Multilingual: published site runs languageResolutionMethod=QueryParam while dashboard is set to Subdirectories — /es returns 404

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1

Classic Wix Editor, Premium site, domain connected via Wix nameservers.
Secondary language (Spanish) is configured correctly but the published
site does not serve it by subdirectory.

THE CONTRADICTION

The published HTML of my site contains three mutually contradictory
values about language resolution:

Runtime config: languageResolutionMethod=QueryParam
Language definition: “resolutionMethod”:“Subdirectory”
Dashboard setting: Subdirectories (mysite.com/es)

On top of that, the published “siteLanguages” array contains only the
primary language — the secondary language is absent entirely:

“siteLanguages”:[{“languageCode”:“en”,“locale”:“en-gb”,
“resolutionMethod”:“Subdirectory”,“visitorPrimary”:true,
“isPrimaryLanguage”:true,“status”:“Active”}]

REPRODUCTION

https://www.fimbaworldchampionship.com/es → 404
https://www.fimbaworldchampionship.com/es/ → 404
https://www.fimbaworldchampionship.com/?lang=es → 200, fully
translated

Note that the 404 on /es is returned WITH the header
“content-language: es”. The routing layer recognizes “es” as a language
prefix but resolves no page for it.

Two consequences of the same defect:

  1. /es returns 404 — the subdirectory route never resolves.
  2. The Language Menu element does not render on the live site. It is
    correctly placed, configured and saved in the Editor, but with
    only one entry in siteLanguages the component has no second
    language to offer. No hreflang=“es” tags are emitted and the
    sitemap contains no /es URLs.

WHAT IS ALREADY RULED OUT

  • Language status is VISIBLE in the Multilingual dashboard
    (1132/6604 words translated).
  • URL structure is set to “Subdirectories” in Multilingual settings.
  • I toggled it to “Language parameters”, saved, and back to
    “Subdirectories”, saved. Both changes confirmed by the UI.
  • Domain is connected via NAMESERVERS, not pointing:
    NS: ns2.wixdns.net / ns3.wixdns.net
    www: CNAME → cdn1.wixdns.net → 34.149.87.45
    apex: A 185.230.63.171 / .107 / .186
    Registered with Wix, set as primary domain, Premium active.
  • Republished over twenty times (siteRevision 306 → 331). Every
    newly generated bundle came out with QueryParam and a single
    language. This is not edge caching — the defect is baked in at
    build time, and propagation delay does not regenerate twenty
    fresh builds.
  • Not a dynamic page (it is the homepage). No blog involved.

Customer Care replied with the standard checklist covering all of the
above. The contradiction between the three values has not been
addressed.

Has anyone seen a published bundle fall back to QueryParam while the
site is configured for Subdirectories? Is there a way to force
server-side regeneration of the multilingual configuration, short of
deleting and re-adding the language? I have 1132 words already
translated and would rather not lose them.

Site ID: cee215ec-f608-4a14-abc0-bfc98cab5432
Current published revision: 331ght help - edge cases, screenshots, etc.

2

This is a build-time config mismatch, not something you misconfigured. Three separate signals point that direction:

Dashboard shows subdirectories, but the published bundle’s languageResolutionMethod says QueryParam. That’s the runtime config contradicting the stored setting, so republishing won’t fix it — it’s writing the wrong value into the build.

The siteLanguages array is missing Spanish entirely. It should contain every visible language regardless of URL structure. An empty array means the build step isn’t picking up your secondary locale at all.

The Language Menu fails to render. Wix support docs say that happens when “your main language is the only visible language” — but you’ve set Spanish visible and it has 1,132 translated strings. The menu sees what the build sees, which is one language.

You’ve already ruled out the standard causes — language visibility, DNS, cache, dynamic pages. The defect is upstream of all those.

What to check before escalating: In Multilingual settings, is Spanish set to Visible (not Hidden)? The dashboard toggle and the runtime array are reading from the same source, but the build isn’t seeing it. If it’s definitely Visible and the published siteLanguages array is still empty, that’s the smoking gun.

Escalation path: Wix support with the live URL and this wording — “My dashboard is set to subdirectories and Spanish is Visible, but the published languageResolutionMethod is QueryParam and siteLanguages contains only English. Republishing 20+ times didn’t change it. This looks like a build-time config read failure, not a settings error.”

The /?lang=es fallback working confirms translations exist and the query-param route still functions — so your workaround is switching the dashboard back to Language parameters until support resolves the subdirectory build issue.

Verified against: Introduction | API Reference, Wix Multilingual: Editing Your Multilingual Site's URL Structure | Help Center | Wix.com, Wix Multilingual: Troubleshooting a Missing Language Menu | Help Center | Wix.com