WPML Language Switcher Issue

User
WPML language switcher only showing site default langauge in front end switcher dropdown
Assistant
If the WPML language switcher on the front end is only showing the site's default language, here are the steps to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

### **1. Verify WPML Language Settings**
– Go to **WPML > Languages** in your WordPress admin panel.
– Ensure that all desired languages are added and activated.
– Confirm that a default language has been set.

### **2. Check Menu Language Switcher Configuration**
– Go to **Appearance > Menus**.
– Ensure that the **Language Switcher** is added to your menu.
– In the language switcher settings:
– Confirm that **All Languages** is selected.
– Check any display options that might restrict showing specific languages.

### **3. Review Translation Completeness**
– WPML might hide languages without content by default.
– Navigate to **WPML > Translation Management** and confirm that you have translated posts, pages, or taxonomies for other languages.
– To show all languages regardless of content:
– Go to **WPML > Settings**.
– Under **Post Types Translation**, ensure that your desired post types are set to **Translatable**.

### **4. WPML Settings for Language Switcher Visibility**
– Ensure that the option **Skip language switcher when a translation is missing** is **unchecked**.
– Go to **WPML > Languages > Language switcher options** and review the setting.

### **5. Verify Permalink and URL Configuration**
– Check that WPML is generating proper language URLs:
– Go to **Settings > Permalinks** and save changes without making edits to refresh permalinks.
– Confirm that WPML is set to display languages as:
– Different directories (`/en/`, `/de/`).
– Parameters (`?lang=en`).
– Navigate to **WPML > Languages > Language URL format** to review this setting.

### **6. Test Theme and Plugins Compatibility**
– Switch temporarily to a default theme (e.g., Twenty Twenty-Four) to check if the problem persists.
– Deactivate other plugins to see if there’s a conflict with WPML.

### **7. Debug Custom Language Switcher Code (if applicable)**
If you are using a custom WPML language switcher:
– Check your code to ensure that it retrieves all active languages. Use the following WPML function:

$languages = apply_filters('wpml_active_languages', null);
  if (!empty($languages)) {
      foreach ($languages as $lang_code => $language) {
          echo $language['native_name'];
      }
  }

– Ensure that the custom code is not filtering out certain languages.

### **8. Clear Caches**
– Clear any caching plugins (e.g., WP Super Cache, W3Speedster) you are using in your WordPress setup.
– If using a CDN, purge the cache there as well.

### **9. Reinstall WPML**
If none of the above resolves the issue:
– Backup your website and database.
– Deactivate and delete the WPML plugin.
– Reinstall the latest version of WPML and activate it again.

If the issue persists, please provide more context (e.g., theme, recent changes, or custom code related to WPML). This will help narrow down the problem further.

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