Once you add a post type to the HREFLANG Tags dashboard, you expect to see the following meta box on each individual page/post when you try to edit it.
If this isn’t showing up for you, there are a few possible causes. This article will cover the most common culprits…
They’re just “hidden”
The HREFLang input boxes are a custom field, and as of the WordPress 3.1 release the WordPress core team have decided to hide custom fields by default for all new users. If this applies to you, they can be made visible again with a couple of clicks.
Go to the edit screen for any post, and open the preferences menu via the three dots icon at the top right hand corner:
From there you will find the preferences menu where you can enable the panels that show:
Your theme disables meta boxes
There are some themes that make heavy use of custom fields and therefore disable the use and customisation of those fields for users, with the aim of preventing potentially conflicts – making custom fields with the same name.
Many of the themes that do this will have instructions for re-enabling the custom fields in their theme documentation. This often involves adding an extra function to the theme functions file.
We also have an internal list of these themes and the link to do the specific instruction for that theme, so if you are having trouble finding it, lodge a ticket.
A specific plugin disables meta boxes
If you are using a plugin that creates custom post types, such as ACF, then this plugin is likely disabling custom fields. You can re-enable this using the instructions on their website.
They’ve been disabled intentionally
If non of these apply to you it’s possible that there’s been a function placed in your theme to disable the meta boxes. You may be able to find the function in theme editor by using CTRL+F and looking for “meta_box”, and seeing what happens if you comment that out.
As always, make sure you backup the file, and preferably do it on a staging/backup version of your site if available. If you would like us to do any of this for you, check out our premium support options.