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This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
The client is experiencing issues with button and footer links on the French version of their site redirecting to the English version. Additionally, on the /contact/ page of the French site, the main navigation incorrectly includes /contact/ in the URLs, causing them not to function properly.
Solution:
1. To address the issue with the footer links not translating, we recommend following the steps in our guide on finding and translating strings that don't appear on the String Translation page. You can find the guide here: https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/string-translation/finding-strings-that-dont-appear-on-the-string-translation-page/
2. For the issue with the main navigation URLs on the French contact page, it appears to be related to a custom walker function in the theme that overwrites the default WordPress menu functionality. We suggest temporarily activating a default WordPress theme to see if the issue resolves.
3. Ensure all elements of the Avada theme are correctly translated by following the comprehensive guide and video tutorial here:

If these solutions do not resolve your issues or if they seem outdated or irrelevant to your case, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If problems persist, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum.

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This topic contains 3 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Carlos Rojas 1 week, 4 days ago.

Assisted by: Carlos Rojas.

Author Posts
August 29, 2025 at 8:49 pm #17358859

trevorJ

Background of the issue:
I've updated a lot on this site but there are still a few buggy issues with links happening when we load the French version of the site. The main issues are button links (all throughout the page and in the header) link to the English version of webpages. The 2 links in the footer do this as well, despite being translated into French. The other main issue is when on the /contact/ page, the main nav adds /contact/ into the URLs from the French site and therefore don't work. Link to a page where the issue can be seen: hidden link

Symptoms:
Button links and footer links on the French version of the site redirect to the English version. On the /contact/ page, the main navigation adds /contact/ into the URLs, causing them not to work.

Questions:
Why are button and footer links on the French version redirecting to the English version?
Why does the main navigation on the /contact/ page add /contact/ into the URLs, causing them not to work?

September 1, 2025 at 9:01 am #17361830

Carlos Rojas
WPML Supporter since 03/2017

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Hello,
Thank you for contacting us

1.- I suspect that the links in the footer can be found and translated following the steps described in this guide: https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/string-translation/finding-strings-that-dont-appear-on-the-string-translation-page/

2.- I can't reproduce the issue in the main menu. Can you share a screenshot or a link to a video showing how to see the problem with the /contact URL?

Important note: I recommend following this guide hidden link to translate all the Avada elements correctly. Here is a video: hidden link showing all the steps to translate Avada.

Looking forward to your message.
Regards,
Carlos

September 1, 2025 at 3:31 pm #17363506

trevorJ

Hi Carlos, thanks for your response.

The bigger issue is button links not translating to the French version of the site, and from what I've seen on other WPML support threads this is a "known issue" with WPML and I was told to reach out to file a support ticket... how do we fix this?

As for the main navigation issue, there's really nothing to reproduce — when you use the language switcher in the main navigation and select the French website, when you go to the contact page the French version of the site injects /contact/ into the main nav URLs, which it shouldn't.

The main nav URLs, in Appearance -> Menus are set to look like this:

hidden link

Which is what we want. But when you're on the French version of the contact page hidden link, the main navigation link URLs turn into:

hidden link

What I'm trying to figure out is how to NOT have /contact/ or any other page in the main nav URLs and just keep them as the homepage...

Thanks

September 2, 2025 at 8:47 am #17364901

Carlos Rojas
WPML Supporter since 03/2017

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Hi,

1.- Have you followed the guides I shared to find and translate the links from the admin texts section and to translate the Avada templates?

2.- I was able to reproduce the issue with the URLs in the menu items on the French version. The most common cause for this behavior is that the theme implements and custom walker function that overwrites the default WordPress menu functionality. Please activate a default WordPress theme for a moment and double-check if the issue has disappeared.

Looking forward to your message.