Home›Support›English Support›[Resolved] 403 errors saving French articles with WPML - Following up on ticket #1746764
[Resolved] 403 errors saving French articles with WPML - Following up on ticket #1746764
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client is experiencing 403 errors when saving articles in the WordPress editor, specifically in the default language (French). The issue does not occur in secondary languages (English, Indian English) and persists even after deactivating WPML and security plugins, clearing cache, and synchronizing. Solution: We recommend testing in a normal browser window (not incognito) by following these steps: 1. Temporarily disable all browser extensions, especially ad blockers, privacy/security extensions, or cookie managers. After disabling, reload the editor and test again. If the issue resolves, re-enable the extensions one by one to identify the problematic one. 2. If the issue persists, clear the site data for your website in Chrome by navigating to Settings → Privacy and security → Site settings → View permissions and data stored across sites, then search for your site and remove all stored data. 3. Ensure that cookies are allowed for your site and that no browser-level settings are blocking them.
If these steps resolve the issue, please inform us which action was effective. We can then provide specific advice on the necessary configurations to prevent future occurrences.
If the solution provided here does not resolve your issue, or if it seems outdated or irrelevant to your case, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix,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 at WPML support forum.
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Background:
I'm reopening ticket #17467645 regarding 403 errors when saving articles in WordPress editor. The issue only affects our default language (French), while secondary languages (English, Indian English) work correctly.
Previous troubleshooting completed:
Confirmed issue disappears when WPML is deactivated
Tested all WPML troubleshooting options (cache clearing, synchronization, etc.)
Deactivated security plugins and code snippets - no change
Issue persists with both existing and new posts
Where we left off:
We had to do our server updates. The ticket auto-closed after the 2-week period.
Current status:
Issue is still ongoing.
Reference to previous ticket: #17467645
Could we continue from where we left off?
Thank you! Can you provide me with the username and password that existed before the migration so that I can log in? I will only use this for the staging site, I won't be logging in to your live site. Please use the private fields in the next reply to safely share the credentials.
I just tested editing a French post and I did not get an error. Can you tell me which post you are seeing the error on in your live site? And what I should try to update? You can also feel free to log into the test site and try to reproduce the issue here: hidden link
I tested this post, just for reference: hidden link
Thank you for looking into this.
Any post should trigger the error. I connected to the test site but couldn't reproduce the issue there. However, the error is clearly visible on my production website — would it be possible for you to connect there directly to see it?
Here's what I've observed:
WPML is the cause: When I deactivate WPML, everything works fine
Translation Dashboard issue: Go to WPML > Translation Dashboard — the dashboard loads indefinitely
Media retrieval fails: Even the featured image can't be retrieved (works fine in other languages)
My hypothesis: Could WPML be modifying our French URLs in a way that breaks the API calls? This would explain why the REST API returns errors only when WPML is active.
I can provide admin access to my production site if needed.
Thanks for your help.
Sure, I'll login and take a look. Let me know if you can think of any differences between live and the staging site. Are media stored somewhere else? Are you using custom permalinks? Any type of server settings?
I have marked the next reply as private, please use the fields for sending credentials securely. Thanks!
The media files are not stored elsewhere, and you can see them in the EN language version.
We are using custom permalinks with the “Permalink Manager Pro” plugin.
I am not aware of any specific server-side settings that could affect this.
The credentials are the same as the ones you used for the test server.
In this recording, I opened the translation dashboard without any problem. I then loaded the Media library, no errors there. Lastly, I edited a French post, I noticed that the featured image loaded and I was able to save a small change (I just added a space so as not to mess with your content).
Please let me know what steps you are taking differently than mine so that I can try and reproduce the problem. Thanks!
That’s surprising, because it does not work for me nor for any of my teammates.
We have tested this on different computers, different browsers and different networks, with the same result each time.
The issue is triggered by each of the features you mentioned and tested. I’ve recorded a short video that clearly shows the problem happening on our side.
If it works for you but not for us, this difference might actually be a useful clue to help identify the root cause.
Here is the video demonstrating the issue: hidden link
Please let me know if you need any additional details or tests from our side.
I have tested with the account you've shared. I think we are indeed moving in the right direction because :
1 - It didn't work when I used my usual Chrome browser or Firefox.
2 - I have tested in Private navigation mode (Chrome) and it seems to work (I can see the feature image and save an article, WPML dashboard is working as well)
3 - I have test the url you've shared on both Private and no private mode but I've got the same issue. > {"code":"rest_cannot_view","message":"D\u00e9sol\u00e9, vous n\u2019avez pas l\u2019autorisation de g\u00e9rer les termes de cette taxonomie.","data":{"status":401}}
Since everything works as expected in Chrome private/incognito mode (media loads, saving works, WPML dashboard works), this strongly indicates that something in the regular browser session is interfering. Most commonly this is caused by a browser extension, cached site data, or a privacy/cookie setting affecting authenticated REST requests.
Next steps to test in a normal (non-private) browser window:
1. Temporarily disable all browser extensions (especially ad blockers, privacy/security extensions, or cookie managers), then reload the editor and test again. If it works, you can re-enable extensions one by one to identify which one is causing the issue.
2. If disabling extensions is not enough, please clear the site data for heloa.app:
Chrome → Settings → Privacy and security → Site settings → View permissions and data stored across sites
Search for heloa.app and remove all stored data
3. Also double-check that cookies are allowed for the site and that there’s no browser-level setting blocking them.
Regarding the taxonomy URL test: the rest_cannot_view response indicates a permissions/capability restriction for that taxonomy (i.e. the user does not have permission to manage or view terms in “edit” context via the REST API). This is expected for some roles or custom taxonomies and is separate from the editor/media loading issue. If needed, we can verify this by testing the same endpoint with an Administrator account.
Please let us know the result after disabling extensions and/or clearing the site data. Once we know which of those resolves it, we can advise on the exact configuration needed going forward.
