Issue with Softr and Weglot subdirectory-based integration

[Yann]

Dear Softr community,

I’m reaching out to you as I’m experiencing an issue while trying to create a multilingual website with Weglot. (I chose Weglot over other solutions because it is the recommended solution in the Softr documentation, see here: Weglot)

Weglot offers three kinds of integration:

• A JavaScript integration
• A subdomain-based integration
• A subdirectory-based integration

I eliminated the JavaScript integration right away, as it does not allow Google (and other search engines) to index the translated pages, and started with the subdomain-based integration.

However, since I also use iubenda and intercom (two solutions for which Softr offers integration), it became problematic because these solutions are linked to the website’s domain (www.dance-connect.com) and therefore didn’t work on subdomains (fr.dance-connect.com, es.dance-connect.com, etc.)

So I switches to the subdirectory-based integration, which allowed iubenda and intercom to continue functioning perfectly on the subdirectories (www.dance-connect.com/fr, www.dance-connect.com/es, etc.)

However, when I use the Weglot country switcher to switch the visited page from English to any translated language (French and Spanish), as soon as I click on a link (no matter what the link is), I land on the destination page with the country switcher reverted back to English. It is obviously not feasible to ask visitors of the website to use the country switcher again, on each visited page, to switch the page back to French or Spanish.

So I reached out to Weglot for assistance in finding a solution to ensure the correct functioning of the country switcher and seamless language transition across pages. They informed me that the issue lies with the redirections made by specific kinds of links, such as “/sign-in” and “/sign-up”. So, to resolve this issue, they recommended adding a “/” at the end of these URLs, making them “/sign-in/” and “/sign-up/”.

I then turned to Softr support to inquire about the procedure. However, they informed me that it is not possible because having slashes at the end of URLs can cause duplicates when indexing pages (which is absolutely correct, see: Aplicar ou não a barra  |  Blog da Central da Pesquisa Google  |  Google for Developers).

So, I reached out to Weglot support again, and they asked me to update the “/sign-in”, “/sign-up”, etc. links (see screenshot) with “https://www.dance-connect.com/sign-up”, “https://www.dance-connect.com/sign-in”, etc. (i.e., adding “https://www.dance-connect.com” at the beginning of each of these links), as Weglot “translates” every href link in the translated pages’ source code by adding the /fr/ or /es/ in those.

And, when the link have not the whole page’s classic structure “https://www.dance-connect.com/sign-up” in the source code, Weglot has trouble detecting it to add the /fr/ or /es/, so they explained to me that this is very likely why visitors on translated pages are redirected in English on the website.

According to Weglot, this behavior is usually solved by changing the href structure from “/sign-up” to “/sign-up/” or “https://www.dance-connect.com/sign-up”. But, Softr does not allow such manipulation (see screenshot).

So, I find myself constantly bouncing between Weglot and Softr support, and they keep passing the issue back and forth.

Nevertheless, I have been careful to only use solutions recommended in Softr documentation or for which Softr offers integration. Therefore, I don’t understand how such a situation can occur, especially when I exclusively use solutions recommended by Softr. So, without a solution, I’m turning to you in the hope of finally resolving this problem

Thanks you in advance for your help!

[WilliamMikesy]

Hey Yann!
I get the frustration you’re experiencing with the lang. transition issue btween Weglot and Softr.
I want to suggest you try:

• Check if Weglot offers any custom settings or options to handle specific URLs, particularly those causing redirection issues.
• Reach out to Softr support again, explaining the recommendations provided by Weglot and the specific limitations you’ve encountered. They may have alternative suggestions or workarounds to address the conflict.

Remember to provide detailed info about ur setup, including the specific URLs and integration points, to help the support teams understand ur situation better

[Yann]

Hey William,

For information, as recommended, I reached out to Softr support again, explaining the recommendations provided by Weglot and the specific limitations I’ve encountered.

Unfortunately, they do not have any alternative suggestions or workarounds to address the conflict:

“Hi Yann, I am sorry that there is not much we could do at this point so I will close the conversation but feel free to reach us back should you have any questions.”

[artur]

Hey @Yann I will be able to dive a bit into this later today and see what I can suggest. Might be we are even able to add the / via custom code and Weglot will pick it up ?

[Yann]

Hey @artur,

Thanks a lot in advance!

For your information, Weglot support has tried a workaround on some pages, but it needs to be done on every single URL, which is time-consuming, prone to errors, and not scalable (especially with future creation of new pages).

Here’s what they did:

“The code I added can only be added on our side and I had to add a specific code for each URL.
Basically, the code is replacing a URL with another depending on the language.
So for example, I targeted “/contact” and decided that when the language is “fr”, what I targeted is replaced with “/fr/contact/”.
Usually, we don’t need to do that, to have the URLs translated we need the “/” at the end and what would be the best would be to have the full URL.
That is to say, having https://www.dance-connect.com/faq/ instead of “/faq”.
That should do the trick.”

[Yann]

Hi @artur,

Just following up to make sure this thread didn’t get buried.

Cheers,

Yann

[Yann]

Hi @artur,

I hope you’re well!

Since this is time-sensitive (as we’re postponing our launch because of this issue), I thought I’d reach out again.

[Yann]

Hi @artur,

I hope you’re well!

As it’s been almost three months that you told me:

“I will be able to dive a bit into this later today and see what I can suggest.”

I was wondering if I can still hope to receive a response from you on this matter, please?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

[Yann]

Hi @artur,

It’s been almost four months since your last response:

“I will be able to dive a bit into this later today and see what I can suggest.”

Therefore, I was wondering if I can still hope to receive a response from you on this matter?

Indeed, I still harbor hope that we can navigate through this impasse and find a resolution…

[Yann]

Hi @artur,

First and foremost, I’d like to acknowledge that Softr is a fantastic platform. It’s evident that a lot of thought, innovation, and hard work have gone into building such a robust tool. I chose Softr precisely for its capabilities and potential, and I believe it has the power to change the way many businesses and individuals approach software development.

Having said that, I feel it’s essential for the community and potential future users to have a transparent understanding of my recent experiences. My intention is not to berate or devalue the product, but to shed light on areas where there’s scope for improvement, particularly concerning customer support.

For the past four months, I’ve been navigating a technical challenge that revolved around integrating Softr with Weglot. While I understand that no product is without its quirks, what has been particularly challenging for me was the lack of consistent support. I’ve detailed my journey in this thread, and as you know, I patiently reached out on multiple occasions, hoping for a resolution. But after four long months, it was today the Weglot team, not Softr team, that eventually provided a solution.

The impact of this delay has been significant. Not only did I miss crucial timelines like the ‘back to school’ period, which had strategic importance for my project, but I also continued to bear subscription costs without realizing the full potential of the service. The culmination of these setbacks has affected my plans and potential revenue.

I genuinely hope that my experience serves as feedback for the Softr team to reflect upon and consider bolstering the support mechanisms. Users, especially those who rely on and advocate for the platform, should feel that they have a dependable support system to turn to when challenges arise.

To the community, while Softr remains a powerful tool with a lot of promise, I’d advise setting clear expectations when it comes to support. And to the Softr team, I genuinely hope that my experience will be taken as constructive criticism, as it’s shared in the spirit of making the platform even better for all.

Thank you for understanding, and I wish the entire team continued success.

Kind regards,

Yann

[artur]

Hi @Yann

Apologies for the delay.
This is my fault, and I should be careful what I take/promise and how I communicate.
I checked to find a solution a few times but failed and didn’t get back to you.

I’m happy it worked for you, and I will take the feedback and be more responsible.

–Artur