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[Waiting for user feedback] Manual translations in WPML are being overwritten with English content after editing the default lan...

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Supporter timezone: Asia/Kathmandu (GMT+05:45)

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This topic contains 14 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Shekhar Bhandari 3 days, 10 hours ago.

Assisted by: Shekhar Bhandari.

Author Posts
August 14, 2025 at 5:19 am #17319608

smackcoders

Background of the issue:
I have a multilingual WordPress site using WPML, supporting four languages: English (default), Spanish, Japanese, and Arabic. All translations are created manually from the English content. I do not use automatic translation. I expected translated pages to remain in their correct language content after editing the default English content.

Symptoms:
Whenever I make changes to the English version of a page/post and save it, after a day or two, one of the translated versions gets overwritten with the English content. This issue does not consistently affect all languages. For example, the Spanish version was replaced with English text after an edit, while Japanese and Arabic versions were fine. In another instance, the Japanese translation was overwritten instead.

Questions:
Why are my manual translations being overwritten with English content after editing the default language?
How can I prevent WPML from overwriting my manual translations in the future?
August 19, 2025 at 8:06 am #17330106

smackcoders

Hi Shekhar Bhandari,

I’ve created a staging site to test the WPML issues. Could you please let me know the best way to share the credentials with you?
August 19, 2025 at 10:14 am #17330770

Shekhar Bhandari
WPML Supporter since 03/2015

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Kathmandu (GMT+05:45)

Hello there,

Sure, To debug this issue further, I would need to check your site settings once, for this I would need temporary access (wp-admin and ftp) to your site.

So could you please provide me with those details, you will find the needed fields for this below the comment area when you log in to leave your next reply.
hidden link

This info is private and available to you and WPML supporters only.
Read more about this: https://wpml.org/purchase/support-policy/privacy-and-security-when-providing-debug-information-for-support/

Note:
Backup your sites before providing the credentials or if possible provide credentials for the test site

Look forward to your reply.

Thanks
August 19, 2025 at 12:06 pm #17331129

smackcoders

I have shared the WP-admin and FTP access details. Please check and let me know the issues along with the fix. This is quite serious, as I have lost a significant amount of traffic due to this issue.
August 20, 2025 at 4:26 am #17333007

Shekhar Bhandari
WPML Supporter since 03/2015

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Kathmandu (GMT+05:45)

Hello there,

Can you please share few post links from the staging where I can replicate the issue?

Thanks
August 20, 2025 at 6:01 am #17333075

smackcoders

Hi,

You can edit the following posts in the English language and make any changes needed:
hidden link
hidden link

Additionally, you can edit this page using Elementor in the English language, make your changes, and then publish:

hidden link
August 20, 2025 at 6:32 am #17333109

Shekhar Bhandari
WPML Supporter since 03/2015

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Kathmandu (GMT+05:45)

Hello there,

Your site shows "Error establishing a database connection" can you please fix it?

Thanks
August 20, 2025 at 7:44 am #17333288

smackcoders

Hi,
I’ve fixed the issue. You can test it now.
August 20, 2025 at 8:15 am #17333437

Shekhar Bhandari
WPML Supporter since 03/2015

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Kathmandu (GMT+05:45)

Hello there,

Thank you for the fix.

I have made some changes to this page: hidden link

I will keep monitoring if it overrides the translations, right now I don't see any issue with it.

Thanks
August 20, 2025 at 12:52 pm #17334290

smackcoders

Thanks for the update. I’m also monitoring this page. If you need to update any other pages, feel free to do so.
August 21, 2025 at 4:23 am #17335814

Shekhar Bhandari
WPML Supporter since 03/2015

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Kathmandu (GMT+05:45)

Hello there,

I just checked the pages I made changes and I can't reproduce the issue till now.

Thanks
August 22, 2025 at 5:27 am #17339385

smackcoders

Hi Shekar,
I have made some changes in these pages also:
hidden link
hidden link

We can track these pages as well.

Can you give some time to reflect on the issues? Because I don't know when the issues occur, I manually checked and identified them.
August 25, 2025 at 4:49 am #17343756

Shekhar Bhandari
WPML Supporter since 03/2015

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Kathmandu (GMT+05:45)

Hello,

Random issues are challenging to debug and resolve. Your experience is similar to that of others, and a short-term fix is not feasible. It will require a longer timeframe.

I have already provided suggestions for controlling this behavior. The next step is to identify the root cause, although we cannot guarantee that we will find it at once.

If the issue occurs again, we will need to disable all plugins and switch to the default theme. This process will take time.

I hope you understand.

Thank you
August 27, 2025 at 4:48 am #17349876

smackcoders

Ok, I understand. I’ll follow the instructions to prevent the issue:

Not opening the page in a new tab (to avoid confusing the translation).

Editing in the WordPress editor (already done).

Just to confirm, are these the correct steps, or am I missing anything?
If the issue still occurs after this, should I contact you again?
August 27, 2025 at 5:01 am #17349879

Shekhar Bhandari
WPML Supporter since 03/2015

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Kathmandu (GMT+05:45)

Yes, those are the steps.

and yes feel free to contact us if you need any further help.

Thanks