This is How to Fix Broken WordPress/WooCommerce Category URLs After an Upgrade
One of the trickiest aspects of maintaining a WordPress or WooCommerce-powered website is dealing with the fallout from upgrading to a new version of the platform. While updates are often necessary to patch security vulnerabilities, improve performance, and add new features, they can also break existing functionality – including critical components like your product category URLs.
After an upgrade, you may find that links to your WooCommerce category pages no longer work as expected. Perhaps the URLs have changed format, or certain functions that were previously used to generate the links are no longer compatible. These problems can severely impact the user experience and hurt your site's search engine optimization (SEO).
In this article, we'll dive into the common issues that can arise with WordPress and WooCommerce category URLs after an upgrade, and provide step-by-step guidance on how to identify and fix them. By the end, you'll have the knowledge and tools needed to ensure your category pages continue to function flawlessly, even after your next major platform update.
Understanding the Problem: What Can Go Wrong With URLs After a WordPress/WooCommerce Upgrade?
When you upgrade WordPress or WooCommerce, there are a few key things that can potentially go wrong with your category URLs:
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URL Structure Changes: WordPress and WooCommerce often change the default URL structure for category pages with each new version. For example, in earlier versions of WordPress, category URLs might have looked like example.com/category/my-category
, but in more recent versions, the default format is example.com/my-category
. If your site was relying on the old URL structure, upgrading could break all of those links.
-
Deprecated Functions: WordPress and WooCommerce regularly deprecate old functions and introduce new ones. If your site was using deprecated functions to generate category URLs, those links will stop working after an upgrade. For example, the get_term_link()
function in WordPress was deprecated in favor of get_term_link()
in version 5.3.
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Plugin Compatibility Issues: Many WordPress and WooCommerce sites rely on third-party plugins to extend functionality. If those plugins use outdated or incompatible code to construct category URLs, upgrading the core platform could cause those links to break.
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Custom URL Rewriting: Some websites implement custom URL rewriting rules to achieve a specific URL structure for their category pages. If those rules aren't updated to work with the new version of WordPress or WooCommerce, the category links will stop functioning properly.
Identifying the root cause of URL problems can be tricky, as the underlying issue may be in your theme, a plugin, or even deep within the core WordPress or WooCommerce codebase. However, by methodically working through a few key troubleshooting steps, you can usually pinpoint and resolve the problem.
Troubleshooting Broken Category URLs After a WordPress/WooCommerce Upgrade
Here's a step-by-step process you can follow to identify and fix broken category URLs after upgrading WordPress or WooCommerce:
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Check for URL Structure Changes: The first step is to determine if the core platform has changed the default URL structure for category pages. You can do this by creating a new category and examining the URL. Compare it to how category URLs looked before the upgrade. If the structure has changed, you'll need to update any hard-coded links or custom rewrite rules to match the new format.
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Inspect Your Themes and Plugins: Many WordPress and WooCommerce themes and plugins use custom functions or code snippets to generate category URLs. Review the documentation for any relevant themes and plugins you have installed, and check if they need to be updated to work with the new version of the platform.
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Identify Deprecated Functions: Scan your theme's and plugins' code for any functions that were deprecated in the WordPress or WooCommerce version you upgraded to. These will need to be replaced with the new, compatible functions.
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Validate Your URL Rewrite Rules: If you've implemented custom URL rewriting rules for your category pages, make sure they are still functioning as expected after the upgrade. You can use a tool like the Permalink Checker plugin to test your rules.
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Check Your Database for Corrupted Data: In rare cases, the upgrade process can corrupt data in your WordPress database, leading to issues with category URLs. Use a tool like WP-CLI or a plugin like WP Migrate DB to investigate your database and make any necessary repairs.
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Monitor Your Site's Logs: Keep an eye on your server's error logs and the WordPress debug log for any clues about why category URLs might be broken. These logs can often point you towards the root cause of the problem.
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Leverage Flowpoint.ai for Analytics and Recommendations: If you're still struggling to identify and fix the issue, consider using a tool like Flowpoint.ai to analyze your website's user behavior and performance. Flowpoint's powerful analytics and AI-driven recommendations can help you pinpoint technical issues, including problems with category URLs, and suggest actionable solutions.
By following these steps, you should be able to identify and resolve any broken category URLs that arise after upgrading your WordPress or WooCommerce site. Remember, the key is to methodically work through each potential problem area until you find the root cause.
Real-World Examples and Solutions
To illustrate how this troubleshooting process might work in practice, let's look at a few real-world examples of category URL issues that can occur after a WordPress or WooCommerce upgrade:
Example 1: URL Structure Changes
Problem: After upgrading to WordPress 5.6, the URLs for category pages on a client's site changed from example.com/category/my-category
to example.com/my-category
. This broke all of the existing links to those category pages.
Solution: The team reviewed the WordPress documentation and found that the default category URL structure had indeed changed in version 5.6. To fix the issue, they updated all hard-coded links in the site's content, menus, and widgets to use the new URL format. They also updated the site's custom URL rewrite rules to match the new structure.
Example 2: Deprecated Functions
Problem: A WooCommerce store owner noticed that the links to their product category pages were no longer working after upgrading to WooCommerce 5.0. Investigation revealed that the custom theme was using the deprecated get_term_link()
function to generate those URLs.
Solution: The theme developer updated the code to use the new get_term_link()
function, which was introduced in WooCommerce 5.0 to replace the deprecated version. This resolved the broken category links.
Example 3: Plugin Compatibility Issues
Problem: A WordPress site owner installed a popular plugin to manage their product categories, but after upgrading to WordPress 6.0, the category pages stopped working correctly.
Solution: The site owner checked the plugin's documentation and found that it had not yet been updated to be compatible with WordPress 6.0. They reached out to the plugin's developer, who provided an updated version that addressed the compatibility issues. Once the plugin was updated, the category URLs began functioning properly again.
By understanding the common causes of category URL problems and following a methodical troubleshooting process, you can quickly identify and resolve these issues on your own WordPress or WooCommerce site. And if you're still struggling, tools like Flowpoint.ai can provide valuable insights and recommendations to help you get your category pages back up and running.