Background of the issue:
I am using Yoast SEO and WPML SEO plugins on my website, hidden link. Yoast SEO generates an XML sitemap, and I am trying to address an issue with duplicate URLs appearing in the sitemap.
Symptoms:
The XML sitemap includes duplicate URLs for the same slugs, e.g. 'jak-dzialaja-polaczenia-trojstronne-w-voip', appearing in both hidden link with /pl/ and in hidden link without /pl/.
Questions:
How can I resolve the issue of duplicate URLs in the XML sitemap?
Is there a way to configure Yoast SEO or WPML to prevent duplicate URLs in the sitemap?
As we discussed in the chat, please share a package of your site with me.
You can upload it to a service like Google Drive or Dropbox and share the link with me.
For this, I'll enable private messaging for the following reply.
I installed it on my local server, investigated the issue, and found that it is not a WPML or Yoast issue. The problem probably stems from your special DNS ot other configurations, or maybe a wrong import of the content process. I have found out that links as the following do exist on your site. Indeed, for some reason, this link hidden link results in a 404 page on the frontend. But in practice, it exists on your site and can be edited here: hidden link. With a copy of your site on my local server, this link works and does not return a 404 page.
I've recorded a video explaining what I have found and showing the behavior on my local server. Please watch it here: hidden link.
Please let me know what you think about my findings.
If possible, please migrate your site to a separate environment, check with minimal settings, and let me know if you get the same result as shown in my video.
Please note that my weekends are Friday to Saturday. If you need further assistance, I'll be available to continue checking this issue and helping you next week.
Thanks a lot for your investigation and the video, this was very helpful.
We have now made our new website publicly available and our DNS configs are back to normal, but the issue still persists, so DNS is probably not what causing it.
You're right, if we take the example URL I provided, both URLs exist on the website: hidden link (Not returning 404 for me anymore) hidden link
When I go into the WPML Translations Dashboard and try to locate this page, I can find it under "English" language, but not under Polish. However, it correctly matched to the default EN post and the language switching between the posts works as expected on the front end.
I think during import the system correctly matched the post to EN, using the unique identifier, however for some reason the post exists both with and without the language code, i.e. /pl/.
I was thinking about simply deleting the "English" post, however, since I can't find it under the "Polish" language, I'm afraid if I delete hidden link, then hidden link will be deleted as well.
I appreciate your help so far and if there is anything else you can suggest to help with this issue it's greatly appreciated.
I understand it's probably related to blog content import process and might be irreversible. However, if you have any other insights or thoughts into how we might be able to address this, I'd be very greatful.
Hi, just an update that I checked a few other duplicate URLs, and don't think they exist in English. At least, I can't find them either in the Posts list, nor in WPML translation dashboard under English.
You wrote: "hidden link (Not returning 404 for me anymore)"
This is not the case on my end. I still get a 404 for the above link as well as for the two other examples you provided:
1. hidden link
2. hidden link
To ensure it wasn't just my IP address, I cleared my cookies and checked it on my cellular phone using the cellular network (a different IP address). Also, in this case, I get a 404 page. Please see the attached screenshot 404.jpeg. As far as I can tell, your site's DNS configuration is still the same as when we chatted.
Furthermore, I can find the editing screens for the above examples on your site when I check them against a copy of your site on my local server. In the same order as above, please use the links below to get to those posts.
1. hidden link
2. hidden link
Please note that these are standalone posts in English. They do not have translations into any of the languages. Please see the attached screenshot no-trans.jpg. So if this is the case, you are safe to delete them.
To summarize, I'd say this occurred because of an issue with importing content on your site. We can see that the correct links do have correct translations. For example: hidden link
and hidden link
It seems you need to delete the incorrectly imported posts to solve this issue.
