Home›Support›English Support›[Waiting for user confirmation] Media library shows duplicate images in the default language (Italian) after activating WPML Media T...
[Waiting for user confirmation] Media library shows duplicate images in the default language (Italian) after activating WPML Media T...
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Background of the issue:
I am developing a site with Italian as the default language and English as an additional language. I have installed and activated WPML Media Translation. I want to use the same media file for all languages, only translating the title, alt text, and description.
Symptoms:
After activating WPML Media Translation, some images in the Media Library are duplicated in the default language (Italian), with the same filename, file path, and both marked with the Italian flag. Each duplicated pair points to the same physical file in /wp-content/uploads/ and appears under the Italian tab.
As you can see in the screen from the Italian Tab, I have 2 images with the same file name, different IDs.
Questions:
Why does WPML create two Italian attachments for the same image instead of one in Italian and one in English?
How can I restore the correct one-to-one relationship (one media per language) without manual editing for each image?
Hello!
So in the meantime we solved the problem manually deleting the duplicated media.
Now I have aother questions.
1) How can I translate alt text of the images in other languages? I can't see them in the editor. Should I do it from the media gallery??
2) Not all the images in the pages I am translating from Italian to English are visibie in the English Media tab. Why? I have some image galleries in Italian that are not visibile in the English media tab. How can I solve this problem?
We recently had a new featured introduced "WPML includes a smart setting that automatically sends the correct media texts, like alt text, titles, and captions for translation."
Dear Booby
yes I do have that feature active but images are not showing in my translation editor.
So I go here wp-admin/admin.php?page=wpml-media
where there are all the media file a translate from here.
I hope this is right
Also I have another kind of problem if I may.
I am using translation editor which forces me to add bold only if there a bold words in the original version of the text. But what if I want to add bold in the translation only?
Is that possibile? Or do I have to add bold to the original version and then go to back to the editor again?
Also, if I need to make a change in the original version then how can update translation?
Ok thank you.
Regarding media, they are not always showing in translation as I told you.
Regarding the manual translation, till now I translated through editor not duplicating the page.
So now what do you suggest to do if I need to modify bold and other things in the translated page only?
I am seeing this altert (see attachment) saying that all the translations will be lost.
I don't understand if the best practice is duplicating the page or using editor.
Also, if I duplicate the page do I also duplicate media file? I don't need to duplicate most of them. I just neeed to change title and alt text.
The notice is correct, and this describes exactly the scenario it is meant to prevent:
You create a translation using the WPML Translation Editor.
You then make manual edits directly in the WordPress (WP) editor.
The next time you open and save the translation in the WPML Editor, all manual edits made in the WP editor will be overwritten.
Note: If the default language includes specific styling, that same styling must also be applied in the translation.
If you need a different design per language (even small adjustments), you can switch the translation method to use the WP Manual Editor for that page only. To do this:
Use the WPML Editor to create the initial translation.
Edit the page in the default language and switch from the WPML Editor to Manual Translation (as described in our documentation).
This change will apply only to that page.
Regarding Media
What results did you get when performing the test I recommended earlier?
Were you able to complete that test?
Using this feature should allow for the content of the media to automatically translate and they should not need to show in the translation editor.
Dear Bobby,
thank you so much for the explanation.
1) Regarding images, your test worked for the new ones, but I have many pages and posts where this is non working. Images are not there. So I need to find them manually in the media translation area.
2) Regarding the other issue, you write this
"The next time you open and save the translation in the WPML Editor, all manual edits made in the WP editor will be overwritten."
Since I translated a lot of pages and posts using the WPLM Editor but I need to change something in the translated pages only, I guess I need to make manual edits, anyway. In this case, will it be fine if I make changes both in the original and translated pages and just never use again WPML editor for this pages?
I mean, can I still make changes in the original language pages and in the translate pages using WordPress and never go back to the WPML editor?
3) I have a third issue, I'll take this opportunity to ask. I am using ACF + ACF Multilingual.
I have some field locked but I need to translate the content inside them. They are just links. I am attaching a couple of screenshots. They are in translate mode in settings but they don't show in the WPML Editor and are locked in the translated page. How can I unlock these fields and translate them? Maybe can I use string translation?
#1 - I am not sure to do what you suggest. I translated all the media from the page=wpml-media tab and I am fine. I don't want to loose what I ded
#2 It is quite frustrating this situation. Each time I open a page in WP editor I see the alert that says that I risk to loose all translations. This happens if I open the original page and also the translated page using WPML Editor. How can I act in a safe way? How can I avoid this situation? Some pages are translated for me but I still see the translation in progress or assigned to translator. This is not true. You say "moving forward existing work will not be lost." What you mean?
#3 The field is an ACF filed as I told you. I need to translate its content. Can I unlock it safely?
Based on your feedback on #1 can I assume the media is OK now?
For #2 , please share a specific page/post you are doing this with so I can film a screencast of me doing what I would recommend and walk you through it on the screencast.
For #3, yes I understand but who created this ACF field.
Is this coming from your theme or was this something you made custom.
There is a reason a field is set to "Do Not Translate" and typically that is because it CAN cause issues.
However, you wont know until you test it. You can unlock it, set it to "translatable" , translate it and then let me know your results.
IF it breaks something then we know to revert it back.
Dear Bobby
yes we can say that the #1 issue is resolved
Regarding #2 issue can I share a link in private mode? Because the website is not online at the moment. So to see it you should change your hosts file or I can give you a skip DNS link. But I can do it in private.
It would be great if you could guide me with the best practice for the translations.
#3 it is a custom field in a custom theme, so ok we will try to see what happens.
Dear Bobby,
I am waiting for a private connection so that you can show me the best practice to manage problem #2 without loosing translations.
From now on I am translating eveything using WordPress and duplicating the pages.
So the problem is how to manage the old translastions. It would be great if I could detach them from WPML editor and manage them separately.
