Translation job not updated when it is "In progress" and original Page Builder content is updated

Overview of the issue

Under some circumstances, the correct translation status is not set and the translation can not be continued when translating pages that have been created by a page builder (e.g. Visual Composer or Divi). To avoid this, it is always best to complete the translation before updating the original page.

If you find that the translation editor is not showing new fields that have been added to the original page, you can go to the Translation Dashboard and send the page to translation from there. This will clear the issue and the translation editor will now show the new fields.

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Starting from WPML 3.6.0, when updating an already translated post or a page which contains a supported page builder (e.g. Visual Composer, or Divi), the translation status and the translation itself will not be properly updated.

This requires WPML to be configured to use the translation editor for local translations. Go to the WPML -> Translation management page and click the Multilingual Content Setup tab. There, in the How to translate posts and pages section, select the Use the translation editor option.

1. Create a page builder page with some shortcodes
2. Click + to add a translation
3. Translate some of the content but don’t mark them all as complete
4. Save and close
5. Update the original page by adding another shortcode
6. Save the post
7. Translation should still show as in progress: is showing the pencil instead
8. Click on translate icon
9. The translation editor must show the new shortcode as a field: it does not show the new field instead
10. Save and close
11. Translation status should now show needs update

Workaround

At the moment, to circumvent the issue, the best way is to always use Translation Management to send content created with page builders to translation. This means creating the translation jobs from Translation Management and assigning them to translators.

Either case, when you face the issue, you can go to the Translation Dashboard and send the post/page to a local translator from there.

When you go back to the post editor, the translation will then be displayed as “in progress”, and when you click to edit the translation, it will show the new field.