[Resolved] WPML URL structure issue – extra domain path generated
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client is experiencing an issue where the WPML plugin is creating additional paths like 'https://explorertom.com/explorertom.com' when translating their German travel blog into English. Solution: We recommend checking the site for links that are missing the protocol (e.g., href="explorertom.com") which browsers treat as relative URLs. This can result in incorrect paths that SEO crawlers might follow. Here are the steps to resolve the issue: - Search the content, menus, footer, widgets, and theme files for such links. - Update them to full URLs, for example,
https://explorertom.com
or
/en/
where necessary. - Clear caches and re-run the crawl to ensure the issue is resolved. If after these steps the problem persists, please contact us for further assistance. Additionally, 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 the solution provided here becomes irrelevant due to updates or does not apply to your case, please open a new support ticket.
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I am using your plugin to translate my German travel blog (explorertom.com) into English (explorertom.com/en). The translations themselves work fine, but the plugin is creating an additional path.
Example:
explorertom.com becomes hidden link
I have currently redirected all of these paths to the homepage using 301 redirects. Do you know what could be causing this issue?
Thank you for contacting WPML Support. I checked both the default and English URL of the home page, and they are loading correctly with a 200 OK response.
>>> <em><u>hidden link</u></em>
> --------------------------------------------
> 200 OK
> --------------------------------------------
Status: 200 OK
Code: 200
Date: Sun, 04 Jan 2026 14:16:40 GMT
WPML itself does not create URLs like /explorertom.com/explorertom.com. This usually happens due to a server-level redirect, .htaccess rule, Cloudflare setting, or an incorrect WordPress Address / Site Address configuration.
Could you please try to follow the below steps and see if this resolves the issue:
1. Go to the Settings >> General and confirm both URLs are set to hidden link
2. Any custom redirects in .htaccess or your hosting control panel
3. Cloudflare Page Rules or redirect rules (if enabled)
If the issue persists, please share the problematic page URL where I can see the issue.
1. I can confirm, that both URLs are set to hidden link
2. An extract of my htaccess:
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
# Redirect the exact weird slug /explorertom.com/
RewriteRule ^explorertom\.com/?$ hidden link [R=301,L,NC]
# Redirect any URL that ends with /explorertom.com or /explorertom.com/
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} \s/+([^\s]*?/)?explorertom\.com/?[\s?] [NC]
RewriteRule ^ hidden link [R=301,L]
It looks like the behavior you are seeing is caused by the custom rewrite rules in your .htaccess, not by WPML itself. Specifically, these rules are matching requests that contain explorertom.com in the path and then redirecting them, which can lead WordPress to repeatedly append the domain as a path segment. WPML only works with WordPress URLs and does not generate paths like /explorertom.com/explorertom.com.
Since the issue started after installing WPML, it is likely that WPML generated language URLs are now triggering those rewrite conditions.
Could you please try to follow the below steps and see if this resolves the issue:
1. Temporarily remove or comment out these two rules:
# Redirect the exact weird slug /explorertom.com/
RewriteRule ^explorertom\.com/?$ <em><u>hidden link</u></em> [R=301,L,NC]
# Redirect any URL that ends with /explorertom.com or /explorertom.com/
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} \s/+([^\s]*?/)?explorertom\.com/?[\s?] [NC]
RewriteRule ^ <em><u>hidden link</u></em> [R=301,L]
2. Clear Cloudflare cache and your site cache.
3. Re-save Settings >> Permalinks in WordPress.
Please let me know if the redirect issue still occurs. If so, share an example URL where I can see it.
thank you for your message and the clear explanation.
Just to clarify: I added those 2 rewrite blocks manually because they were the only way I found to redirect the duplicated URLs (the ones that include “/explorertom.com/…”) to the homepage.
I followed your steps:
commented out the 2 rules,
cleared Cloudflare cache and my site cache,
re-saved Settings → Permalinks in WordPress.
After doing this, the duplicated URLs are being generated again. I’m attaching a screenshot that shows the issue.
Could you please advise what the correct fix would be so these duplicated URLs stop being created in the first place (instead of redirecting them)?
Attached you will find a screenshot of some of the generated URLs
Thanks for the details and screenshot, that’s helpful.
This issue also happens when links are missing the protocol, like href="explorertom.com". Browsers treat these as relative URLs, which can result in paths such as: /explorertom.com or /post-slug/explorertom.com
SEO crawlers then follow those links and report them as valid URLs.
I recommend try to follow the below steps:
- Search content, menus, footer, widgets, and theme files for such links.
- Update them to full URLs, e.g., `hidden link` (or `/en/` where needed).
- Clear caches and re-run the crawl.
If you confirm there are no such links anywhere on the site, let me know and we’ll investigate further.
