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[Resolved] Wrong Yoast meta language on translated WooCommerce category pages
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: On translated product category archive pages, Yoast outputs the wrong language SEO title and meta description. Although the backend shows correct localized Yoast SEO fields for each category, the frontend displays incorrect language data. Solution: 1. If you're experiencing this issue, it's important to note that from WPML SEO 2.2.0 onwards, term meta such as SEO titles and meta descriptions for categories can be translated via WPML → Translation Dashboard as String Packages. This integration allows for automatic translation along with the rest of the site. 2. However, if you have manually added translations in the category editing screen, these may not appear on the frontend with versions starting from WPML SEO 2.2.5. WPML now requires these fields to be translated via the Translation Dashboard. Available options: - Roll back to WPML SEO 2.2.4 to continue using manual translations. - Use the WPML Translation Dashboard (String Packages) for translations, which is the recommended method moving forward.
Please note that this solution might be outdated or not applicable to your specific case. If these steps do not resolve your issue, 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 problem persists, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum for further assistance.
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Hi,
On translated product category archive pages, Yoast outputs the wrong language SEO title and meta description on the frontend. Example: on the French category page, canonical and inLanguage are French, but Yoast outputs the Dutch title/meta description. In the backend, the translated category contains the correct localized Yoast SEO fields. Product category term relationships are correct, product_cat is set to translatable, WPML troubleshooting actions did not solve it, and resetting Yoast indexables did not solve it either. The issue affects only taxonomy/category archives, not regular pages. Main categories output Dutch across all countries; some subcategories output English across all countries.
For example on the category page hidden link instead of the english, de dutch meta title and description are shown.
When I open the category page, the meta is well translated in the back-end. For years it went well, it is just a few days ago this happened.
According to your documentation, translated taxonomy SEO metadata should be handled via WPML → Translation Dashboard → Yoast SEO → Term Meta, and translating it there may overwrite previous manual translations.
In our setup, only a single bulk item called “Term Meta” is available there. We cannot select individual product categories separately.
Because we already manually filled the localized Yoast SEO title and meta description in many translated product categories, we are hesitant to run this bulk translation action on live, as it may overwrite existing manual translations.
Could you confirm the safest way to fix this without overwriting all manually entered category SEO metadata?
Since the issue has been resolved using your workaround, I cannot see it on the frontend.
To better understand how this can be fixed without the workaround, I would need to reproduce the issue. Would it be possible for you to set up a staging site where the problem is still present, so we can investigate further?
That said, if your current snippet works well for your use case, you can continue using it.
I’ve set my next reply as private so you can provide the necessary details.
On this url hidden link you can see the issue. Because I did not put this url in the snippet code.
In the attachment you 2 print screens:
1. You can see I put an english meta title and description in the back end.
2. In the source code dutch meta appears
This is quite interesting—I’ve set my next reply as private.
Please let me know if I have your permission to create a copy of your site so I can run some tests locally. Also, could you let me know how I can temporarily disable the snippet you used to fix the issue?
You can download the previous plugin versions from your WPML.org account → Downloads section.
I’ve looked at this further and was able to resolve the issue on your staging site using the following steps:
1. Installed WPML SEO 2.2.4
2. Installed the Yoast Test Helper plugin
3. Used the Reset indexables tables option (hidden link)
4. Updated WPML SEO to version 2.2.5
After completing these steps, everything appears to be working correctly now.
sorry for my late reply. I don't receive wpml updated messages in my inbox anymore... Anyhow, it is not working on my staging environment. You did the steps 'live' on my staging website, right? I don't see it is working.
Perhaps it will work when I follow the steps, but then I am quite convinced it will surely happen again.
Starting from WPML SEO 2.2.0, term meta (such as SEO titles and meta descriptions for categories) can be translated via WPML → Translation Dashboard as String Packages. This allows them to also be translated automatically along with the rest of the site, making the process more streamlined.
Before this change, translations for SEO titles and meta descriptions had to be added manually in the category editing screen (as shown in your screenshot).
However, since WPML SEO 2.2.5, manually added translations in the category edit screen may no longer appear on the frontend. This is because WPML now expects these fields to be translated via the Translation Dashboard (String Packages) instead. That’s why the translations seem to have disappeared. This behavior is already reported.
Available options:
1. Roll back to WPML SEO 2.2.4
This will allow you to continue using manual translations in the category edit screen.
2. Translate via WPML → Translation Dashboard (String Packages)
This is the recommended approach moving forward.
