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[Resolved] I need a combination of "Different languages in directories" and "A different domain per languag...

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

Problem:
The client needs to configure WPML for a multilingual website with specific requirements: Belgium Dutch and Belgium French should appear in directories (example.be/nl and example.be/fr), while France French should be on a separate domain (example.fr). However, WPML does not support using 'Different languages in directories' and 'A different domain per language' simultaneously.
Solution:
We recommend using only the 'different domain per language' option. Configure your site as follows:
- example.be (for Belgium French)
- nl.example.be (for Belgium Dutch)
- fr.example.be (for France French)
This setup uses different subdomains for each language under the same main domain, aligning with WPML's capabilities. For detailed guidance on setting up different domains per language, please refer to our documentation here: https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/language-url-options/how-to-use-wpml-with-different-domains-per-language

If this solution does not apply to your case, or if it seems outdated, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have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 further assistance is needed, please open a new support ticket at https://wpml.org/forums/forum/english-support/.

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This topic contains 3 replies, has 2 voices.

Last updated by Mihai Apetrei 8 months, 4 weeks ago.

Assisted by: Mihai Apetrei.

Author Posts
September 20, 2024 at 9:37 am #16202169

Yves

Background of the issue:
Our website is made for 3 languages: Belgium - Dutch (BE-NL), Belgium French (BE-FR), and France French (FR-FR). The first two (BE-NL and BE-FR) need to be on domain renowindow.be/nl and renowindow.be (default). The third (FR-FR) should have its own domain renowindow.fr (due to SEO reasons).

Symptoms:
In the 'WPML' > 'Language' tab, you can't do both 'Different languages in directories' and 'A different domain per language'.

Questions:
How can I configure WPML to use both 'Different languages in directories' and 'A different domain per language'?
September 20, 2024 at 8:22 pm #16204109

Mihai Apetrei
WPML Supporter since 03/2018

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Europe/Bucharest (GMT+03:00)

Hi there.

Both options can't be used at the same time.

Please take a look over this existing ticket here:
https://wpml.org/forums/topic/use-different-domain-for-one-language-but-folder-for-another/

I hope that you will find this information helpful.

Mihai Apetrei
September 23, 2024 at 8:55 am #16208027

Yves

Thanks.

However, I've read both the post and the referred link in that post but they don't answer my question.

I'm still not sure what I should do to both have example.be/nl, example.be/fr AND example.fr working.

What would the settings be? "A different domain per language" or "Different languages in directories"? I assume one of the two and the other should be fixed through hosting settings?

Can you elaborate?
September 23, 2024 at 9:44 am #16208441

Mihai Apetrei
WPML Supporter since 03/2018

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Europe/Bucharest (GMT+03:00)

Hi there and welcome back.

In the example that I shared with you, the customer wanted to use domain.nl for default language, then domain.be for another language and domain.be/en for English.

So, the first two were different domains, and the other one was a "language directory" (/en).

My colleague recommended the customer to use en.domain.be and this way, the client would use only the "domain per language" option (he won't need to use domain per directory anymore).

You can't have domain.be/nl (language directory) and domain.be/fr (language directory) together with domain.fr (different domain).

You could have something like this:

domain.be (for BE-FR)
nl.domain.be (for BE-NL)
and fr.domain.be (for FR-FR)

All these three would use the "different domain per language" option and you should be able to set them up as explained in the documentation that we have here:
https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/language-url-options/how-to-use-wpml-with-different-domains-per-language

We are not allowed to access customer's hosting panel or domain administration panel but I recommend to reach out to your hosting/domain provider in case you need help in following the documentation that we have available at the URL above.

But yes, those URLs exmaple that I shared above would work in this case.

Otherwise, there's no way to have FR on a separate domain/subdomain. You could only have it as a directory (domain.be/fr) but you mentioned that you need to have it separately so this is the only way.

I hope that things are clearer now 🙂

Please let me know if things make better sense now.

Mihai