Characters display incorrectly or language pack is not loaded.
Language and Encoding Issues
Key Points: Strange characters on the site, broken fonts, or default English interface when it shouldn’t be.
Your beautifully written Ukrainian text now shows as a mess of symbols. Or your site is stuck in English even though you chose another language. Encoding or language config is likely off.
📚 What’s Causing It
- Wrong database encoding (should be
utf8mb4) - Theme or plugin not supporting selected language
- Missing translation files (.mo/.po)
🛠️ Fixes
- Check
Settings → General→ Site Language - Make sure the database tables use
utf8mb4_unicode_ci - Install missing translation files or use Loco Translate plugin
💬 Tip
If you’re copying content from Word or PDF — paste into Notepad first to strip hidden encoding issues.