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[Resolved] Really custom language switcher

This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
You need a simple language switcher with your own styling, but WPML is loading 90 default styles that you have to override.
Solution:
If you're implementing a custom language switcher and need to prevent WPML's default styles from loading, you can modify the code in your site. Specifically, you can edit the 

styleLanguageSwitcher

function in the file 

/wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/classes/block-editor/Loader.php

. Here's how you can adjust the function:

private function styleLanguageSwitcher() {<br />    if ( in_array( self::BLOCK_LANGUAGE_SWITCHER, $this->cssLoaded, true ) ) {<br />        return \'\';<br />    }<br /><br />    this->cssLoaded[] = self::BLOCK_LANGUAGE_SWITCHER;<br />    $css = file_get_contents(<br />        WPML_PLUGIN_PATH . \'/dist/css/blocks/language-switcher.css\'<br />    );<br /><br />    return $css ?: \'\';<br />}<br />

Add the following code within this method to check if the constant 

ICL_DONT_LOAD_LANGUAGE_SELECTOR_CSS

is defined, and if so, return nothing, effectively stopping the CSS from loading:

if (defined('ICL_DONT_LOAD_LANGUAGE_SELECTOR_CSS')) {<br />    return \'\';<br />}

This solution might be outdated or not applicable to your specific case. We highly recommend checking 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 this does not resolve your issue, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum.

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Tagged: 

This topic contains 30 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by wdburgdorf 2 months ago.

Assisted by: Paola Mendiburu.

Author Posts
May 14, 2025 at 11:43 am #17031923

wdburgdorf

Please have a look at function styleLanguageSwitcher() in
wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/classes/block-editor/Loader.php

Could that not be somewhat related to it?
May 14, 2025 at 11:47 am #17031943

Carlos Rojas
WPML Supporter since 03/2017

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Hi Ralf,
Thank you very much for your feedback.

Can you add the custom language switcher to the sandbox site? That way we can take a deeper look and check if there is something buggy on our code 🙂
May 14, 2025 at 11:53 am #17031962

wdburgdorf

Sorry, Carlos, it is indeed not the Custom switcher, but the switcher Gutenberg block.
I will add that to your site now.
May 14, 2025 at 11:58 am #17031972

wdburgdorf

There you go: hidden link
Same as on my site, including inline styles.
May 14, 2025 at 12:07 pm #17031988

Carlos Rojas
WPML Supporter since 03/2017

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Thanks!

Quick question: You just added the Gutenberg block with the language switcher, no additional code, correct?
May 14, 2025 at 12:16 pm #17032045

wdburgdorf

Yes, no code, I'm not cheating ...

I changed block settings, so it looks more like mine, and switched on the second language in the switcher setting. I'm sure that has nothing to do with the code. You can just delete that switcher and add it again, it will be the same.
May 14, 2025 at 12:31 pm #17032265

Carlos Rojas
WPML Supporter since 03/2017

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Thank you very much!

I was able to reproduce the issue, and I have escalated this ticket to our 2nd tier of support, where our 2nd tier specialists will take a deeper look at this issue.

We will keep you updated on the evolution of this ticket.
Thank you very much for your patience and understanding!
May 14, 2025 at 12:40 pm #17032289

wdburgdorf

Thanks a lot for your efforts, Carlos!
I can wait, this is not breaking anything ... just somehow bugging me ...
May 15, 2025 at 9:28 am #17035940

Paola Mendiburu
WPML Supporter since 11/2020

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Hi there!

This is Paola and I will continue with the ticket as Carlos is on holidays.

The issue has been escalated to the second tier.

I will let you know when I have some news.

Thanks.
June 28, 2025 at 1:11 pm #17179367

wdburgdorf

Hi Paola,

It's been a month and a half now, has anything happened regarding this? Any news from the developers?

Thanks!
June 30, 2025 at 8:32 am #17181759

Paola Mendiburu
WPML Supporter since 11/2020

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Hi there!

I hope you are well!

There is a workaorund.

Please go to the file /wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/classes/block-editor/Loader.php

And on the function:

private function styleLanguageSwitcher() {
		if ( in_array( self::BLOCK_LANGUAGE_SWITCHER, $this->cssLoaded, true ) ) {
			return '';
		}

		$this->cssLoaded[] = self::BLOCK_LANGUAGE_SWITCHER;
		$css = file_get_contents(
			WPML_PLUGIN_PATH . '/dist/css/blocks/language-switcher.css'
		);

		return $css ?: '';
	}

In that method, you can add this code:

f (defined('ICL_DONT_LOAD_LANGUAGE_SELECTOR_CSS')) {
			return '';
		}

and this will return nothing for the CSS and fix the issue.
June 30, 2025 at 8:53 am #17182033

wdburgdorf

Yes, that works, thank you, Paola!

But is that not going to be overwritten by the next update?
June 30, 2025 at 9:02 am #17182079

Paola Mendiburu
WPML Supporter since 11/2020

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

It has been updated to the developers to be fixed in the upcoming release.
June 30, 2025 at 9:14 am #17182267

wdburgdorf

That's good news, thank you.

I hope they will also remove the inline styles:

<ul ... style="--language-spacing:NaNpx;flex-wrap:nowrap">
<li ...>
<div>

fr

</div>

<li ...>
<div>
<span style="--text-transform:capitalize" ...>de</span>
</div>
June 30, 2025 at 3:00 pm #17185223

Paola Mendiburu
WPML Supporter since 11/2020

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Yes.

The issues has been escalated to Developres to be included on the upcoming release.