[Resolved] product-category does not get translated to NL/DE. Links fail
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client reported that after a recent update, the product-category links were not translating to Dutch (NL) and German (DE), resulting in 'Not Found' errors across the site's top menu and internal links. Despite various troubleshooting steps, including verifying taxonomy slug translation, enabling base slug translations, and clearing caches, the issue persisted. Solution: We accessed the client's staging site and discovered that the product category slug for Dutch was incorrectly set to 'product-categoriex'. We advised the client to update the product category slug in WooCommerce -> WPML Multilingual & Multicurrency for WooCommerce -> Store URLs tab -> Product category base. After updating the translation of the product category slug and re-saving the permalinks, the issue was resolved. Additionally, we ran a troubleshooting step in the WPML -> Support -> 'troubleshooting' link to address a problem in the language table on the database.
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Background of the issue:
ERROR 2: Debugging:Top Menu makes incorrectly --- instead of previous --- hidden link NEW hidden link OLD
and, as such, pages fail to load.
WPML -> Taxonomy translation -> for "Product categories" -> [at bottom]
"Translations of taxonomy Category labels and slug" was empty/deleted?
Updated everything and synchronized:FailedA ->Slugs are still english. https://wpml.org/errata/product-category-links-do-not-use-translated-slugs/
WPML > Settings > Taxonomies Translation, ensure for Product Categories-> FailedB
Symptoms:
* DISASTER!!! The product-category links do not get translated to NL/DE, resulting in a 'Not Found Page'. From Top menu and any links. Everything worked before your latest updates
Questions:
Why are the product-category links not translating to NL/DE?
Please make thins work!!! This website is over 10 years old and never had these WPML problems
Hello,
My name is Carlos, and I will continue working on this ticket
Please share the access credentials to the site in your next message, which I have set private. This will allow us to reproduce the issue and double-check the configuration.
Confirm you have created a full site backup that you can restore if necessary.
Hi there,
Yes, this time I was able to access the site correctly 🙂
I checked the configuration and the product category slug for Dutch is set to 'product-categoriex' (perhaps it was a wrong translation or a typo), that is the reason why you can see the content in the URL: hidden link
You can update the product category slug in WooCommerce -> WPML Multilingual & Multicurrency for WooCommerce -> Store URLs tab -> Product category base -> Click on the pencil icon for the Dutch language: hidden link
Could you please check if you update the translation of the product category slug and re-save the permalinks, if the issue disappears?
the x behind was a test. it did not make a difference; it would still go to the english. But he the 'x' never showed... Please, after every change, update the 'gc caches' (Varnish)
Nothing worked; we tried everything. Could you please try to get it working like it used to for the last 10 years. This is a staging site with everything up-to-date. The production site hidden link - for obvious reasons - has not been updated: there you can see how it used to work.
I don't understand what you mean by "it would still go to the english"? Could you elaborate a little more so I can have a better understanding?
What I see when I visit hidden link (I removed the x) is the product category in Dutch, not English, and that's why I'm confused. The only difference I see between the staging site and the production site at the same URL (hidden link) is the menu and the header color, but this is a different issue.
In the top menu, all links under BIKES refer to : (DE) hidden link -> wrong and in (NL) hidden link -> wrong. Additionally, the links on the 'not found' page have the same problem under DE and NL. An example 'hidden link'. The link should contain 'product-categorie' for NL which it does not; and for DE 'produkt-kategorie' which it does not either.
When we put the 'x' in for debugging, we never saw in the wp-admin nor on the incorrect links. Please look at the prod site and you'l see that the links are in the right language - not English
1.- I fixed a problem in the database using the WPML troubleshooting steps, and now I can see the correct product categories in the menu items. Can you confirm that the issue was solved?
2.- Could you explain how you added the product category to the menu in the original language (EN)? In this URL: hidden link
