Hello,
Thank you for contacting us and sorry for any inconvenience that might have been caused due to that.
It happens when you already have the same URL on your website and that’s why WordPress automatically adds -2 in the slug to avoid duplicate URLs.
Can you please confirm if the issue only happens when the Rank Math plugin is enabled on your website? If so, then we might need to take a closer look at the settings. Please edit the first post on this ticket and include your WordPress & FTP logins in the designated Sensitive Data section.
Please do take a complete backup of your website before sharing the information with us.
It is completely secure and only our support staff has access to that section. If you want, you can use the below plugin to generate a temporary login URL to your website and share that with us instead:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/temporary-login-without-password/
You can use the above plugin in conjunction with the WP Security Audit Log to monitor what changes our staff might make on your website (if any):
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-security-audit-log/
Looking forward to helping you.
Hello,
Did you got the time to connect to my website ?
Hello, thank you for your response.
I’m French web designer and all my new website has this issue.
It’s happened with only Hello Theme, Elementor and Rank Math activated.
It’s happened again here : https://drainagelymphatiqueannecy.com/
The link : [Moved to sensitive data]
Hello,
We can’t seem to reproduce this on your website. Can you please share a specific page URL where the issue is happening?
Also, please check if there are some attachment pages with the same slugs as the affected URLs. You will have to disable the Redirect Attachments option in WP Dashboard > Rank Math SEO > General Settings > Links to fix the issue.
If you want to use the Redirect Attachments option, find the attachment and change its slug to fix the issue. Here is a guide to help you change the slug of the attachment page: https://www.wpeditorial.com/how-to-change-media-library-slugs-in-wordpress/
Looking forward to helping you.
Hello,
Thank you for your response.
I’ve already fixed the links since the site is in production. I’ve tested with the Redirect Attachments option disabled, but this made no difference.
I’ve tried multiple solutions including:
Installing a site changes history plugin
Checking redirect settings
Testing with only 3 plugins installed
Reviewing forum discussions
This issue has occurred on all my recent site installations. The only solution that seems to work temporarily is removing and re-adding the Schema on the affected page. Only Rank Math modifies it, and this appears to maintain the fix.
Would you have any other suggestions for preventing this from happening on future installations?
Best regards,
Hello,
The schema shouldn’t change the slug of the page. Since we were unable to replicate the issue, if you face this again in the future, please share a screencast with us by using a tool like https://loom.com so that we can check this further for you.
Looking forward to helping you.
Thank you.
Hello,
Thank you for your response.
Unfortunately, I am also unable to consistently replicate the issue, as it occurs randomly. When it happens, it duplicates the pages and their meta information.
I noticed that your plugin is the only one common to all the affected sites. Is there a way for me to retrieve a log file or enable logging to help identify the cause of the issue?
Please let me know how I can assist in further troubleshooting.
Looking forward to your guidance.
Best regards,
**”FYI, I wrote a PHP code with ChatGPT to track all modifications on my slugs. I’ve installed the Hello Child Theme and added the code in the functions file.
I will now have a log file that tracks all modifications, like this:
[2025-01-07 14:35:10] Attempted slug modification by the ‘seo-plugin’ for the page ‘Ma Page Exemple’ (ID: 123): ma-page-exemple => nouvelle-page.”**
aHi,
I’m experiencing a persistent issue with URL permalinks on my new website: https://btecorenovation.fr
Specific details of the problem:
• URLs are randomly changing automatically
• Suffixes like “-2-2-2” are being added unpredictably
• This occurs across multiple pages
• The changes seem to happen without any manual intervention
• Rank Math is the only SEO plugin installed on my sites
I’ve noticed this is not an isolated incident and have found similar reports:
• Ticket on Rank Math support: https://support.rankmath.com/ticket/rankmath-somehow-autamatically-changes-my-urls/?t
• Multiple forum discussions confirming this behavior
Technical context:
• WordPress version: last version
• Rank Math version: last version
• PHP version: 8.1
• Hosting environment: O2swith
Could you please investigate:
1. Why these automatic URL changes are occurring
2. Provide a method to prevent/revert these changes
3. Confirm if this is a known bug in Rank Math
I would appreciate a detailed response and potential resolution.
Best regards,
Hello,
Please observe for any “automatic” changes in the slug. When you see one, please don’t fix it yet and share it here with us.
Also, please share the recent error logs so we can determine what’s causing the issue.
You can follow this guide to enable debugging in WordPress
https://wordpress.org/support/article/debugging-in-wordpress/ or you can get in touch with your web host, they will help you locate the log file.
Lastly, please renew your WP temporary login URL as it is currently expired already.
Looking forward to helping you.
Hello,
Since we did not hear back from you for 15 days, we are assuming that you found the solution. We are closing this support ticket.
If you still need assistance or any other help, please feel free to open a new support ticket, and we will be more than happy to assist.
Thank you.
