how to import big Woocommerce PO file from Translate WordPress site

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

Problem:
You are trying to import a large WooCommerce PO file containing over 10,000 strings using WPML, but the process times out due to the long duration exceeding 20 minutes.
Solution:
1. The timeout issue is generally related to server settings rather than WPML itself. To potentially resolve this, ensure that only WPML plugins and WooCommerce are active, and use the default WordPress theme to improve performance.
2. Contact your hosting provider to discuss increasing the timeout limit.
3. Consider splitting the large PO file into smaller segments before importing to manage the load better.
4. WPML prioritizes translations from PO/MO files located in the languages/wpml directory. If translations exist in these files, WPML will use them. If you manually add translations via WPML > String Translation, those will take precedence over the default files.

If this solution does not apply to your situation, or if it seems outdated, we highly recommend checking for related known issues, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. Should you need further assistance, please open a new support ticket.

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Tagged: Exception

This topic contains 5 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Dražen 5 days, 12 hours ago.

Assisted by: Dražen.

Author	Posts
April 3, 2025 at 8:39 pm #16894813
dimitrisB-3	Background of the issue: I am trying to import a large Woocommerce PO file from a Translate WordPress site that contains over 10,000 strings. The import process using WPML times out because it takes more than 20 minutes. Symptoms: The import process times out when trying to import a large PO file using WPML. Questions: How can I import a large Woocommerce PO file without timing out?
April 7, 2025 at 7:55 am #16902626
Dražen Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Zagreb (GMT+02:00)	Hello, Thanks for contacting us. Actually timeout limit is not set by WPML, but by your server. On how long it takes also depends on performance and resources. I would advise using only WPML plugins and and Wocommerce, all other disabled and regular WP default theme to speed things up. If you still have issue, you can check to increase limit with your hosting support. The other way would be to split this large file into smaller ones and then import like that. Hope this helps. Regards, Drazen
April 7, 2025 at 9:00 am #16902999
dimitrisB-3	Timeout is set by me, I even set it to 1200sec which is huge and not good amount to have for performance reasons. Server is Vultr premium 4GB with multicore CPU. It is reasonable for import procedure through WPML dashboard to not be optimum for this big PO file of all WooCommerce strings which is about 12.000 strings! I imported this file through FTP to wp-content/languages/plugins folder. If the translated strings of this PO file exist also in WPML string database but untranslated, will WPML look look for them in PO or it will always prioritize the untranslated ones in its string database?
April 7, 2025 at 9:50 am #16903238
Dražen Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Zagreb (GMT+02:00)	Hello, It is known to be very common to upload such large files, and it is always a better approach to have them included as MO/PO files of plugins/themes. Actually, String translations are loaded from PO/MO files that WPML > String translation addon creates, they are located in languages/wpml. If there is an existing translation file like the default file you have, it will load the translation from there. If you add manual/custom translation via WPML > String translation, then it will load that translation from string translation files. Hope this helps. Regards, Drazen
April 7, 2025 at 10:12 am #16903472
dimitrisB-3	Your answer is not clear regarding my question. What happens if there are registered in WPML string database untranslated strings but there are translated in PO/MO files (not in languages/wpml folder but in languages/plugins or languages/themes folder)? Will WPML fallback to PO/MO translations for this string or it will give priority to the unstranslated one in its string database and regard it as untranslated?
April 7, 2025 at 10:21 am #16903515
Dražen Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Zagreb (GMT+02:00)	Hello, It should work and show fine. WPML/ WP will load translations from translation files if they exist and show the translated string. Regards, Drazen