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Known Issues with Media Translation for WPML 4 and Upcoming Solutions

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Update – There’s a Fix Available

We’ve released betas for WPML, WPML Media Translation and WooCommerce Multilingual, which fix the issues of images not showing in translations. If your site doesn’t display featured images and other media in translated posts, please try these betas.

To download, log into your WPML account, click on Downloads and switch to Betas. Install the betas of all WPML components that you’re using. If there are still problems, please tell us which WPML components you are using, their versions and what the problem is.

Because it’s so close to the weekend, we’re waiting with the production release for Monday. The betas are tested and you can use them on production sites which have problems. On Monday, we’ll be pushing this update for everyone automatically.

See how to use WPML Media for instructions.

The new Media Translation plugin, which comes with WPML 4.0, has a number of design mistakes, which are causing problems. We’re fixing them right now and we’ll have an update this week.

Basically, our left hand was out of sync with the right hand. So, we removed functionality from one plugin and forgot to include it in another.

Before WPML 3.9, the main purpose of WPML Media Translation was to allow images to appear in all languages. If you created a post in one language and uploaded attachments to it, you’d want these attachments to appear in all languages. This is useful for {{gallery}} shortcodes and the featured image.

As of WPML 3.9, this duplication isn’t necessary anymore, with the new Display as Translated. So, we removed that functionality from Media Translation. The problem is, we didn’t notice that the config file in WPML forces images to be “not translated”. So, our grand design produces something that doesn’t work at all.

Of course, we should have noticed this a lot earlier.

Anyway, we’re right now working on an update for both WPML core and Media Translation. This update will allow to show images on translations without needing the Media Translation plugin.

You will be able to upload images to the page that you create in the site’s default language. All its translations will show these images. This includes featured images and galleries.

We thought that if you’re not using Translation Management, you have no use for Media Translation, so we blocked it. We temporarily re-enabled Media Translation for clients with “Multilingual Blog” accounts, so you can continue downloading Media Translation. Once we release WPML 4.0.3, the Media Translation plugin will really be completely unneeded for you.

We want to make sure that we’re covering all issues related to media translation. If you’re seeing anything else, please add a comment. It’s best to report first in our support forum and then add a comment here with the link to that ticket.

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137 Responses to “Known Issues with Media Translation for WPML 4 and Upcoming Solutions”

  1. Hi,

    Although I have entered the String Translation for the Plugin Cookie Notice, the translation text doesn’t show up on the English version of the site (original German).

    I have the same issue on http://www.sandra-blersch.de.

    Thanks for helping me out.

    Sandra

    • Hi Sandra,

      At a first glimpse in your site, this doesn’t seem a known issue to us.

      This functionality is covered by String Translation.

      My suggestion would be to create a thread in our forum so a supporter can investigate and perhaps have access in your site so he/she can quickly provide a solution for you or escalate this to a Compatibility issue with the Plugin Cookie Notice.

      Thank you for your patience,
      Dimitris

  2. Hello,

    During my update my entire backend stopped working. I could no longer access my login pages etc.. I had to downgrade to the previous version for it to work again. It was triggered by the media update as well.

    Kind regards

    Kenny

    • Hi Kenny,

      Without having access to more details for your case, I believe that the issues you are describing are already resolved in the quick-fix releases of Media that we released after the WPML 4.0.0 bundle.

      Right now, we don’t have any known or escalated fatal errors with Media.

      If the issue persists with Media 2.3.2, I would advise you to create a ticket in the Support thread so that one of our supporters can assist you further.

      Thank you,
      Dimitris

    • Hi Henk,

      I’m not sure of what exactly went wrong in your case but I believe that this should be resolved by the upcoming release of WooCommerce Multilingual which should be out during the next two days.

      Thanks,
      Dimitris

  5. Hi!

    Will missing product galleries on translated products be auto updated when you solved the issue or do we have to do it later on for each language?

    Thanks for update and e-mail, we have try to troubleshoot site – but now it make sense.

    Regards, Daniel

    • Hi Franck,

      I’ve replied to you by email as we’ll need more details on your case.

      Thanks!

    • Hi Tauri,

      I’ve replied to you by email as we’ll need more details for your case.

      Thanks,
      Dimitris

  10. Hello,

    We currently are having issues with product-attributes.
    Attributes disappear, are not saved etc.

    Is this a known issue with current WPML version?

    Best regards
    Patrick Vossen

    • Hi Patrick,

      This should be resolved in an upcoming release for WCML either today or tomorrow.

      We’re in the final phase of testing before a formal release.

      If you have a staging environment or you’re willing to make a full backup of your site, you could try if the latest WCML Beta available in our Downloads page resolves this for you.

      Thanks for your patience,
      Dimitris

      • Hi Dimitris,

        Thanks for the info.
        We will wait for the official release.

        Best regards
        Patrick Vossen

    • Patrick, the disappearing attributes could be related to Yoast. I don’t know whether you use Yoast? But same happened to me and deactivating Yoast solved the probs with attributes.

      • Hi Daniela,

        Thanks for the tip.
        We are using Yoast (not sure what it does/should do, but it’s enabled)
        I am going to disable it and see it this solves the issues.

        Grtz Patrick

      • Hi Daniela,

        I have disabled Yoast + Yoast for Woocommerce and this solved the problems with attributes. Also posted the problems on Github that Yoast can solve the issue.

        Grtz Patrick

        • Hi Patrick,

          Thanks for letting us know about this. If you haven’t already, please feel free to open a ticket in our support team, and our compatibility team can work directly with Yoast to find a resolution and get this fixed.

          Thanks,
          Lauren

  11. Hi WPML team,

    after updating a few days ago, I am having issues of images and videos not loading / showing on my two clients websites that are using WPML. I was searching for the reason for this like crazy, but after todays email from you, I think it may be very much related to the problem you are describing – also because when I deactivate WPML on the websites, all images are showing up again, so the problem is definitly related to WPML.

    Anyways my case may be a little different, so I opened a support ticket here: https://wpml.org/forums/topic/images-and-videos-are-not-showing-up-after-update/

    Thanks for letting us know and hope you can fix this asap 🙂
    Anna

  12. Estoy teniendo varios problemas desde la instalación, pero uno de los principales ahora es que la visualización de algunas imágenes no es correcta o no aparecen. Es importante el poder solucionarlo o saber cuando para concoer si tengo que realizar cambios en las galerías en las que no aparecen las fotografías.

    Gracias
    Maite Prida

    • Hi Maite,

      We are doing our best to release a fix by Thursday. In the meantime, if this is happening on your Products, you can try downloading our beta release of WooCommerce Multilingual which is available on our downloads page. Just be sure to test on a development site or make a full backup of your site before installing, since this version is still in testing.

      Thanks for your patience,
      Lauren

      • No, el wooCommerce me ha dado más problemas todavías con el resto de la página no creo que sea conveniente. Un gran problema actualmente.

        • I understand that you are having trouble with WooCommerce. We are working hard to finish testing the WooCommerce Multilingual latest version. As soon as the official release is available, you will see the option to update on your plugins page. I would still suggest making a full backup before updating plugins.

          In addition, please feel free to open a support ticket if you feel the issue you are experiencing is outside of this media problem. Our supporters will be happy to troubleshoot the issues specific to your site. https://wpml.org/forums/forum/english-support/

          Thanks,
          Lauren

  13. I notice the same issue but not with WooCommerce. We are using a simple CPT (estate_property).

    Translated images are no more visible (and no more attached to the translated post). If I try to write a new post, translate it and override content with the original one, all is copied but attached images are not.

    Thanks

    • Hi there,

      We have noticed something similar earlier (not to do with WooCommerce Products) and it’s been tested, once we discover what’s the cause we’ll fix,

      Thanks!

      • “In order to get WPML Media Translation fully working, you need to run this set up which takes only a few moments depending on the total number of posts in your WordPress install.”

        I run this action 5 times at the moment. Message appears randomly at least in one of active languages.

  14. EMERGENCY
    After June 8, coinciding with the WPML update, one multilingual product page disappeared (404 page not found). Tried to work around by duplicating and modifying (new product number assigned) an almost similar product page.
    And then suddenly – the new page, all lingual instances, dissapeared as well (error 404)!!
    Ouch, very disturbing! This concerns our main selling product, our daily bread.
    Seems like some type of data corruption, but it started acting out just after the WPML update.

    Any other users experienced similar anomalies?

    • Hi Tom,
      great that you mention this, cause I had 404s everywhere in my second language. The backend was as normal but in the frontend switching from the english version (site language) to the german version was causing a 404 on every occasion except on the homepage. Very strange. I have tested every setting and custom codes and couldn’t find anything. Then I rolled back to the previous version of WPML where everything worked okay again. I have not yet opened a ticket as I want to wait for upcoming fixes to see if this helps. Just wanted to assure you that you are not the only one with this issue since I could not find anything like this in the forum threads myself.
      If you have opened a ticket could you post a link here so I can follow?
      Best,
      Peg

    • Hi Nicolas,

      I see that Bruno is assisting you with this issue. If you follow the steps in the workaround, and the issue is resolved, then the new release will cover the problems. If the workaround in the errata does not resolve the issue, then Bruno will continue troubleshooting and reply in the support thread.

      Thanks,
      Lauren

      • I think it is, I noticed some pictures weren’t working , so I started redoing them. It was in categories of products. After I did this 2 times, everything went on error. I will put in the support forum as well. Thank you.

      • It says HTTP ERROR 500.
        I noticed some pictures were missing in the catories of my products, so went and redid them. They were jumping back to old settings, so did it again and them website crashed.
        So I do think it had to do with the same issue.
        Only I am not a professional and work offline trough MAMP and don’t know how to reinstall the WMPL, as I did everything trough the backend of wordpress…
        Any advice on how to tackle this?
        thanks.

        • Hi Nadine,

          Thanks for the additional information. Could be related after all. If you click on your MAMP preferences, you should see the path where your site files are saved. There, you can delete the WPML plugins from /wp-content/plugins. This should allow you to log into the backend of your site, and you can then install the beta version for testing. The beta version is available at http://www.wpml.org/account/downloads. If this does not resolve the issue, please open a ticket on our support forum so that one of our supporters can further troubleshoot.

          • If I delete the wp_ files, will the translated pages still be there? For some reason the plugins are not in a plugin folder but just loose in the database. I’d like to send a screenshot if possible, I don’t want to delete the wrong things.

            Can it be all plugins starting with WP_incl_?

            • Hi Nadine,

              It sounds like you are looking at your database, not the file structure. You do not want to delete the icl_ tables from your database. If you open your MAMP settings (click Preferences on the MAMP start up screen) you should have a tab that says Web Server or something like that. There should be a section labeled Document Root and this will tell you where your files are stored on your computer. You can then navigate there and delete the WPML plugin folders in the /wp-content/plugins/ folder. If you need additional assistance, please feel free to open a ticket on our support forum and one of our supporters can address this issue specifically and further troubleshoot for you.

              Thanks,
              Lauren

              • Hi Lauren,
                I found it, deleted it and reinstalled WPML. Should I not have installed the original version I purchased? All went well and was working, untill:
                It asked me to update my media file/translations. So I did, and all went wrong again… At the same time I had to change my WPML subscription arround, as something went wrong there as well. I get the following error:

                Internal Server Error
                The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

                Please contact the server administrator, you@example.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

                More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

                My question is, does this have to do with a different site key of with the not correct updated media error.
                Thanks

                • Hi Nadine,

                  It’s hard to say if the error you are seeing is related to the WPML Media update. Please open a support ticket so that a supporter can troubleshoot this further for you.

                  Thanks,
                  Lauren

  17. Photos and gallery of products in the online store are not displayed on others languages
    I can not find from where to enable this option/
    WPML>Media Translation
    Enable
    ‘Duplicate featured images for translations’ option
    ‘Duplicate media attachments for translation’ option

      • There currently is a beta version of WooCommerce Multilingual available on our downloads page. If you have a staging site or are able to make a full backup of your site, you can test this new release to see if it resolves the issue for you.

    • Hi Yulian,

      We are currently working on a fix for this issue and hoping to release it by Thursday. Thanks for your patience while we work to resolve this.

      Lauren

        • Hi Yulian,

          Make a full back up your site (you can use a plugin or ask your hosting provider to do this for you). Then deactivate and delete the existing WooCommerce Multilingual plugin. Download the latest beta version from http://www.wpml.org/account/downloads. Then upload the new beta version.

          I hope this helps – let me know if you need further assistance.
          Lauren

            • Hi Yulian,

              You should install all of the available beta plugins. Currently that is WPML Multilingual CMS, String Translation, Translation Management and Media Translation. Also be sure you are running WooCommerce Multilingua 4.3.

          • I did everything you as explained to me!The photos are not displayed again on the dashboard for translation, also on the translated page for the product in woocommerce. Are there any settings I need to turn on?
            I have and other problem I can not find from where i must
            translate the main page of the theme!

            • Hi Yulian,

              I think your specific issue will need a closer look. Please open a ticket on the support forum and one of our supporters can look into why the photos are not displaying, and also walk you through how to translate the homepage of your theme. Please be sure to enter the debug information for your site – we have an excellent article on how to located here: https://wpml.org/faq/provide-debug-information-faster-support/. This will give the supporter a head start on how to better assist you.

              Thanks,
              Lauren

  19. Hi,

    I’ve just finished developing the English version of a multilingual/multicurrency webstore running WooCommerce/Storefront. Store will default to English with French in a sub-folder/directory xxxx.com/fr/ and German in another sub folder/directory xxxx.com/de/

    I have uploaded to WP admin plug-ins page the following plug-ins but as yet not activated them in light of this known issue:

    WooCommerce Multilingual
    Version 4.2.10

    WPML Media
    Version 2.3.2

    WPML Multilingual CMS
    Version 4.0.2

    WPML String Translation
    Version 2.8.2

    WPML Translation Management
    Version 2.6.2

    When will this issue be sorted? Which plug-ins will need updating? If any plug-ins need updating do you recommend deleting existing ones from WP admin plugins page and then uploading the fixed plug-ins to WP admin plug-ins page from your site OR just upload the fixed plug-ins from your site to WP admin plug-ins page without deleting the existing plug-ins (i.e. overwrite them).

    I basically want to ensure that the next stage of this website development goes as smoothly as possible without encountering any issues, so I want to make sure that when I activate the plug-ins there are no known issues.

    Also is there any preferred sequence in which to activate these five plug-ins?

    Cheers!

    • Hi Lindsey,

      You will need to update all of the WPML plugins, because running different versions of releases can sometimes cause issues. We expect an update to be released this week that should resolve the issues. You can run the automatic updates from the plugins page of your WordPress dashboard if you wait for the official release. If you prefer to test the beta version that is available now, you can download WooCommerce Multilingual beta from http://www.wpml.org/account/downloads. I would then recommend deactivating and deleting the existing plugins and then manually uploading the new ones. If you run into any issues, please feel free to open a support ticket and one of our supporters will be happy to assist you. https://wpml.org/forums/forum/english-support/

      Thanks for your patience while we resolve these issues

      Lauren

  20. Hi,

    In the beginning, I had the WPML versions below:
    – WPML Multilingual CMS (4.0.1 )
    – WPML String Translation (2.8.1)
    – WPML Translation Management (2.6.1)
    – WPML Widgets (1.0.6)

    They were working fine then.

    After the WPML upgrade, I observed the WPBakery Page Builder was disappeared all pages and posts. I double-checked that the WPBakery license was all right and all Role Manager settings were enabled on the WPBakery.

    The problematic versions of the WPML plugins are shown below:
    – WPML Multilingual CMS (4.0.2 )
    – WPML String Translation (2.8.2)
    – WPML Translation Management (2.6.2)
    – WPML Widgets (1.0.6) – not sure?

    After deactivating the WPML plugins, the WPBakery Page Builder came back correctly.
    Obviously, I can see the English text instead of local language.

    In my case, a root cause was the “WPML Multilingual CMS” plugin.
    My issue is a minor one, since I have used mainly the “WPML String Translation” plugin to translate English words of the theme to native language.

    Best regards,
    kaveli

    • This appears to be a compatibility problem that we’re not seeing in our testing. We’ll need a copy of your site to check what’s wrong. Can you please create a support ticket and add another comment here with the link to it?

  21. Hi,

    Previously I raised a ticket here:
    https://wpml.org/forums/topic/please-bring-back-bulk-duplication-of-media-in-version-2-3-0/

    So does that mean this functionality from the old WPML Media plugin be restored with your “Display as Translated” feature?
    https://cdn.wpml.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2272781-media_attachments.png

    When I updated to WPML 3.9 and WPML Media 2.3 those options were gone and we had to manually translate image one by one to make our [gallery] images visible in the target language to allow bulk translation.

    For now I reverted to 3.9.4 and WPML Media 2.2.3

    • Yes, that’s what we’re fixing now. We’re moving these options from the Media Translation plugin to WPML core. You will no longer need to duplicate the attachments. Instead, you’ll just tell WPML to use in the translations the same images that appear in the original content. It achieves the same result, just without creating duplicates in the database. It’s almost ready.

      • as we are using WPML Media it duplicate the images when we get update will the duplicate image will be deleted

        • Once the update is available, you won’t need to duplicate the attachments. Instead, you’ll just tell WPML to use the same images that appear in the original content for the translated content. The update should be available soon.

          • what will become of the content and products i have translated using older version and the images are duplicated

            • The products will be translated and since the image was previously duplicated, it will show the image as a translated image, but it will be the same image as the original product image. I hope that clarifies – feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions.

  22. Hello i had the same problem, no admin access, fatal error etc… i reverted to the previous version of all my wpml plugins, awaiting the fix. To all, i suggest you to wait before upgrading any plugins until WPML team make an announcement, or revert like me… it will save headache 🙂

    • We’ll need to check specifically what’s wrong with WPML on your site. What you’re describing sounds like a PHP error. We will need a copy of your site to check what’s wrong. Can you open a support ticket about it and paste the link to it here?

      • Hello Amir, thank you but i will wait that you fix the actual problem which i’m sure will resolve the upgrading issue that i had last week…. The previous versions are working well and i don’t want to create a mess.. Thank you.

        • OK, thanks, let’s wait for the update that should be ready very soon. If you still see a fatal error after the next release is available please open a ticket in our support and paste here the link, I will follow on that and help.

  23. let’s hope they really fix it tomorrow because I have a major collection with wrong pictures in the second language….

    • Hi,

      Did you already report that in our support forum? This issue is not known and we’ll need to debug your site and see what’s the cause of it. Of you can please report that and paste here the link for the ticket so we can take a look.

      Thanks!

    • Hi Lukas,

      I am sorry for that but I didn’t see any report similar to this one,

      – did this happen after the update?
      -do you see the images in WordPress admin?

  25. Hi,
    also facing issue after last update. Ticket #2412978. Menus in secondary language are not translated correctly and the content is also wrong.