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WPML 2.6.1 is released with a brand new Translation Analytics module, fixes that can make your life easier, and new e-commerce support.

The major news in this release is the full availability of the Translation Analytics module. When you’re running complex multilingual sites and use a team of translators, the new Translation Analytics module will make your management work a lot easier. You’ll get a quick snapshot of the status of translation to all languages and can track the progress of translation over time.

Translation Analytics Details Page

Since the Translation Analytics module tracks progress, it can also produce (surprisingly accurate) estimates about when translation is likely to complete. This is done based on the actual pace of the translation in each language.

To use the Translation Analytics module, you need to send content for translation via WPML’s Translation Management module. Every day, the Analytics module will create a snapshot of the translation status, in all languages. Then, you can view this information using convenient reporting tools and understand where you’re standing and when translation will really complete.

This way, you can catch deadline problems before they happen and make sure your projects complete on time. The Translation Analytics module is available in the WPML Multilingual CMS package.

Easy Digital Downloads Support

If you’re looking to sell digital goods, you should know Easy Digital Downloads (a.k.a. EDD). EDD is a slick e-commerce plugin that lets you sell digital items. Meaning, it’s a minimalistic e-commerce plugins that avoids all the complexity involved with shipping and variations. Having worked with a number of fully featured e-commerce plugins, we can tell that this is a great idea. Execution is also great.

To run multilingual sites with EDD, you’re welcome to use our new Easy Digital Downloads Multilingual glue plugin. It’s still in Beta, but already powers some product sites of WPML clients. We recommend trying it.  Let us know what you think and how it’s working for you.

Bug Fixes

We’ve been able to track down and fix several nasty bugs which range from nuisance to really damaging issues. As always, we’re very thankful to all our loyal, patient and savvy clients who reported issues and worked with us to confirm they are resolved.

  • Menu sync problems – The menu translation synchronization is probably the single most complex feature packed into WPML. We identified some glitches that occur in several cases. Most were related to menu items with Asian, Russian and other non-Latin character sets.
  • Translation for custom fields with arrays – Until this release, WPML has always had issues translating custom fields that include arrays. Sounds like an exotic feature? Think again! This problem influenced WPML with Types, Advanced Custom Fields and E-Commerce plugins. Turns out that a historic bug in WordPress core is responsible for this and it’s solved now in WPML 2.6.1.
  • You can choose translators when sending content from edit screens – If you have more than one translator to a language and used to send translation jobs from edit screens, you might have wondered who will get these jobs. We’ve added translator selection to there too.
  • Taxonomy translation issues – WPML code has some mixup between taxonomy term IDs and taxonomy IDs. In 99% of the cases, this did not cause any issue, however, it’s a dangerous potential for database tangles. This release sorted it out and prevents this potential risk.
  • Notification emails not sent to translators – We found that in some cases, notification emails are not sent to translators, even though they are enabled. Fixed.
  • Auto WordPress core translation works on sites with restricted file-systems – WPML needed file-write access in order to get translation for WordPress core. No longer. Now it reads the .mo files and saves directly into the String Translation table, without going through any file.
  • Hierarchical child Custom post type slug – WPML had trouble resolving URLs if you’re using custom post types with a hierarchy. Now it’s working fine.
  • Major enhancements to Sticky Links module – We’ve given a major facelift to the to Sticky Links functionality. Now, WPML will turn strings to Sticky, no matter what other attributes or anchor you’re using.
  • Improved support for multilingual sites with Types and Views – As many more web developers are using WPML, Types and Views to build sites, we’re getting into new scenarios. This version of WPML provides complete compatibility with both Types and Views and lets you build full multilingual sites entirely from the admin dashboard without coding.

Upgrading to WPML 2.6.1

This upgrade is recommended to all sites. Existing sites should continue working without change, besides maybe avoiding some bugs during operation.

To upgrade to WPML 2.6.1, you can either download the new ZIP files from the Download section in your account, or (much better) get upgrades automatically using our Installer plugin.

The Installer plugin has also received numerous upgrades during the last few months, making it super-robust and fast. If you’re not using it already, you’re missing out. Installer will let you upgrade WPML and its components with minimal effort and time.

How can we make WPML better for you?

Share your thoughts and comments about our plugin, documentation, or videos by booking a Zoom call with Agnes, our Client Advocate. Your feedback matters and helps us improve.

Book a call with Agnes

47 Responses to “WPML 2.6.1 with Translation Analytics, Bug Fixes and New Features”

  1. I added the installer plugin, but it doesn’t give me the option of an automatic upgrade (we have version 2.6.0). Wants me to purchase the module instead. Latest WP version.

    • Have you logged in to your WPML account in the Installer plugin? There’s a ‘login’ link for the WPML plugins. After you log-in, you should see the ‘upgrade’ links.

      Let me know if this isn’t happening for you and I’ll put you in contact with the developer of Installer.

  2. I was told that this update should have fixes for better compatibility with WooCommerce, but I can’t find anything in the changelog?

    • The current fixes are quiet, but noticeable. One of the biggest problem we’ve had was with custom fields that store serialized data. Every e-commerce plugin that we checked uses it somewhere. Now, when you translate or duplicate products that use serialized arrays, things will ‘just work’. Before that update, these custom fields came back with incorrect content, causing all sorts of problems.

      The next round of update we’re looking for will happen in WooCommerce and WP E-Commerce. WooCommerce 1.7.x is nearing completion. It already includes a number of improvements and fixes for WPML. It also uses new things that we included in WPML 2.6.1. Same thing for WP E-Commerce. Many problems that people had are now resolved by themselves and we’re looking for another update on their side to completely iron out all remaining issues.

      Both these projects are managed by others. We’re doing the best we can to expedite and help, but they have other considerations in their release process.

      • Did this update happen to fix the problem with Woocommerce product variations stock syncing? As currently translations of product with variations (each with their own stock, i.e. 3pcs size L, 4pcs size XL) do not sync across the languages.

        Cheers

        • It’s fixed on our side and now we’re waiting for WooThemes team to release their side with WooCommerce 1.7.0. If you’re brave enough and want to run their development version, you’ll get the fixes for WPML compatibility. These are already in the code. I don’t know about the status of other changes that are not related to us.

          • Very simple question, having not gone for development versions with anything before, where on earth can I find such a version? I’ve tried looking, but perhaps my keywords are wrong. WordPress plugin page also didn’t reveal much, or then I missed it.

            Cheers!

          • ….or did I. The development version package I downloaded showed on closer inspection to still mention itself as the same version number as the release version. Or is it standard that version numbers in development packages aren’t updated?

    • We didn’t manage to fit it into this release and it’s the first feature we’re adding to the coming release.

      • How long do you think it’d take to have the next update with that feature. As soon as I read the email I thought “finally, we have cpt slug translation!” but it’s not time yet… So: how long?

        • Several weeks. We really planned to include that, but had to work on a number of difficult bugs, so it got pushed to the next release. Turns out that this big was due to a very old and unresolved issue in WordPress itself. We had to rewrite a ton of code, and test it all, to go around that problem. Now, we’re ready to keep adding features.

          I know that it’s frustrating. Believe me, it’s more frustrating to us to want these features so much and not get to them. However, it’s better for everyone if we first handle every bug that we see and only then add new features.

          • Is there any alternative solution to sort out this problem? I really need this functionality for a client website… I know that I’m not the only one looking after this release… Please!

  3. The plugin has not notified me that an update is available, and installing it manually with give me an error because the destination already exists.

    Is there something I’m doing wrong?

    • I don’t want to give you instructions without knowing what’s going on in your site. Can you please open a thread about it in our support forum?

      Explain exactly what you’re doing and the support people will help.

    • We are using Yoast SEO on two sites, including wpml.org and everything is working fine for us. If you’re having trouble with Yoast SEO and WPML, please open a thread about it in our forum. We’ll see what’s happening and can help there.

      • Do you remember my problem?

        Elimina la parola categoria (di solito /categoria/) dall’URL della categoria

        I must use WP No Category Base – WPML compatible,
        because with seo yoast page/2/ doesn’t work.

        • Got it. The WP No Category Base plugin and WPML are not compatible. WPML needs to add language information to the URL. The no category URL plugin modifies the URL, in a very unique way.

          • WP No Category Base – WPML compatible

            Works very good

            WordPress seo by yoast

            Doesn’t work

            So, alredy nothing fix by seo yoast. What a pity because wpml and seo yoast are the best plugin for wordpress (imho).

  4. Hi Amir,

    Is installer plugin Multisite compatible? If yes, how to do it?

    If i activate for the network, it don’t add the repository menu or the login option.

    If I activate for the main site, it don’t add the repository menu, but add the cheek compatibility but not login option.

    Thank you

    • The Installer plugin can work on network sites, but there’s no central administration for repositories for the entire network. Meaning, right now, you’ll need to login in different child sites. We’re planning to add this feature soon too.

  5. Good-evening, Mr Amir!

    Thanks for a great plugin and for the countless hours you have saved your users! But we will appreciate it better if there can be Automatic Upgrade via WordPress Plugin dashboard for WPML and all the Add-Ons.

    I consider it this the mark of a well-built plugin. Is this on the works, available or am I missing something?

    Thank You!

    • Good-evening, Mr Amir!

      Thanks for taking the time out to respond. Sure do appreciate! We have installed Installer but haven’t activated it. WPMU has its own updating system which works perfectly great and probably the best updating system I have seen on WordPress.

      Will activating Installer affect WPMU updating too? How does this work with tools like that? And do we need to deactivate WPML before activating Installer?

      Wouldn’t it be great if all relevant information one needs are collected in one place?

      Thank You!

      • Our Installer plugin shouldn’t interfere with the update mechanism by WPMU. It adds itself as another filter. However, I suggest testing it on a development site before running on your entire network. By design, things should be fine, but you never know until you see for yourself.

        You don’t need to deactivate WPML for this operation.

  6. Tried updating with the installer plugin, but it comes back with:

    An error occurred while updating WPML Multilingual CMS: Update package not available..
    An error occurred while updating WPML Sticky Links: Update package not available..
    An error occurred while updating WPML String Translation: Update package not available..
    An error occurred while updating WPML Translation Management: Update package not available..

  7. I added the Installer but cannot find the “Upgrade” link which you mentioned which permits logging into WPML. If I login to WPML from my browser, clicking on the Upgrade ($79US) just tells me that I cannot buy the product rather than giving me an automatic upgrade. If I’m not logged in to WPML from my browser, then it takes me through the purchase process. Help.

  8. I read the article and see the problem. “5. Next to each of WPML’s components, there’s a ‘login’ link. Before installing WPML for the first time, click on that link.” So the problem is that WPML was already installed. So it seems the installer is only useful if WPML has not yet been installed. It would be useful to have it for automatic updates.

    • You should still click on the login link, so that Installer will be connected to our repository and can get updates for your site. I’ll see how to synchronize between currently installed plugin.

      • Thanks, Amir. I finally found the anwers. I checked the ‘Settings’ link on the WordPress menu and saw ‘Installer’. Once I clicked on that I found WPML in the list, moused over it, and was invited to login. That worked! My new version is now successfully installed.

        My mistake was looking for this login under the ‘Plugins’ link on the WordPress menu rather than under ‘Settings’.

        • Actually, it’s not your mistake but our. We now understand that it’s too difficult to find how to login to repositories with Installer. In a few days we’re going to release an update that will make this a lot nicer and easier.

  9. In general, I like the idea of ‘Installer’ plugin. Although got some remarks.

    As soon as I installed ‘Installer’, in ‘Updates’ I’ve got notification that new WPML version available, even though I was not yet logged into WPML.org repository. How is that? If my credentials (subscription key) was already stored, then why do I still need to login to repository?

    Anyway, there is another thing. As I currently have ‘Multilingual Blog’ product, from ‘Downloads’ can download both ‘WPML Multilingual CMS’ and ‘Media Translation’, but last one is not available through ‘Installer’, therefore had to upload wpml-media manually.

    • Installer checks for new versions. If you’re not logged in to the repository, it will just not let you download. I think that this is OK. Thanks for letting me know about the media addon. I’ll look into this and fix the repository code.

  10. The Installer plug-in crashed my site and I had to delete it before I could get my site back up and running 🙂

    • That’s obviously not good. Can you please report it in our forum, including any debug information that you have? Our developers will check what’s happening there.