Home›Support›English Support›[Resolved] When updating old pages (created two years ago), links stop working if they are part of joined segme...
[Resolved] When updating old pages (created two years ago), links stop working if they are part of joined segme...
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: You are experiencing an issue where links on old pages, which are part of joined segments, stop working in the frontend. These links incorrectly redirect to the same page, displaying an empty href attribute, although they appear correct in ATE. This problem does not occur with newly created pages. Solution: We recommend trying the "Translate Link Targets" option in WPML → Settings. This might resolve the issue with the links in the frontend. Please ensure to backup your database before making any changes.
If this solution does not apply to your case, or if it seems outdated, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have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 the issue persists, please do not hesitate to open a new support ticket with us for further assistance at WPML support forum.
This is the technical support forum for WPML - the multilingual WordPress plugin.
Everyone can read, but only WPML clients can post here. WPML team is replying on the forum 6 days per week, 22 hours per day.
Background of the issue:
While updating old pages created two years ago, I encountered an issue where links stop working. These links are always part of joined segments and the problem manifests only in the frontend where the link incorrectly redirects to the same page, showing an empty href attribute. Everything remains correct in ATE. This issue does not occur with newly created pages.
Symptoms:
In the frontend, links that are supposed to lead to different pages instead redirect to the same page, showing 'href=""'. This error does not appear in newly created pages or in the sandbox environment.
Questions:
I have many such pages with many links to them, errors on which I'm now digging out and fixing manually. I'll do it all by hand, of course. I don't need any solution from WPML. I'm informing you of this in case you're interested.
Please update your WPML plugin and add-ons to the latest version, 4.6.11, to benefit from the latest bug fixes and improvements. This may not necessarily resolve your problem; however, it is best to work on the latest code available.
You can check the latest released versions under "My Account -> Downloads" on this site. Instructions to update can be found here: http://wpml.org/faq/install-wpml/
If you do not see the updates, you might need to click the Check for updates button in the Plugins → Add New Plugin → Commercial tab.
Please remember to backup your database first before you proceed.
When submitting this ticket, the system notified me of the updates and I immediately applied them and indicated in this ticket that it did not result in a fix.
Thank you for your feedback. Would you be able to provide some examples?
In some cases, screenshots can help clarify any confusion or miscommunication. If you would like to provide a screenshot, please use the "upload an image" feature located below the comment section.
Here's an example. On the left side, ATE is open, where everything is displayed correctly (this translation was made two years ago). As you can see, the links "статтi 47..." (and the following one) are part of the joined segment. In the middle is how it looks in the frontend. The cursor (it is not shown on the screenshot) is on the text "статтi 47". And you can see at the bottom that the link leads to the same page. In the right part we can see the page code: these links are "empty", href="".
No, it doesn't help. I run this service quite often. Anyway, I have already found and fixed all the errors manually (by disjoining the segments and making their translations again in disjoined form). This ticket was opened just to inform you about the problem. It is up to you to decide if you will do anything about it. Perhaps, if no one else is complaining, you should not do anything about it.