Menu Sync - WPML

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

Problem:
You are trying to use WPML's Menu Sync to automatically create menu items that link back to the default language when a translated version doesn't exist. However, Menu Sync only generates menu items for content that already exists in the target language and does not create links for untranslated content.
Solution:
Menu Sync is designed to only generate items for content that exists in the target language and does not support automatically linking to fallback (default language) content when a translation doesn’t exist. To include menu items that link to untranslated content, you will need to manually add these links to your menus. Currently, there is no automated solution within WPML to include fallback links in translated menus. For more details on translating menus with custom links, visit Translating Menus with Custom Links.

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Tagged: Documentation request

This topic contains 1 reply, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Bruno Kos 2 days, 4 hours ago.

Assisted by: Bruno Kos.

Author	Posts
April 11, 2025 at 2:39 pm #16923215
tonyB-16	Background of the issue: I am trying to understand how Menu Sync works with the 'use translation if available or fallback to default language' feature in WPML. I expected Menu Sync to duplicate the existing menu completely, creating links to the default language for pages not translated in the target language. However, it only generated menu items for content that already existed in the target language. I experimented with this on a dev site and want to know the correct workflow for auto-creating menu items that link back to the default language when a translated version doesn't exist. Symptoms: Menu Sync only generated menu items for content that already existed in the target language, not for default language content. Questions: Is Menu Sync the correct workflow to auto-create menu items linking back to the default language when a translated version doesn't exist? Is it necessary to manually create links to default language content after the Menu Sync process? Is there a more automated solution for creating menu links for fallback content?
April 14, 2025 at 12:34 pm #16929500
Bruno Kos WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) German (Deutsch ) French (Français ) Timezone: Europe/Zagreb (GMT+02:00)	Hi, What you're seeing is expected: Menu Sync only generates items for content that exists in the target language. It does not automatically create menu items that link to fallback (default language) content when a translation doesn’t exist. This is by design, as Menu Sync respects the current translation status rather than the fallback behavior. To your questions: 1. Is Menu Sync the correct workflow to auto-create menu items linking back to the default language when a translated version doesn't exist? No—Menu Sync won’t create links to default language content unless the corresponding translation exists. It doesn’t account for fallback behavior when building the menu. 2. Is it necessary to manually create links to default language content after the Menu Sync process? Yes, if you want to include items in the target language menu that link to untranslated content (relying on fallback), you would need to manually add those links. 3. Is there a more automated solution for creating menu links for fallback content? At the moment, there isn’t an automated solution within WPML that syncs fallback links into translated menus. The fallback logic applies at the content rendering level, not within the structure of menus. https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/translating-menus/#translating-menus-with-custom-links