In some situations, your website might not behave as you would expect. Both WPML and WooCommerce Multilingual plugins feature a troubleshooting page with links to actions that might help you with certain issues.
The information on this page is intended for advanced WPML and WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency users. If you are not sure what you are doing please contact our support before taking any action described on this page.
Troubleshooting WPML
To access the WPML troubleshooting page go to WPML → Support and click the Troubleshooting link.
Access the WPML troubleshooting page
Before running any steps that are described on this page create a backup of your website.
The WPML troubleshooting page
In the following table, you can find some of the most commonly used commands and scenarios when to use them.
Command
When to use it
Clear the Cache in WPML
If an assignment of a translation is not working.
If you have string-related database deadlocks.
If the strings are not appearing and you get an error such as “WordPress database error Deadlock found when trying to get lock”. This happens mostly after migration from the local development environment to production. Also, try restarting transaction for the INSERT IGNORE INTO query.
Language switcher issues.
Remove ghost entries from the translation tables
Remove entries from the WPML table if they are not linked properly after upgrades or bug fixes.
Removing unused strings.
When receiving errors during the process of moving the products with Draft status to trash.
Fix element_type collation
Use if the translated content is missing after translation.
Use to fix the errors such as: “post_type is X but collation is Y”.
If you cannot see a list of posts or pages after installing the WPML.
Products are not listed for translation in WooCommerce.
Fix WPML table collation
If you get errors related to the illegal mix of collations. For example, if you get the “WordPress database error Illegal mix of collations utf8_general/utf8mb4” error.
Set language information
If you have created content while WPML was inactive, or if other plugins create content and bypass the WordPress API, this content may not have language information and will not display for any language. This action will solve the problem.
If the translated posts are not connected to the original.
Cleanup and optimize string tables
Use only if you have a site that was translated with WPML prior to version 4.3. Using this command will remove the content of the strings cache table (_icl_strings_url and _icl_strings_pages) and it will optimize the icl_strings table. It will only work when all the MO files are correctly created. In other situations, you will be able to click the button but no action will be triggered. If the button is not working go to the WPML → Theme and plugins localization page and scan the themes and plugins for missing MO files.
Clear invalid strings
If you have strings that are duplicated or assigned to the wrong language. This command finds and lists strings that are broken, invalid, or linked to the wrong source language. You can then delete these strings from the WPML → String Translation page.
If any of your product variations appear out of sync, you can visit the WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency Troubleshooting page. There, you can synchronize:
Product variations
Product categories
Product stock quantity and status
Product gallery images
Remember to make a backup of your database before following the synchronization steps below.
To access this page:
Go to WooCommerce → WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency and enter the Status tab.
Click on the Troubleshooting link in the bottom right corner of the page.
On the Troubleshooting page, check the box next to one of the corresponding sync options and hit the Start button. Don’t leave the page until the synchronization finishes.
Starting the sync process on the WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency Troubleshooting page
