[Escalated to 2nd Tier] Translation to french language
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Background of the issue:
I have copied our website, which is in three languages (Czech, Russian, English), to a new domain degeorgie.fr and translated it automatically via WPML to French. I have set up French as the default/main language in WPML settings because we want to remove all the other languages.
Symptoms:
The website is not loading now.
Questions:
Why is the website not loading after setting French as the default language?
How can I ensure the website loads correctly with only the French language?
Languages: English (English )German (Deutsch )French (Français )
Timezone: Europe/Zagreb (GMT+01:00)
I successfully deployed the site on my localhost. With only WPML, WooCommerce, and your theme enabled, the homepage displayed correctly in French. This suggests a potential compatibility issue with one or more of the other plugins on the site.
To identify the conflicting plugin, I recommend activating a few plugins at a time (e.g., three at a time) and checking if the issue reoccurs.
Additionally, the correct number of French pages was listed—please verify and confirm.
Regarding translation removals, I encountered an error message: "Error happened! Please try again." To avoid affecting the count of French pages, I advise against deleting translations for now.
I have escalated this to our second-tier support team and will keep you updated on any developments.
Languages: English (English )German (Deutsch )French (Français )
Timezone: Europe/Zagreb (GMT+01:00)
We've identified the issue. The problem occurred because WPML’s sync deletion function removed more content than expected — specifically, the French pages were deleted. This happened due to the current settings in WPML > Settings:
- When deleting a post, delete translations as well
- When deleting a taxonomy (category, tag, or custom), delete translations as well
With these options enabled, deleting a translation can also remove its original content — which explains why the French pages went missing.
To prevent this from happening again, we recommend turning off these settings. Otherwise, similar issues may occur with other translated content.
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