Automatic translation overrides manual translation

This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
The client is experiencing an issue where the 'Advanced translator' overrides manually edited product category names during the translation of products, leading to incorrect translations that do not consider the manually edited category names.
Solution:
We recommend using the WPML Glossary to manage specific translations and ensure that manually edited category names are considered in future translations. This approach helps in maintaining consistency and accuracy in translations by preventing the 'translation memory' from overriding manual edits.

If this solution does not resolve your issue or seems outdated, please check related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verify the version of the permanent fix, and confirm that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If the problem persists, we highly recommend opening a new support ticket at WPML support forum for further assistance.

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Tagged: ATE

This topic contains 6 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Laura 2 months, 2 weeks ago.

Assisted by: Laura.

Author	Posts
April 26, 2025 at 8:46 am #16970552
bikbulatovaE	Background of the issue: I am trying to improve the context of the product/category translations by manually translating the category name. Screenshot in attached file. Symptoms: "Advanced translator" overrides the manually edited product category name while translating a product, resulting in incorrect translations that do not consider the manually edited category name. Screenshot in attached file. Questions: Why does the 'Advanced translator' override the manually edited category name? How can I ensure that the manually edited category name is considered in translations? If this issue had not occurred, would the product translation have taken into account the manually optimized category name, to improve the translation quality?
April 28, 2025 at 12:52 pm #16974900
bikbulatovaE	Ticket Update. I think the problem stems from the fact that some products have been automatically translated, and the automatic translator saves the text from one product to another. This way, when I have 10 products belonging to the same category, I delete the translation of one product + the translation of the category, and I send this product back for translation, the automatic translator retrieves the previously translated category title of the other products. Since this process is flawed, I'm going to duplicate the data from the main language to the languages to be translated and then translate the spreadsheet content (using wp all export/import). I'm creating another ticket for an issue regarding data duplication. Thanks
April 30, 2025 at 8:06 am #16982272
Laura WPML Supporter since 05/2018 Languages: English (English ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+02:00)	Hi, thanks for contacting us. What you're experiencing is indeed the expected behavior. When a post/product is automatically translated, the translation is saved in what we call "translation memory" which is applied to future translations. To avoid this situation, you may consider using the WPML Glossary.
April 30, 2025 at 1:11 pm #16984080
bikbulatovaE	Perfect, thanks for the clarification. I used the automatic translation of products on a store with lot of technical products. Translation quality is terrible. I will change my translation process and duplicate products, then export them to modify, and import back modifications. Is this possible to get a refund for this website translations (kula-tactical.com)? Or compensation, at least? Because I spent almost 1k$ and I will have to re-transalte almost everything because of bad quality.
April 30, 2025 at 7:15 pm #16985206
Laura WPML Supporter since 05/2018 Languages: English (English ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+02:00)	I'm sorry, but we can't offer refunds for credits - WPML uses external translation engines (I can see you're using DeepL), and we can't guarantee their reliability. The only one we actively develop is WPML AI, which is currently in beta. You may try to plead your case to administration, but please understand I'm not in the position to offer you any compensation as a technical supporter.
May 1, 2025 at 9:05 am #16986018
bikbulatovaE	Ok thanks for the help. I encountered a new minor issue that can lead to potential problems later. Could you please help fix this? I duplicated all my products > Export with WP All Export > Translate on Google Sheet > Import back the changes. The issue is that products are still displayed on the admin area as duplicates: "This document is a duplicate of Tactical groin pouch and it is maintained by WPML." I'm afraid that this can override all the work that was done. It seems that the content updates imported with WP All Import didn't trigger the "translated independently" status. New threads created by Laura and linked to this one are listed below: https://wpml.org/forums/topic/exported-products-marked-as-duplicates/
May 2, 2025 at 9:21 am #16988720
Laura WPML Supporter since 05/2018 Languages: English (English ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+02:00)	Since this is a different issue than the initial one, I split the ticket. I'll reply to you in the new one and I'm closing here.