Rank Math SEO - Turning on "Strip Category Base" or "Remove base" causes issues with secondary languages

31 Responses to “Rank Math SEO - Turning on "Strip Category Base" or "Remove base" causes issues with secondary languages”

1. I have the same issue with WPML SEO and strip category prefix. Often I get a 404 on my secondary language. Fix is to go to permalink settings and hit the save button.

   My 2 languages are on a seperate domain.
   NL > http://www.domaindutch.be
   FR > http://www.domainfrench.be

   Running WPML version. 4.4.10

   Is this fix ready or an easy hack to solve this? I’m experiencing this problem for 9 months now.

   • Hello Johan,
     For the moment we have the workaround available on the description. If it does not work, don’t hesitate to open a ticket in our support forum as it may be a different situation.
     Regards

     • Hi Andrés,

       Does the workaround mean in my case that I have to remove translated french categories and only create new categories in French and assign correct posts to the newly created french categories?

       • With the workaround, I suppose my language switch is not gonna work, only for categories?

       • No, you can keep your categories translated, just do not translate the category slugs.
         If you have have any issue with this procedure, don’t hesitate to open a ticket in our support forum.

2. Thanks for the feedback. Do you have a time indication when the real fix is coming? I’m waiting almost 9 months for this fix.

   • Unfortunately, I can’t provide your an ETA so far as it depends on our developers and the plugin author.
     We will update it here as soon as we have any information.

3. thanks, for this content it is useful for me and as well as for new user

4. thanks, such a nice blog I hope you will be updating with us this helpful content

   • We are glad to know it helped. Sure, we will keep it updated as soon as we have a solution in the author’s or our plugin.
     Regards

5. Hello
   Does the fix will come soon ? Any quick solution for now until you publish the final fix ?

   Thank you

   • Hello there,
     For now, please apply the workaround provided here provided. If that does not work, don’t hesitate to open a ticket in our support forum so we can investigate further.
     Regards

6. Hello,
   Same problem here with both strip category base enabled or disabled.
   That’s great to see that this issue is only for the category archive and not product category archive. Does the update will come soon ?

   For your workaround fix, you say to not translate the category slug but WPML add automaticly -es after the original slug so how can we not translate the slug ?

   • Hello there,
     I understand the confusion but I’m afraid the workaround points not to translate the Category Base slug, not the category itself. If this does not work, don’t hesitate to open a ticket in our support forum.
     Regards

7. Hello,

   Is there an eta for this issue since has been open for quite a while now and to keep using a band-aid is in my opinion not really an option.

   Regards,

   Sam

   • Hello Sam,
     This issue is already on our devs roadmap. However, I can’t provide an exact ETA.
     We will keep this erratum updated.
     Regards

8. Hi,

   I am experiencing the same problem. I followed the instructions but it did not work for me.

   I have 3 languages on my site. I had the slugs translated but I reverted this to the original language and used rank math to strip the product-category base url.

   The only onlies stripped were the product-category urls from the main language. The other two languages still the same.

   Any tips?

   Cheers

9. Nevermind! I was able to fix it.

   • Hey there,
     I’m glad to know you were able to solve it.
     Regards

10. Have you fixed it?

    • Hello @raywoo,

      The issue is still in our development queue. For now, please use the workaround available on the description.

11. Also experiencing this issue. Would appreciate if this issue gets fixed quickly.

    • We will keep this erratum updated once we have a new release. In the meantime, please use the workaround here provided.

12. It’s been 4 years and still now update? “We’re working on this?” Come on, what a scam from wpml

    • We understand your feeling. However as there is a straight forward workaround, this task has a lower priority.
      We will keep this link updated.

      • Firstly, on wpml website it says rankmath is FULLY compatible, but it’s not. 2nd, removing slug translation and modyfing core worked, but any change in category hirarchy makes edited categories not work anymore.

        • In this workaround there is no need to modify the core, that makes me think you are probably experiencing a different issue.
          If you still can’t solve this issue, please open a chat in our assistance channel.

13. It still is very urgent task. Having “Strip Category Base” or “Remove base” within secondary languages should be must have. Please make it work asap and let us know.

    • We totally understand you. Please, use the workaround in the meantime as it will allow you to continue using those features.
      We will keep this page updated.

14. Hi Andrés,

    the issue I’m experiencing is that translated product category archives are redirecting to the main language version. This is likely related to the issue described in this page.

    Unfortunately, before running into this article I already translated the product categories (including slugs).

    Is there any way to remove the slugs translation?

    Best regards

    • Hello Luigi,
      The workaround doesn’t need you to remove your product categories translations, it refers to the slugs of these 3 strings: category, product or product-category. This should be achievable from WPML > String Translation.
      However, if you encounter any difficulty with this issue, please start a chat in our assistance channel. One of our specialists will guide you through this process.
      Regards