In page-sitemap.xml, generated by Rank Math, I found two URLs of translated pages that are invalid. They are missing the language directory. The correct URLs are in the sitemap as well.
For example: hidden link (incorrect, throws a 404 error, should not be in the sitemap) hidden link (correct)
I initially thought it was a Rank Math problem. But their support says it looks like WPML added incorrect translated entries for those URLs in the wp_posts table of the database.
They said I can fix the problem like this: 1. Access your database using the phpMyAdmin panel or a plugin like SQL Buddy.
2. Go to the posts table of the database and search the post_name column for the slug of the affected URL.
3. There must be two entries with similar post IDs. Remove the incorrect one.
4. Then go to WP Dashboard > Rank Math SEO > Sitemap Settings > General and change the links per sitemap to flush the sitemap’s cache and fix the issue.
But before I do something risky like this, is there a safer way to find the incorrect entries with WPML, and remove them? Without going into the database directly?
Thank you for contacting WPML support. I've checked the URLs provided on your website, and the language switcher points them correctly if you switch the languages back and forth.
Additionally, looking at the source code of the page, hreflang is set correctly for /de/.
Indeed, everything in the frontend works fine. I checked the known issues but they do not apply here.
The issue is that Rank Math generates two incorrect links in the XML Sitemap, because of wrong records in the database. WPML most likely put those records there. What do you suggest to solve this if there is no need to change anything directly in the database?
What we are seeing on the frontend is coming from the database. I haven't noticed the incorrect URLs. Can you show me the wrong records in the database? So that we can verify the initial workaround.
URL #1 and #2 both open the page in edit mode, but in case of #2 WPML throws a warning: "Sie versuchen, eine Übersetzung mit dem Standard-WordPress-Editor zu bearbeiten, aber Ihre Seite ist für die Nutzung des WPML Translation Editor konfiguriert."
Both have the exact same publish date. #2 has 4 revisions and #1 and no revisions.
I would guess that #2 (726662) is the correct URL and #1 (726661) is the duplicate, but I am not sure.
Opening URL #3 and #4 is almost identical to #1 and #2. The difference is that the URL shown by WordPress does not contain "/de/" for #3 and #4.
I also checked the WordPress list of pages with the WPML flag set to German, and found the same page twice. ID 726661 has no translation so that confirms that this is the wrong one I must delete, correct? You can see it here: hidden link
I also tried to find the second URL with the same issue in the WordPress list of pages, but couldn't find it. I can only find that one directly in the database wp_posts table.
What do you recommend and what may have caused this issue?
As far as I can page 726661 created in the German language, and it's being not a translation of anything. It looks exactly like 726662, which makes me think it can be safely deleted.
If you can't find the second URL in the list of pages, trash or draft, you may go ahead and delete it from the database. However, remember to create backups just in case.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure what could have caused these two entries to be incorrect.
Thank you Andrey. I used Adminer to double-check the incorrect post IDs. I deleted 726661 in the WordPress list of pages with WPML switched to German. The other was deleted using the WP Bulk Delete plugin.
