Problem: The client reported that links with '/en' still appeared in the sitemap even though these pages were supposed to be deleted. Additionally, upon deleting the English version of a page, the language switcher button disappeared, which normally would redirect users to the homepage if a translation in the selected language was not available. Solution: 1. We confirmed that the translations existed and were not technically incorrect. To remove unwanted pages from the sitemap, the client should delete the posts in the secondary language from the WordPress admin, similar to how they would in the default language. 2. To address the missing language switcher button, the client needs to enable the option in WPML to redirect missing translations to the homepage. This setting is found under WPML > Languages. 3. For the issue with redirects, it was suggested to use more unique slugs for each language version of the pages to avoid conflicts, as using identical slugs in different languages can cause issues with WordPress and the server.
If this solution does not resolve your issue, or if it seems outdated or irrelevant to your specific case, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the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 further assistance is needed, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum.
Problem: The client has a bilingual website with pages in both Chinese and English. Some pages that are not translated into English still generate English URLs (/en/), which appear as errors in site audits, showing as redirects or broken links. Solution: We identified that the issue stems from the WPML settings. Specifically, the 'Link to home of language for missing translations' option was enabled in WPML → Languages, causing untranslated pages to generate English URLs. To resolve this, we adjusted the WPML settings to not link to the home of the language for missing translations. Additionally, ensure that the post type is set to only show translated items in WPML → Settings.
If this solution does not fully resolve the issue or seems outdated, we recommend checking the related known issues, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If problems persist, please open a new support ticket.
