting is simply not the way how translating menus in WordPress works. There will be one menu per language and the menu will dynamically link only to pages or posts that are created in this language. This is how WordPress is designed. The only workaround to display the same menu in all languages would be to use custom menu items.