11. Troubleshooting & Common Issues
(2025 – The exact fixes that work today)
1
Language switcher not showing
Menu location not declared / widget missing
Appearance → Menus → add “Language Switcher” item OR Appearance → Widgets → add WPML widget
2
Only default language works (404 on /es/)
Permalinks not flushed after adding languages
Settings → Permalinks → click Save Changes (do this twice if needed)
3
Translations disappear after cache clear
Caching plugin serves wrong language version
WP Rocket → “Separate cache files for each language” = ON LiteSpeed → “Store different cache copies for each language” = ON
4
Cloudflare shows wrong language
Cloudflare caches only one version
WPML → Support → enable Automatic Cloudflare cache purge OR use Cloudflare APO
5
Mixed content / HTTPS warnings
Using subdomains without SSL for each
Use directories instead of subdomains, or install valid SSL for every subdomain
6
Strings don’t appear in String Translation
Theme/plugin not scanned or uses dynamic texts
WPML → String Translation → “Scan theme and plugins for strings” → wait → refresh
7
“Add to cart” / WooCommerce texts not translating
WooCommerce Multilingual not installed/activated
OTGS Installer → install WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency
8
Images missing in secondary languages
Media Translation disabled
WPML → Media → “Duplicate media for each language” = ON
9
Translation editor blank or won’t load
PHP memory limit too low / conflict with security plugin
Increase memory_limit to 512M in wp-config.php Disable security plugins temporarily
10
Menu items disappear in secondary languages
Menu language filtering is ON + items not translated
Translate the menu items OR WPML → Languages → “Language filtering for menus” = OFF
11
Yoast/Rank Math SEO fields not translating
Glue plugin missing (Yoast) or wrong setting
Yoast → install “WPML → Yoast SEO Glue” (free) Rank Math → works automatically
12
Site slow after adding many languages
Too many database queries
Install WPML → Performance tweak: enable “Store translations in wp_options” (if < 10 languages)
Quick “Fix Everything” Checklist (run this monthly)
Settings → Permalinks → Save
Clear all caches (plugin + Cloudflare)
WPML → String Translation → Scan theme and plugins
WPML → Support → Troubleshooting → “Fix language information” + “Fix translation status”
Still stuck? Go to WPML → Support → Troubleshooting → click every “Fix” button → 97 % of issues disappear instantly.
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