Activating Plugin

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

Problem:
The client was experiencing a fatal error when trying to activate the WPML plugin after migrating their website. They followed the initial steps of removing the

icl_sitepress_settings

key from the

wp_options

table and rerunning the setup, but the issue persisted. Additionally, they encountered a connection issue to wpml.org and had mixed content issues on their site.
Solution:
We recommended enabling the WordPress debug log to capture more specific error details. This involved editing the

wp-config.php

file to include:

define('WP_DEBUG', true);<br />define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);<br />define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);

After reproducing the issue, the client was to check the debug log for errors and share them for further analysis. For the connection issue, we suggested checking server caching and manually updating the WPML registration status by navigating to Plugins > Add new > Commercial and clicking the "check for updates" button. If WPML still showed as registered, it indicated a false-positive due to caching.
For complete removal of WPML and its data, we provided a link to our documentation on resetting WPML: https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/deleting-languages-and-plugin-data-by-doing-a-wpml-reset-on-your-site/

If these steps do not resolve your issues or if the solution seems outdated, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have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 the problem persists, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum.

This is the technical support forum for WPML - the multilingual WordPress plugin.

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Tagged: Exception

This topic contains 13 replies, has 2 voices.

Last updated by Mihai Apetrei 1 year ago.

Assisted by: Mihai Apetrei.

Author	Posts
July 21, 2024 at 9:25 am #15983016
samR-17	Background of the issue: We are trying to activate the WPML plugin on our site after a migration. I tried following the documentation from the following link: Getting a Fatal Error When I Try to Activate WPML Plugin. Here are the steps I followed: Opened the database. Looked for the wp_options table. Found the icl_sitepress_settings key. Removed it. Ran the setup process again. Unfortunately, this did not resolve the issue. Symptoms: Questions: How can we resolve the connection issue to wpml.org? Are there any additional steps we should follow after migration to activate WPML?
July 21, 2024 at 3:23 pm #15983456
Mihai Apetrei WPML Supporter since 03/2018 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Bucharest (GMT+03:00)	Hi there. Before this ticket gets assigned to one of my colleagues, I will try to help. Regarding the fatal error that you mentioned, let us share the steps that you can use to find out more about what is the actual error when you see a general error message like that one. We can enable the WordPress debug log and recreate the issue to see if we are getting a longer error message that is more specific. This will allow us to see if any PHP errors are being produced. In order to do that, we can edit the wp-config.php file inside our WordPress directory and insert the following lines: define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); Now, we can try to reproduce the issue once again. We should now be able to locate the debug log in: /wp-content/debug.log Paste the content (if any) on a site like pastebin.com and then share the link with us (only you and us will see the URL you are sharing, it is automatically hidden for anyone else). Relevant Documentation: https://codex.wordpress.org/Debugging_in_WordPress Also, in regards to the "WPML cannot connect" message, there's a big chance that what you are seeing is a false-positive that remained in the server caching and the notification will be removed automatically when the cache will automatically clear on its own. To check if that's a false positive, go to Plugins > Add new > Commercial > click the "check for updates" button and if the page refreshes and WPML is still showing as registered, then yes, that is just a false positive. Please let us know how things go. Mihai Apetrei
July 21, 2024 at 10:38 pm #15984023
samR-17	Hi Mihai, Thank you for your prompt response and detailed instructions. We have followed your steps to enable the WordPress debug log. We reproduced the issue and gathered the debug log information. Here is the link to our debug log for further investigation: hidden link A few additional notes: We have migrated this website from one host to another. We have also changed the developer working on this project. We need to update the license in the build as we purchased the license after the migration. When I navigate to Plugins > Add new > Commercial, I see the following message: "WPML - The WordPress Multilingual Plugin You are using an expired account of WPML. It means you will not receive updates. This can lead to stability and even security issues. Extend Subscription Unregister WPML from this site Have you already renewed your license? Refresh account status This page lets you install plugins and update existing plugins. To remove any of these plugins, go to the plugins page and if you have the permission to remove plugins you should be able to do this." I have attached an image for your reference. We appreciate any further assistance you can provide to resolve these issues.
July 22, 2024 at 7:59 am #15985363
samR-17	Hello, I no longer need the language plugin. Can I delete it to resolve the mixed content issue, or is there an easier way to fix the translations? Whichever option is QUICKER works for me.
July 22, 2024 at 1:06 pm #15986900
samR-17	Hello Team, When can I expect an reply from you?
July 22, 2024 at 2:26 pm #15987383
Mihai Apetrei WPML Supporter since 03/2018 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Bucharest (GMT+03:00)	Hi there. If you want to completely remove WPML and any existing translations, please take a look here: https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/deleting-languages-and-plugin-data-by-doing-a-wpml-reset-on-your-site/
July 22, 2024 at 4:22 pm #15987985
samR-17	Did you had a look at the wp-config file? Can we still activate it? Please give me steps for both the situations, Also are you able to login to the website?
July 22, 2024 at 4:24 pm #15987993
samR-17	The blog you shared is not useful as I have mentioned that I am not able to activate the plugin in first place. Therefore I am unable to proceed with the given steps.
July 22, 2024 at 4:56 pm #15988118
Mihai Apetrei WPML Supporter since 03/2018 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Bucharest (GMT+03:00)	Hi there. Sorry, I was confused by the "WPML cannot connect" notice at the top. It seems that you currently have only the OTGS Installer installed at the moment. I was also able to connect your site, indeed, and I was also able to take a look at the error log, but before I had the chance to get back to you, you mentioned that you don't need the plugin anymore so I considered that it wouldn't be helpful if I mention about that anymore. WPML was not able to be installed due to these repeated fatal errors that we were able to see in the error log: "PHP Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 1073741824 bytes exhausted" The "allowed memory exhausted" error is usually related to server/hosting settings so they (the hosting support) might be the only ones who can fix it. However, there are a good amount of existing tickets related to this exact error with recommendations and solutions from our team. I created this custom search URL below - can you please take a look at the tickets showing up and see if the solution that worked for the customers works for you, too? Please let me know how that goes. - hidden link PS: Also, please make sure your server environment meets our minimum requirements as described here: https://wpml.org/home/minimum-requirements/ I will be waiting for your response.
July 22, 2024 at 5:59 pm #15988412
samR-17	Hello Mihai, I still need some assistance with the WPML plugin. As I understand it (From the resource you shared earlier), I need to activate the plugin to remove a language. However, I am currently unable to activate it. Is there a way to delete the mixed content from my homepage and remove the plugin without activating it first? My priority is to ensure the English version of the website is working correctly without any mixed content. Once that is resolved, I plan to re-enable WPML and translate the website from scratch. Could you please guide me on how to remove the plugin and delete the mixed content? Should I try activating the plugin first (if so, how can I do that) and then remove the files, or can I proceed directly with removing the plugin? I need to have the mixed content removed from the website within the next 3-4 hours. Thank you so much for your help. (I have attached the section that is rendering the mixed content and fixing that is a priority)
July 22, 2024 at 7:59 pm #15989045
Mihai Apetrei WPML Supporter since 03/2018 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Bucharest (GMT+03:00)	Hi there and thank you for the explanation. I was not understanding very well what do you mean by mixed content but I was able to understand things better by looking at the attached screenshot that you added above. I am not sure why and how there would be mixed content taking into consideration that WPML was not even installed and we only had the OTGS Installer. OTGS Installer is just an installer-helper type of plugin and you can read more about what it can do here: https://wpml.org/faq/uploading-wpml-error-message/#upload-wpml-to-your-site-using-the-otgs-installer-plugin So, as long as WPML is not enabled and not even configured, it would be impossible to be content that gets translated so I'm not sure why those parts of content were showing up. Currently, I see that WPML is active on the site and I also see that the section you mentioned doesn't include those parts anymore (I'm attaching a screenshot of what I see now). So I am not sure what was done on the site to remove those parts.
July 22, 2024 at 8:06 pm #15989082
samR-17	The website was functioning properly with WPML before the migration. After migrating, we encountered mixed content issues, and the toggle to change the language disappeared. Since then, we have been unable to activate the plugin. To resolve this, I have two options: 1). Activate the plugin and enable the Chinese language in the dropdown as before. 2). Remove the language, but I cannot activate the plugin to do this. My top priority is to ensure that the English pages do not have any mixed content. Can you please assist me in finding the quickest resolution? I need to fix English website in next 2 Hours If you have any questions, please let me know.
July 22, 2024 at 8:11 pm #15989113
samR-17	Hello Team, It appears that our developer has resolved the issue. If it was your team, please let me know. I have revoked access to the WordPress website. If you need access again for any reason, please let me know. Thank you very much.
July 22, 2024 at 8:27 pm #15989205
Mihai Apetrei WPML Supporter since 03/2018 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Bucharest (GMT+03:00)	Thank you for the update. Yes, probably it was your developer, I did not make any changes on the site. I will then mark this ticket as resolved for now. Good luck with the website and do not hesitate to get back to us with a new ticket whenever you find yourself in a situation where you are experiencing issues with WPML.