[Resolved] Links to non-English sites don't work on our site
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client was experiencing issues with links on their tri-lingual website (English, Swedish, and German) using Kadence blocks. The links on the Swedish and German pages were incorrectly leading to the English subpages. They suspected the issue was related to the translation of page names and provided a list of incorrect translations and dysfunctional links.
Solution: We recommended the following steps: 1. For the Kadence 'Advanced Gallery' block not being translated, we provided a custom XML configuration to add to the 'WPML > Settings > Custom XML Configuration' section:
2. We advised using relative URLs instead of absolute ones for internal links and provided a link for more information on relative vs absolute URLs: https://www.seoclarity.net/resources/knowledgebase/difference-relative-absolute-url-15325/ 3. For the incorrect translations and dysfunctional links, we suggested setting the 'Page URL' option to 'Auto Generate' or 'Copy' instead of 'Translate' to maintain consistent URLs across languages. 4. We updated the 'https' protocol in the database and executed the 'Translate link targets' function in WPML to ensure correct internal link functionality. 5. We recommended keeping the current setup of different languages in directories for better SEO rather than switching to language parameters in URLs.
If these solutions do not apply to your case, or if they seem outdated, we highly recommend checking the related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you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 problem persists, please open a new support ticket for further assistance: WPML support forum.
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I've checked thoroughly and included my findings below.
Menu with 3 pictures pointing to the English version on the Swedish HomePage: Upon inspection, I noticed that the section featuring three images is added using the "Advanced Gallery" block from Kadence. It's important to note that Kadence has introduced several new blocks that don't have WPML Translation support(Errata: https://wpml.org/errata/kadence-blocks-new-blocks-are-not-compatible-yet/), and the Advanced Gallery block seems to be one of them. To enable translation for this block, I inserted the following code into the "WPML > Settings > Custom XML Configuration" section, updated the content within the Advanced Image block in the primary language, and then updated its translation. The captions and links are now displaying correctly in the Swedish version.
The "Teamwear" section in the Swedish version of the Homepage pointing some links to the English version:
Upon examining the Translation Editor, I found that the URLs for the English version were mistakenly used as translations for the Swedish language. This resulted in links on the Swedish homepage redirecting to the English version of the page. To rectify this, I modified the links in the teamwear section to use relative formatting (replacing the full URL "hidden link" with simply "bandy/"), saved the changes, and updated the translation, which effectively solved the issue. There were also some incorrect links in the Team Spirits and Team Analytics section and I updated the links on that section as well. All the links in the Swedish version of the homepage now point to the correct pages.
If you're linking to a page that is already translated, it is recommended to add the link in the relative format. For more details about this format, please check this link: hidden link
A link pointing incorrectly on the Blue Ribbon section of the Swedish page: While inspecting the default page, I found that the link for the "Carpet" item is set incorrectly in the default page, which is why, it is not working properly. I updated the link for the Carpet Item and updated the translation. The link is now pointed correctly in the Swedish version.
I hope it helps. If you need assistance with any other links, feel free to let me know. I'll be happy to help.
It is a pity that sometimes WPML does not seem to keep up with Kadence developments - from what we see on our end, the issue largely seems to be caused by blocks suddenly not working anymore.
There are some additional issues with links: hidden link
Quite at the end of the page, there is an item with 9 blocks, the last of them Yoga. This links to an English page.
On the German version of the same page, the item with the 9 blocks has not converted at all, but appears as a list: hidden link
There, cycling ("Radsport") links into nowhere, creating a 404 error.
And on this Swedish page, all 9 blocks aside from ishockey link to the English versions. hidden link
Can't we find a general solution? We believe that there is a general setting error, and your comment about the Kadence blocks seem to hint in that direction.
Our comment about the page redirects & the 404 errors was to illustrate this issue and not referring to an additional one, as we believe the source of these errors to be faulty WPML links.
If there is none, we will have to go through all links on all pages of the Swedish & German versions & provide a list 🙁
Our development team has pinpointed the problematic blocks and communicated with the Kadence team. We are jointly addressing the translation issues associated with the newly introduced blocks and expect to have a solution in place soon.
Upon reviewing the English version of this page (hidden link), it appears that the infobox section you mentioned at the end of the page is missing from the default page layout. Consequently, this block should not appear in either the Swedish or German versions of the page. After updating the Swedish translation, I noticed that the block was indeed removed from the Swedish version(Screenshot: hidden link). If you wish to exclude this block from the German version as well, please complete the update of the German translation.
Regarding the issue with links, I reviewed the WPML settings and can confirm that they are correct. However, the issue seemed to stem from how specific elements within the Infobox block were registered for translation. Instead of registering individual elements, I configured all elements in Infobox Block for translation via "WPML > Settings > Custom XML Configuration". Following these adjustments, I updated the page and its translation. Upon reviewing this page (hidden link), I noticed that all links within the infobox are now correctly displayed in the Swedish version. Please update the German translation to see the link correctly in the German version.
If you notice any particular link not pointed correctly, please update that particular link in the default version and then update the translation. In the translation editor, it is not required to add a translation for the link. Just save the translation and the link should be adjusted properly.
I hope it helps. Please feel free to let me know if there is anything else if you need help with. I'll be happy to assist.
Hi again & thank you for your help, it looks much better already.
Great to hear also that you're in touch with Kadence to resolve this on a more general level.
INFOBOX on hidden link
Here we still have one issue:
We added the 9-photo infobox again on the English version of this post page.
Then we updated the Swedish + English versions, and the infobox appeared again - success!
The only persistant issue: yoga, the last item in the inbox, still links to English from both Swedish + German and we can't figure out why. Do you have any ideas?
Hi There,
Thank you for the update. Glad to hear that things look better now! 🙂
Since the link for the Yoga category is not showing properly, I checked in the String translation and noticed that the link for the English version of the Yoga page has been incorrectly applied to both the Swedish and German versions. This could be the reason why the link was not updating properly in other languages.
To solve this, here's what I've done:
- I have removed the incorrect links that were previously assigned to both the German and Swedish versions.
- Subsequently, I accessed the reusable block containing the infor box and updated the link to the correct relative format, which should be as follows: carmaflage/
- I have also made sure to update the translations for this block in both the Swedish and German versions to reflect this change.
After that, the link started to work properly in both German and Swedish versions. Please check and let me know if you need any further assistance. I will be happy to help.
Thank you, looks better now! Please give us time over the weekend to check all links & then hopefully to close the thread. All the best & happy weekend to you too, Carmen
Hi, as promised we went through the pages, starting with the Swedish landing page hidden link
We’re sorry to say that the links are still dysfunctional and unfortunately we found a lot of errors already on that page!
Quite far up, there is a photo of a T-shirt with SWEDEN and two symbols with links. The left one, a book, does not work in Swedish. We have updated the English link and it works, both in English and German, but not in Swedish.
But the worst is further down:
In the block SUPPORTERARTIKLER OCH TEAMSPIRIT many links do not work.
Before you start looking for a reason, we would like to give you our suspicion:
We believe that has something to do with the translation of the page naming. We had problems with the automatic translation of page names, which keep reverting to an unwanted translation.
One example is “Badlakan”, which sometimes provides the translation as “Badhanddukar”. Another one is “Tröjor” which translates to “Skjortor” – this is particularly stupid, since both are “shirts”, but what we mean is “tröjor”/T-shirts and not “skjortor”/dressy shirts with buttons & collars.
Also, our page “Team Spirit” translates to “laganda”, but should stay Team Spirit also in German.
One particularly idiotid example in German is the page for Fanartikel which shows as Gebläse-Getriebe (hidden link) and creates a 404 error. Fanartikel are fan articles (branded gimmicks), and Gebläse-Getriebe would translate to Blowers – Transmissions which is complete nonsense.
Here is a list of the dysfunctional link names in Swedish:
Baseballkepsar should be Kepsar
Badhanddkukar should be Badlakan
Fan-utrustning should be Supporterartiklar
Hattar och Sjalar should be Mössor & halsdukar
Huvtröjor should be Hoodies
Polotrojör should be Pikétröjor
Replika should be Replikatröjor
Skjortor should be Tröjor & Shorts
Strumpbuxor & Leggings should be Tights & Leggings
Strumpor is correct, but the link does not work
Träningsoveraller is correct, but the link does not work
Vinterjackor should be Vinterjacka
Later on, there is a block with 3 pictures, and the first link Smart Säljstöd goes to English.
Why does this happen and how can we heal/prevent it?
Would it help to switch global setting - we are presently on this one:
Different languages in directories ( (hidden link - English, hidden link - German) )
Would it help to switch to this:
Language name added as a parameter (hidden link - German)
We have asked this question before, but not gotten an answer from you.
We hope you find a general solution, because frankly, we are EXHAUSTED. We’re even thinking about just having completely separate pages and quitting the hassle of dealing with a multi-language page and WPML in general.
These link issues are a nightmare, especially when WPML does not keep up with developments over at WordPress or Kadence.
Keeping the structure & the links in good shape is the main reason why we have opted for WPML in the first place and why we have a paid subscription.
With the language translation we can easily cope since we have Swedish and German native speakers, and we would not need automatic translations (which are not always perfect).
As a small company, it is a nightmare to chase technical issues and to look like idiots because of automatic translations, especially since we take care to read & correct all translations.
Thank you for detailing the challenges you're experiencing. I truly understand how frustrating and exhausting it can be to deal with such technical issues, especially when they impact the user experience and your business operations. I appreciate the patience and diligence you've shown in identifying and communicating these issues to us.
Regarding the issues with dysfunctional links and incorrect translations, I have checked the WPML settings and found that the Page URL is set to "Translate". Please check this screenshot: hidden link
When set to translate, it's expected behavior for URLs to be translated based on the title added in the default page/post. To prevent this, I recommend setting the 'Page URL' option to "Auto Generate" or "Copy" instead of translating them. This should maintain consistent and predictable URLs across languages.
For pages that have already been affected, the solution would involve manually updating the slugs. This can be done by switching to the desired language, navigating to the page in question, and using the "Quick edit" feature to adjust the slug to your preference.
In addition to these measures, I've taken the following steps to ensure that the internal links in each language are pointed properly, respective translated versions.
1. I accessed the database and reviewed the Siteurl and Home URL in the wp_options table. I noticed that the links were correctly added but without the "https" protocol. This has been updated to ensure secure and reliable link functionality.
2. After that, I executed the "Translate link targets" function in WPML > Settings to ensure that internal links are correctly pointing in each language.
Regarding your query about changing the global setting for language directories versus using a language parameter, both approaches have their merits. The current setup with languages in directories (e.g., hidden link for Swedish) generally provides a cleaner URL structure and can be better for SEO. The alternative, using a parameter (e.g., hidden link for German), can simplify the site's structure but may not be as intuitive or SEO-friendly. I recommend sticking with the current setup.
After the steps above, the link in the book icon started to work properly and I also can confirm that each link in the Swedish and German versions of the homepage working perfectly.
I understand your goal of finding a long-term, sustainable solution to these challenges, and from the beginning, I'm trying my best to assist. I understand that managing a multilingual site with WPML can be complex, but we're here to support you in optimizing the setup to meet your needs. If the issues persist or the current solutions don't fully address your concerns, we're open to exploring alternative strategies or if required, will escalate the issue to the 2nd tier team for further investigation. Your satisfaction and the success of your site are our top priorities.
Thank you for your continued cooperation and understanding. I look forward to resolving these issues together and am here for any further assistance you may need.
Thank you, dear Prosenjit, especially for your hint about the change from Translate to Auto Generate or Copy. We have applied this now and we hope that this works as a permanent solution (it would be good to show more clearly in the menu which consequences the 3 options actually lead to). What a journey!
You're welcome! I'm glad the suggestion to switch from Translate to Auto Generate or Copy was helpful. It's great to hear that you've changed the option and I hope the issue with slug translation will never happen again.
I also would like to Thank you for the Feedback. I've taken a note of it. If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out. I'll be happy to help. Otherwise, please consider marking this thread as resolved.
