Understand menu fallbacks
Menu rendering favors a usable destination over an empty value. The fallback depends on which part of the item is incomplete.
Wording fallback
For a non-base locale, POM Translate looks up the menu item's translated label and description. When a target value is empty, the original WordPress field remains in place.
The two fields fall back independently. A translated label can appear above a source-language description when only one value has been completed.
Destination fallback
The menu URL follows this order:
- use an explicit translated custom URL when one exists for the source;
- otherwise, for a locale that uses a prefix, localize an eligible same-site route;
- otherwise keep the original URL.
Empty URLs and fragment-only values such as #section are not rewritten by the normal menu URL pass. Absolute external URLs also remain unchanged unless they have an explicit custom mapping.
Internal route localization can fall back segment by segment. A missing destination slug may therefore produce a valid prefixed URL containing the source slug rather than reverting the entire address.
Visibility fallback
The Display in languages setting uses an empty selection to mean that the item is visible in every active locale. Once one or more locales are stored, the item is retained only for those current locales.
This visibility rule is separate from translation exclusions. A per-locale exclusion can remove a menu item during the later translation-rendering pass even if its display checkboxes otherwise include that locale.
Plan a controlled rollout
- Leave items visible everywhere only when source-language fallback is acceptable.
- Translate labels before exposing a newly configured locale.
- Complete native slugs or explicit custom mappings for conversion-critical links.
- Use per-language visibility for temporary navigation control.
- Test the destination directly because a hidden menu item does not secure its URL.
For incomplete objects beyond menus, see Handle links to untranslated content.