Accidentally deleted a language - can I restore translations

This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
The client accidentally deleted a custom language and lost manually translated pages, and is looking to retrieve them without having to redo the translation work.
Solution:
1. If you have a backup of your site and database before the deletion, we recommend restoring it to retrieve the translations.
2. If a backup is not available, you can re-create the custom language with the language code

dv-mv

. Then, use the Advanced Translation Editor to translate the content. The translation memory should help match previous translations, so you don't have to re-translate sentences. For more information, please refer to our documentation on how WPML keeps track of your translations.

Please note that this solution might be irrelevant if it's outdated or not applicable to your case. If these steps do not resolve your issue, 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. If you still need assistance, please open a new support ticket with us.

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Tagged: Exception

This topic contains 1 reply, has 2 voices.

Last updated by Long Nguyen 1 year, 10 months ago.

Assisted by: Long Nguyen.

Author	Posts
February 16, 2024 at 1:23 am #15309790
danielS-307	I pressed what I thought was a close button for a message about mapping languages in the language editing section and accidentally deleted the entire language (I'm surprised there wasn't a confirmation message to prevent users doing something dumb like that!). There were a number of manually translated pages in that custom language. Can I retrieve them? The custom language was behaving strangley as I explained in another ticket so I am not opposed to setting it up again but would prefer not to ask the translator to have to redo their work.
February 16, 2024 at 5:10 am #15309961
Long Nguyen WPML Supporter since 02/2022 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh (GMT+07:00)	Hi Daniel, Thank you for contacting WPML support, I'd be happy to help you with this issue. If you have a backup file of your site and database before the deletion, you can try to restore it to get the translation. If not, you can try to re-create the custom language and use the Advanced Translation Editor to translate the content, the language code should be "dv-mv". The translation memory will help you match the translation without re-translating sentences. Refer documentation https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/how-wpml-keeps-track-of-your-translations/ Look forward to your reply. Thanks
February 19, 2024 at 2:40 pm #15319076
danielS-307	The method suggested was partially sucessful. The translation memory lost 75% of the translated pages. Our translators are redoing the work that was missing.