This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client reported that the 'My Account' page was not translating properly into Dutch and Spanish, remaining in English despite other pages being correctly translated. Additionally, various WooCommerce interface strings on Dutch shop and category pages were not translating, and a specific MailPoet checkbox text on the checkout page was not displaying its Dutch translation.
Solution: We identified that the issue was due to hardcoded links in the HTML that did not include the necessary language prefix after the default site language was changed. These links needed manual correction. For the 'Add to Wishlist' string, it was incorrectly set as Dutch in WPML, and we changed its source language to English before translating it to Dutch. Regarding the MailPoet checkbox text, it was determined that MailPoet is not fully compatible with WPML, which was causing the translation issue. We recommended checking for alternative solutions or methods for this specific string.
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The change I made fixed the problem of the link in the menu in Spanish. As far as I can see, it works.
The problem with the Dutch reverting to English is due to the fact that the original content links (hardcoded in the HTML element) are not right. They missed the language prefix. This was occurring before, probably since, the change of the default language from NL to EN.
Please, give it a try and fix the original language menu links.
Meanwhile, I'll send the ticket to my team leader so you get another supporter to handle the issue.
I have checked the site again, and your solution did not fix the issue.
In fact, the situation is now worse than before:
• When the site is set to Dutch, clicking “Home” suddenly switches the entire site back to English
• Dutch category pages still show English text
• The homepage language behavior is broken
• The part you said was “translated” is still not translated
• Everything was functioning better before your modification
This means that your recent changes have introduced new problems instead of resolving the original issue.
I paid for WPML specifically so the language logic would work correctly.
Right now it is not working, and changing the source language has clearly broken the behavior even more.
Please stop applying changes that make things worse.
I need these issues properly fixed, and if you cannot resolve them, please escalate this ticket to a senior WPML technician who can.
I want to make it very clear that the problem is not solved.
In fact, after the recent changes, the situation became worse:
• The Dutch homepage now switches back to English automatically
• Dutch category pages are showing English text
• WPML language logic is not working correctly anymore
• Nothing has been fixed, and new issues have been added
Because of this, I cannot mark this issue as resolved.
If another supporter will take over the case, that is perfectly fine —
but I expect the original behaviour to be restored and the translation logic to work correctly again.
This is a paid plugin, and I expect a proper solution, not additional problems.
Please make sure the next supporter fixes the issues created this morning and fully resolves the original problem.
I’ve reviewed the situation, and I will be assisting you from here.
Before diving into the details, there is one important point we need to revisit: the default language of your site was changed. When this is done, WPML displays a warning because existing functionality can be affected—and that is exactly what we’re seeing now.
Why these issues are occurring
Several links throughout the site were hardcoded.
Because these links are stored directly in the page content (rather than generated dynamically), WPML cannot detect or update them automatically. This means they must be corrected manually.
Example
Go to the Dutch homepage
Open Menu → Categories
You are redirected to: hidden link
→ the English page
This happens because the menu link is pointing to:
❌ hidden link
(incorrect, no language directory)
instead of
✅ hidden link
Since the incorrect URL does not exist, WordPress applies its internal redirection logic and sends the visitor to the closest matching page—which ends up being the English shop page.
For clarity, here is the redirection rule applied by WordPress:
All hardcoded links pointing to Dutch pages without the /nl/ language directory need to be updated manually.
Unfortunately, WPML cannot change these links automatically because they are not stored in locations WPML controls.
Everything worked previously because the original links were valid. After the language change, those URLs are no longer correct, which causes WordPress to redirect them instead of showing a 404 page.
Why this is not affecting every link
Not all Dutch links were hardcoded.
Any link stored in the database—such as post relationships, dynamic menus, or translated content handled by WPML—was updated correctly.
Only the hardcoded links require manual review and correction.
Thank you for your explanation.
However, I still have two major issues that must be solved, because they are NOT working correctly and I cannot fix them myself.
1. “Add to Wishlist” does NOT translate into Dutch
All other languages translate correctly (French, German, Italian, Spanish), except Dutch.
The string is translated inside WPML, the source is correct, but WPML does not output the Dutch translation on the frontend.
As you can see in the screenshot:
The Dutch translation exists ✔️
All other languages work ✔️
Dutch always falls back to English ❌
This is not a hardcoded string — it comes from the TI WooCommerce Wishlist plugin and should be fully translatable.
So something is wrong on WPML’s side with the Dutch language mapping.
Please check why WPML is ignoring the Dutch translation for this string and fix it.
2. This MailPoet checkbox sentence does NOT translate:
“I would like to receive exclusive emails with discounts and product information.”
This text shows on the checkout page and stays English in all cases.
It is translated inside MailPoet AND registered in WPML, but WPML still does not output the Dutch version.
Again:
The translation exists ✔️
WPML does NOT display the Dutch version ❌
This is NOT hardcoded — it is generated by MailPoet and should be detected by WPML ✔️
Conclusion
The remaining problems are now pure WPML translation failures, not hardcoded links.
Please fix:
“Add to Wishlist” → Dutch translation not showing
MailPoet checkbox sentence → Dutch translation not showing
I cannot solve this myself — this must be corrected on WPML’s side.
Unfortunately the issue with that string is more complex than expected, after a conversation with our compatibility team and reviewing past threads as well as MailPoet's support I can confirm that their plugin is not compatible with WPML.
Warning about this directly in MailPoet's site: hidden link
Hi Bobby,
Thank you very much for your detailed follow-up and for checking this with both the WPML compatibility team and MailPoet’s support. I really appreciate the effort and clarity.
It’s clear now that the remaining string is caused by MailPoet not being fully compatible with WPML.
Thank you for pointing me to the related threads and official notices — this helps a lot.
I will look into an alternative solution on my side (either replacing the field or using another opt-in method).
Thanks again for all your help, your video and your fast support.
You solved everything perfectly except for this MailPoet limitation, so I really appreciate it. 🙏😊
