[Resolved] Manually skip links for translation

Hello,

Thanks for contacting us.

Before your ticket is assigned to one of my colleagues, please allow me to walk you through some initial debugging steps. This will help speed up the support process.

Can you please try to use the workaround described by my colleague here:

https://wpml.org/forums/topic/dont-translate-links/#post-7355595

In summary:

- Edit your theme's functions.php file and add the following code:

add_filter( 'wpml_sl_blocklist_requests', 'wpml_sl_blocklist_requests', 10, 2 );
  
function wpml_sl_blocklist_requests( $blocklist, $sitepress ) {
    $blocklist[] = 'SLUG';
    return $blacklist;
}

Where you can replace 'SLUG' with the slug of the page you don't want to redirect your users to the translated version.

Please give it a try and let us know your results.
Mateus

Hi there.

Can you please share a URL where I can see the page format?

I tried to access your site but I get: 403 ERROR - The request could not be satisfied.

I am not sure if you are talking about the main menu or about a separate menu that you have created with the page builder (or with the help of a different plugin) for each of the pages.

Can you please elaborate a bit more on this?

Thank you!

Mihai Apetrei

Thank you for the info.

Once again, I am not able to see the site.

1. Can you please remove any security limits that might not allow me to see it?

2. would like to request temporary access (wp-admin and FTP) to your site so I can better examine the issue. The needed fields are below the comment area. When you log in to leave your next reply, the information you enter is private, meaning only you and I can see and access it.

Our Debugging Procedures

I will check various settings in the backend to see if the issue can be resolved. Although I won't be making changes that affect the live site, it is still good practice to back up the site before providing us access. In the event that we do need to debug the site further, I will duplicate it and work in a separate, local development environment to avoid affecting the live site.

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**IMPORTANT**

- Please back up the site files and database before providing us access.

If you do not see the wp-admin/FTP fields, your post and website login details will be made PUBLIC. DO NOT post your website details unless you see the required wp-admin/FTP fields. If you do not, please ask me to enable the private box.

The private box looks like this: hidden link

I will be waiting for your response.

Kind regards,
Mihai Apetrei

Hi there,

Thank you for the additional clarification regarding your issue and also for your patience throughout the investigation process.

Based on the information you've provided, it seems that the hard-coded links in your HTML are being automatically translated by WPML, causing the URLs to append the current language path, which is not the desired behavior.

Without access to your site, it is challenging to provide a precise solution. However, I can suggest a few potential workarounds that you can try to implement:

1. Using Data Attributes or HTML Comments:
One method to prevent WPML from translating specific parts of your HTML is to use data attributes or HTML comments. You can try wrapping your anchor tags with an HTML comment or use a data attribute to indicate to WPML that these links should not be translated.

Example:

html
<!--:notranslate-->
<a href="<em><u>hidden link</u></em>" class="notranslate">Spanish</a>
<!--:notranslate-->

2. Custom WPML Filters:
Another approach is to use custom WPML filters to exclude specific HTML elements from translation. You can add custom filters to your theme's `functions.php` file to achieve this.

Example:

php
function exclude_links_from_translation($content) {
    $content = preg_replace('/<a href="https:\/\/staging.totara.fortyapp.com\/es\/">(.*?)<\/a>/', '<a href="<em><u>hidden link</u></em>" class="notranslate">$1</a>', $content);
    return $content;
}
add_filter('the_content', 'exclude_links_from_translation');

3. JavaScript Workaround:
You can also use JavaScript to dynamically modify the links after the page has loaded, ensuring they do not get translated.

Example:

javascript
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
    var links = document.querySelectorAll('a.notranslate');
    links.forEach(function(link) {
        link.href = '<em><u>hidden link</u></em>';
    });
});

4. Custom Fields Exclusion:
Since you mentioned using ACF (Advanced Custom Fields), ensure that the fields are set not to be translated. You can do this in the WPML settings under the ACF fields translation preferences.

Next Steps:
1. Please try implementing the above suggestions and see if they resolve the issue.
2. If possible, consider setting up a staging environment where security settings are more relaxed, allowing us to access and debug the issue directly.
3. Alternatively, provide detailed screenshots or a screen recording of the issue along with the relevant code snippets for further guidance.

While I understand that lowering your site's security is not an option, these steps might help you work around the limitations and find a solution.

I hope that you will find this information helpful.

Mihai