I want to switch the main domain of the site, but keeping the main language like it is. So now the main language is russian, which is located at hidden link. The rest of the languages are located in subdomains, so english is at hidden link. What I want to do is keeping russian as the default language, but locate russian at hidden link and then english move it to hidden link. Is it possible to do that? I suspect a few things about that, but I am not 100% sure about it. I should move the site to a subdomain, updating the permalinks and then updating the WPML settings?
Yes — what you’re trying to achieve is technically possible, but it requires a careful sequence of steps, especially with WPML, to avoid broken links, SEO issues, or ATE/job inconsistencies.
Your target setup would be:
Russian (default language):
ru.topdermal.com
English:
topdermal.com
This is essentially switching from:
Default language on root domain
to default language on subdomain
Important considerations
WPML expects the default language to be on the main domain. Moving the default language (Russian) to a subdomain while keeping it as default is not a standard setup.
This may lead to inconsistencies in:
Language switchers
SEO canonical URLs
Some internal logic, especially ATE and jobs
The more stable approach would be:
Make English the default language
Keep it on
topdermal.com
Move Russian to
ru.topdermal.com
If you must keep Russian as default, we’ll need to test carefully.
What would be required
Create the subdomain
ru.topdermal.com
pointing to the same WordPress install.
Create a full backup of the site before making any changes.
Review the current WPML language URL configuration in
WPML → Languages
.
Update the domain-per-language setup carefully.
Resave permalinks in
Settings → Permalinks
.
Check whether WPML shows the site moved/copied notice and choose
moved
if appropriate.
Test language switching, translated URLs, ATE access, and internal links.
Risks
Temporary loss of access to ATE
Broken translation jobs
SEO impact if redirects are not handled properly
Mixed-language URLs if the migration is not done in the right order
Recommended approach
If possible, the safer setup is to make English the default language and keep it on the main domain, while moving Russian to
ru.topdermal.com
. This matches WPML’s expected behavior better and avoids edge cases.
Next step
To confirm what is safe on your specific site, I need to check the current configuration first.
Please provide WP Admin access.
Please also confirm whether I’m allowed to:
Create a backup with Duplicator for safe testing
Create a test page that will not be published publicly, if needed
Once I can review the setup, I’ll check whether this configuration is feasible and what exact steps would be needed for your site.
