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Supporter timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)

This topic contains 7 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Kor 1 week, 5 days ago.

Assisted by: Kor.

Author Posts
September 29, 2025 at 6:23 pm #17442107

dritanD

Background of the issue:
I am working on a site under development and have disabled WordPress's feature to guess permalinks using the function https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/redirect_guess_404_permalink/. This was done because it incorrectly redirects to images when URLs should return a 404. After disabling this feature, URLs for images worked as expected until I enabled WPML. WPML seems to have its own URL guessing feature that redirects to pages if a URL matches an image used in a page.

Symptoms:
WPML is redirecting URLs to media or pages when they should return a 404 error.

Questions:
How can I bypass WPML's URL guessing behavior?

September 30, 2025 at 7:38 am #17442918

Kor
WPML Supporter since 08/2022

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)

Thanks for your reply. I will require temporary access (WP-Admin and FTP) to a test site where the problem has been replicated, if possible. This will enable me to provide better assistance and determine if any configurations need to be modified.

Please note that it is important to have a backup for security purposes and to prevent any potential data loss. You can use the UpdraftPlus plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus/) to fulfill your backup requirements.

Your upcoming reply will be treated with confidentiality and will only be visible to you and me.

✙ To resolve the issue, I may need your consent to deactivate and reactivate plugins and the theme, as well as make configuration changes on the site if necessary. This emphasizes the significance of having a backup.

October 7, 2025 at 1:02 pm #17463882

dritanD

Try this as the username "WPML rep"
Note, the server may ask for user/pass again on entry to the admin.

October 7, 2025 at 2:06 pm #17464136

Kor
WPML Supporter since 08/2022

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)

Thanks for your reply. I've checked and I'm still getting the redirection when I deactivated WPML plugin hidden link . I tested this URL. hidden link

It looks like some cache or some features from the server. Could you check?

October 8, 2025 at 6:04 pm #17468528

dritanD

I just checked staging, and none of the WPML plug-ins were deactivated.
So I just deactivated the main plug-in. None of the other WMPL ones.

Now when I go to hidden link
I get a proper 404 with no redirection.

When the plug-in is activated, I get a URL rewrite and then a 404.

I have left the plug-in deactivated so that you can see the same result as me.

deactivated.jpg
October 8, 2025 at 6:11 pm #17468576

Kor
WPML Supporter since 08/2022

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)

Thanks for your reply. I can see the issue now and I kindly ask for a snapshot of the site for further troubleshoot. Alternatively, with your permission, I can create one myself. For this purpose, I typically recommend using the free plugin "Duplicator." If you're already familiar with Duplicator (https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/), please skip the following steps and simply send me the archive file you downloaded.

To guide you further, please adhere to these instructions:

1. View the Duplicator instructions video: hidden link

2. Consult WPML's instructions on providing supporters with a copy of your site: https://wpml.org/faq/provide-supporters-copy-site/

3. If the archive file exceeds 400MB, please use Duplicator's file filters to exclude cache, wp-uploads directory, media, and archive files.

Once you have the archive file ready, kindly share the link with us. You can utilize platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar for file sharing, as the snapshot file might be large.

Please note that your next reply will be private, visible only to you and me. You can paste the file link there. Rest assured that once the issue is resolved, I will delete the local site.

October 9, 2025 at 4:28 pm #17472174

Kor
WPML Supporter since 08/2022

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)

Thanks for your reply. I cannot find a solution for this, and I will escalate this to our 2nd Tier Support for further investigation. If they still require a copy of the site, I will let you know.

October 10, 2025 at 6:47 pm #17475558

Kor
WPML Supporter since 08/2022

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)

Thanks for your patience. Our 2nd Tier Support replied, and they requested a copy of the site to proceed further with troubleshooting. Can I have your permission to create a copy on my own using duplicator plugin?