Managing Hreflang in the UI

Overview

The Precision hreflang manager helps you define language and region tags in WordPress — ensuring international users reach the correct version of your content.

Editors use a structured table with accessible labels to add or update language and country pairs. A confirmation modal prevents accidental deletion of either individual tags or full rows.

Adding a Page Slug

To begin adding hreflang tags, you must first define a page slug:

  1. Click Add new row.
  2. Enter the page slug (e.g., contact) — this must match the slug of a published page.
  3. Now add hreflang tags, see the next section on how to do that.

Adding Hreflang Entries

Once a slug row exists, click Add hreflang on that row to create a language-country pair:

  1. Language: Choose the ISO language code (e.g., EN, DE, FR).
  2. Country: Choose a specific country (e.g., GB, AT) or select Catchall/Region Independent if the url covers all other regions that use this language.
  3. URL: Paste the canonical URL for that variant.
  4. Click Update to save.

What is Catchall?

Catchall (Region Independent) creates an hreflang="xx" entry without a country suffix. It is used to cover variations that don’t have a specific tag.
For example, if you have en-GB and en-US but not en-IN, the catchall en tag covers that gap.
That means for a particular slug you’ll often have two entries:

  1.  An entry for a language-country pair such as en-US for /us/contact/ and
  2. An entry for just the language en that covers all other countries using that language which points to the catchall /us/contact/ url.

Editing Hreflang Entries

  • You can change the URL, language, or region directly in the row.
  • Partial entries (e.g., missing language or URL) are flagged but preserved — no invalid tags are generated.
  • Changes take effect only after clicking the blue Update button.

Deleting Entries

There are two types of deletions, each confirmed via a modal dialog:

  • Delete a hreflang tag: Click the trash icon beside a specific entry.
  • Delete a slug row: Click Remove row to remove the entire group of entries.

Aliases & Slug Renames

You can create alias rows that inherit hreflang entries from a primary slug.
This avoids duplication and ensures consistency across URLs that point to the same content.

  1. Click Add new row.
  2. Enter the alias slug (e.g., kontakt).
  3. Once you enter an alias the hreflang editor is removed for this row – we’ll use the entries defined on the primary instead.
  4. Click Update.

Renaming a Slug

If a primary slug changes (e.g., from contact to contact-us), all connected alias rows are updated automatically:

  1. Change the slug in the primary row (e.g., to contact-us).
  2. Click Update.
  3. The plugin updates all references, including aliases,  and adjusts the associated hreflang URLs accordingly.

Using Code View (Advanced)

  • Click Switch to Code view to edit JSON directly.
  • This view is ideal for pasting large batches or checking raw structure.
  • Partially filled rows are retained between views.
  • Click Update to save changes.

Catchall vs. x-default: What’s the Difference?

Feature Catchall x-default
hreflang value en, de, etc. x-default
Purpose Fallback for unspecified language-region combos. Cover homes page intended for world-wide audience.  Such a page typically has a language selector.
Use Case Cover variants of a language that you don’t have a specific page for. Direct users to a language selector or language-specific homepage.

Conclusion

  • The plugin simplifies hreflang management through a user-friendly UI.
  • Partial entries are handled gracefully – no invalid tags are written.
  • Slug aliases and renames keep your site consistent and accurate.
  • Catchall and x-default provide comprehensive fallback options.
  • Don’t forget: Changes are only saved when you click the blue Update button.