Adding a new language

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

Problem:

You are experiencing a 500 error when trying to add an English translation to your site, which already has Ukrainian and Russian translations. The error occurs when attempting to translate multiple elements at once.

Solution:

First, ensure you have the latest version of WPML (4.7.1 series) installed. Before updating, perform a full site backup. You can check for updates under Plugins>>Add New>>Commercial tab and click on the *Check for updates* button.

If the issue persists, proceed with the following troubleshooting steps on the WPML>>Support page under the Troubleshooting link:

1) Clear the cache in WPML
2) Remove ghost entries from the translation tables
3) Fix element_type collation
4) Set language information
5) Fix WPML tables collation
6) Assign translation status to duplicated content
7) Fix terms count
8) Fix post type assignment
9) Cleanup and optimize string tables

If these steps do not resolve the issue, the solution might be outdated or not applicable to your specific case. We recommend visiting related 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.

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

Everyone can read, but only WPML clients can post here. WPML team is replying on the forum 6 days per week, 22 hours per day.

Tagged: Bug

This topic contains 5 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by maksymV 1 year, 5 months ago.

Assisted by: Bigul.

Author	Posts
February 21, 2025 at 2:05 pm #16733911
maksymV	Background of the issue: I'm trying to add a new (third) language to my site. Currently, I have the original Ukrainian and a Russian translation, and I need to add an English translation. I went to WPML - translation management, checked all the boxes, and chose to translate to English. Symptoms: The process started, and after a few seconds, I got a 500 error on the site. I tried again, and the same thing happened. Questions: Why am I getting a 500 error when trying to add a new language? How can I successfully add an English translation without encountering errors?
February 22, 2025 at 4:30 pm #16736600
Bigul	Hello, Welcome to the WPML support forum. I will do my best to help you to resolve the issue. Please upgrade to the latest version of WPML (4.7.1 series) after a full site backup {mandatory} and make sure the bug exists or not. May you have to visit Plugins>>Add New>>Commerical tab and click on the Check for updates button to get the WPML automatic upgrade links of the latest version. This step will help us refresh the installer caches. If the problem remains, please share with us the WordPress debug.log(not WPML debug information) for collecting more details on this. Refer to the following pages for instructions https://wpml.org/documentation/support/debugging-wpml/ https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/debugging-in-wordpress/ To enable WordPress Debug log, open your wp-config.php file of site root and look for define('WP_DEBUG', false);. Change it to: // Enable WP_DEBUG mode define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); // Enable Debug logging to the /wp-content/debug.log file define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); // Disable display of errors and warnings define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); @ini_set( 'display_errors', 0 ); In this case, the errors will be saved to a debug.log log file inside the /wp-content/ directory. Please do the steps to reproduce the bug and check you are getting any errors or warnings related to WPML in the log file. If you can paste your debug.log to http://pastebin.com/index.php and provide me that link it would be great! (This is the cleanest way because sometimes the logs are long and create a complete mess of discussion). -- Thanks! Bigul
February 24, 2025 at 1:42 pm #16741320
maksymV	Hello Bigul, Thank you for your response Here is debug.log with steps to reproduce the bug https://pastebin.com/XqJQJKGZ
February 24, 2025 at 5:16 pm #16742441
Bigul	Hello, Thank you for the updates and Debug.log information. The Debug log does not show any warnings or errors related to WPML. We hope you have upgraded to the latest version of WPML (4.7.1) after a full site backup. If the problem remains, please try the following troubleshooting steps after a full site backup{mandatory} and make sure the issue exists or not. 1) Go to WPML>>Support page, click on the Troubleshooting link (blue link in the middle of the page) 2) On the Troubleshooting page, please click on the following options in the Clean up section. Wait for confirmation of processing after each one. - Clear the cache in WPML - Remove ghost entries from the translation tables - Fix element_type collation - Set language information - Fix WPML tables collation - Assign translation status to duplicated content - Fix terms count - Fix post type assignment - Cleanup and optimize string tables -- Thanks! Bigul
February 27, 2025 at 2:54 pm #16756797
maksymV	Thanks Bigul, I will try what you suggested and give feedback.
February 27, 2025 at 4:54 pm #16757298
Bigul	Hello, Thank you for the updates. Take your time. We will wait for your feedback. If the problem remains, please check you are getting any error related to WPML in the server error log while having this bug. May you need your hosting team's support to access the server error log file. -- Thanks! Bigul
March 4, 2025 at 1:49 pm #16774446
maksymV	Hi Bigul, thank you for your help! I tried translating one element at a time and it worked. It works a few at a time, but not all at once. I think it works for me.