I'm having a particularly peculiar problem with URLs in being automatically reverted to the site's default language when updating pages.
For example, if I insert a text link into WordPress, using Classic editor in source code view as:
Cliquez ici
Then when the dashboard page reloads after updating it has reverted to:
Cliquez ici
I've tried fully qualified and relative links; the same thing happens.
I manage my own translations; I use WPML for string translation, theme translations, menus and media.
To my mind what I write in the Classic editor is my own business; I know how to code a link and WPML has no business changing this - if it has a feature where it can dynamically check and update links then there should be an option to turn it off.
Firstly, can I thank you for your assistance with this, and patiently listening to what is a very confusing issue, and for setting up the sandbox site to test against.
I carefully duplicated the WPML configuration on the sandbox site; languages, settings, etc. and then installed Custom Permalinks, and created some pages in all three languages (English, French, Welsh).
But nothing would replicate the problem. Any URLs entered into the page text stayed in the correct language after updating.
So I went back to my live site, backed it up - again - uninstalled Custom Permalinks, cleared any caching plugins, and reinstalled Custom Permalinks, and recreated the permalink structure in all three languages.
Part way through that I realised it was over-writing French and Welsh URLs with the English URLs still.
So I abandoned that, restored the backup, and wondered what to do next....
I have Advanced Custom Fields installed; so in the end I added an ACF WYSIWYG input to pages, copied and pasted the content of all pages in all languages to that ACF WYSIWYG and modified my theme files to return the ACF field rather than the page text.
A lot of work for a workaround; but URLs are remaining in the correct language.
--
I'm convinced the underlying issue is a conflict between Custom Permalinks and WPML. For this reason. For any page that doesn't have a custom permalink value, e.g. ...
hidden link hidden link hidden link
.... the URL is always maintained in any text links on the page when updating.
Whereas for any page where a custom permalink has been entered - to create the site/language/section/page/ structure - e.g. ...
hidden link hidden link hidden link
... on updating any page containing a URL like that then the URL reverts to English (or the default language).
What is even more perplexing was this did not happen when I was developing the third language pages - I had cloned the site to staging and was working on the staging. The problem only occurred when I cloned the site back to live.
Sorry for the delay, I was off during the weekend (Friday-Saturday). Thanks for the detailed update, Simon.
Since the issue only appears on the live environment, it might be something specific to that setup rather than WPML itself. Before we migrate your site, could you try one quick test on the live site:
1. Clear all sorts of site/server/CDN cache.
2. Flush permalinks from Settings >> Permalinks by pressing the Save Changes button without changing anything.
3. On one page with a custom permalink, update a URL in the content and see if it still reverts to the default language.
If the issue still happens after this, we can set up a fresh test site on our test Cloudways server and migrate a copy of your site there. This will help us isolate whether the live environment is triggering the permalink behavior.
Thank you for your cooperation
The topic ‘[Closed] WPML changing language specific links in page text’ is closed to new replies.
