Background of the issue:
I am trying to use English as the interface language.
I added some images using the WordPress media screen and used them in a post.
I then translated the post to Danish. The default language is Danish.
I have unchecked the 'Delete translations when deleting a post' setting to prevent image deletions.
Please see this issue for reference: https://wpml.org/forums/topic/some-images-are-being-deleted-by-wpml-after-translation/.
The attached screenshots show the images in the media translation screen before and after the post was translated
Symptoms:
After translation, some images are incorrectly showing as existing in Danish as the original language and marked as 'copied' without an actual copy. This inconsistency is not happening to all images.
Questions:
Why are some images changed to be in Danish as the original language and are marked 'copied' with no copy existing after translation of a post?
It depends on the selected mode, how the translation job was started, and how the content is included.
If you’ve enabled ALT text translation under WPML → Settings → Media Translation, then yes — the ALT text will also be translated.
However, if the page content and ALT text are added within the page builder, it’s expected that they will appear as part of that content in ATE.
As for URLs, it depends on the specific page builder widget being used and whether its WPML configuration (usually provided by the plugin author) includes URL translation. So, it’s also expected that not all URLs will be translatable — in some cases, WPML handles this automatically in the background.
Thanks. Since I do the translation the same every time it should look the same every time
I now see that it you don't edit the page, but click on 'translate' anyway then the ate will not show the image alt text nor the urls. So you have to edit the page before ANY of the image info will show for translation. Seems a bit odd to me.
Note that in the ticket I linked to above, I have the option ' Delete translations when deleting a post' checked and in this ticket have it unchecked.
I think the issue is caused by my media not having the correct 'copied media' attributes and 'copied-media-id' values
When were these values set?
Was it when the plugin was updated?
If you could help me find the location in the code to add debug backtrace where the 'original' language may be being changed then that would help with narrowing down the cause.
I think the new code to avoid duplicate media is not handling my situation correctly, where I have default language as Danish, but all my images have original language as English.
To properly investigate and identify the cause of the issue, I’d like to keep this ticket focused on our original report and ticket, to avoid any confusion.
“Original language is being changed on some images.”
Please try to follow our last agreement and check if the issue can be reproduced — particularly whether it still occurs with the latest versions and in a minimal environment, and if any specific steps.
Regarding your other questions, such as why the same image alt information doesn’t always appear in ATE, I’m afraid I can’t provide much detail here. That would require a separate ticket so we can repeat the steps and investigate it properly. If you’d like, I can open a new ticket for you for that. As for changes with media, yes that was changed in 4.8 version.
If you agree, let’s focus and stick to the agreed steps and course of action so we can reach a solution as quickly as possible.
Please let me know how it goes after following suggested steps.
By referring you to the other ticket I was trying to avoid duplicate effort. That ticket has been escalated to 2nd level support. This ticket may be useful to them.
When the other ticket is resolved then this issue will be resolved as well as the cause and steps to reproduce are the same.
What is happening in this ticket is that
“Original language is being changed on some images.”
What is happening in the other ticket is that
“Original language is being changed on some images.” and THEN the database entries are deleted.
The steps to reproduce are the same.
The only reason that the database entries aren't deleted in this ticket is that I have unchecked the 'Delete translations when deleting a post' setting.
In the other ticket that setting IS checked.
The steps to reproduce:
If an image DOES NOT have 'copied media' as the 'Media Type' on the media translation screen but does have a DB entry for both English and Danish and English is the original language
Then add that image to an English page
Translate the page to Danish
Then the image will show having original language changed to Danish.
Either the code is not correctly handling my situation, which is:
Default language is Danish
All images have original Language of English
OR
Some of my images do not have the correct 'copied media' attributes or 'copied-media-id' values
So if the values aren't correct then they must have been incorrectly set at plugin update.
This would need to be resolved for my site to be functional. At the moment I can't do any translations at all.
I understand your point, but in that other ticket issue was originally with images being deleted, not with the image language being changed. Language being changed is most likely caused by something else.
Can you please get back to me and after trying my suggestion and let me know how it goes:
1) Does the issue still happens when using latest WPML plugins?
2) Does the issue still happens when all other plugins disabled, only WPML plugins active and using WP default theme.
I have confirmed in my test environment that these issues are the same
I have given you steps to reproduce
I have explained why they are the same issue
I am testing in the same website using the same steps!
If I check the 'Delete translations when deleting a post' setting - then images get deleted
If I uncheck the 'Delete translations when deleting a post' setting - then images get the original language changed.
This sounds like a regression from fix suggestion made in your original ticket and suggestion made by our 2nd tier.
To keep all in correct order, please mention this there and continue there, that way 2nd tier can suggest better workaround if this is not working correctly and is causing issue for you and will recheck your original escalated ticket and provide a better fix.
I will also update my colleague and make sure he is aware of this.
