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

Problem:
The client is facing two issues with their variable, virtual, and downloadable products on a multilingual website. The first issue involves the German translations of product attribute labels not appearing on the frontend, despite being translated and synchronized. The second issue concerns the handling of different downloadable files for product variations across different language versions, where file URLs are overwritten upon synchronization.
Solution:
For the first issue, we recommend checking if the theme update resolves the problem, as sometimes theme conflicts can affect translations. If the issue persists, the client might consider using a custom filter in the functions.php file as a temporary workaround:

add_filter('woocommerce_attribute_label', function($label, $name, $product) {<br />    if (!defined('ICL_LANGUAGE_CODE') || ICL_LANGUAGE_CODE !== 'de') {<br />        return $label;<br />    }<br />    $translations = [<br />        'pa_tsvyat'  => 'Farbe',<br />        'pa_vazrast' => 'Alter',<br />    ];<br />    return $translations[$name] ?? $label;<br />}, 20, 3);

For the second issue, ensure that the WPML Translation Editor settings are configured to display all links. Make a minor update to the original language content to refresh the translation job, allowing the file URLs to be editable in the translation editor.

Please note that these solutions might become outdated or may not directly address your specific case. If these steps do not resolve your issues, we highly recommend checking the related known issues, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If problems persist, please open a new support ticket.

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

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This topic contains 17 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by pavlinaD 1 month, 4 weeks ago.

Assisted by: Shekhar Bhandari.

Author Posts
June 15, 2026 at 9:52 am #18103449

pavlinaD

"The fields will not by synchronized automatically so those file fields being empty are normal, you will need to add them manually for translations." - the fields are not empty, they don't exist when we translate the product using your translation editor. Elaborate on how to manually add them for translations?

"You mentioned earlier that the links are overridden, I will suggest you to check if this still exists." - it is still very much the case. I am explaining again what our issue is, because judging from your last response, maybe you are not understanding it:
1. We created a downloadable product in Bulgarian and attached the Bulgarian downloadable files to the variations
2. We translated this product to German, using WPML translation editor. In this translation editor, we do not have the option to specify which downloadable file in Bulgarian equals which downloadable file in German. So, once the translation is completed, we manually edit the German version of the product and manually replace each BG link with a DE link, because they are copied over from the original language. As both you and I have established, these files are not translatable via Media translation plugin.
3. We make changes to our Bulgarian product - we add more text.
4. We click to sync the BG and DE version of the product again (to translate this extra text into German as well). We save the updated translation.
5. Because the downloadable files are manually input into the DE version and not translated via Media translation/Translation editor (because they don't appear there), the Bulgarian files are saved once again for all language versions, so we now have to manually edit the DE product again and input the correct files. With lots of variations and a few files per variation, this take significant time and leaves room for error.

Feel free to ask follow up questions if we're not being clear enough or you need more context. If you are out of your depth, please escalate this ticket, as it is taking significantly longer than anticipated. Alternatively, provide clear documentation and instructions on how we are supposed to add variable downloadable products, which have different files per language version.

June 16, 2026 at 5:32 am #18105537

Shekhar Bhandari
WPML Supporter since 03/2015

Languages: English (English )

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

Hello there,

I have escalated this issue to our 2nd Tier Support team for further investigation. I will keep you updated and share any feedback as soon as I receive it.

Thanks

June 17, 2026 at 4:46 am #18107903

Shekhar Bhandari
Supporter

Hello there,

Our 2nd Tier team suggested using the WPML Translation Editor to resolve the issue.

If the URLs are not currently appearing in the WPML editor, please open the Translation Editor settings and enable the option to display all links. Once this setting is enabled, make a small update to the original language content to refresh the translation job. After that, the links should become available for translation in the editor.

I tested this on hidden link and it's working for me.

Please let me know if this helps.

Thanks

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June 17, 2026 at 11:07 am #18109112

pavlinaD

This didn't resolve our issue on its own (or at all, can't say), but we found what seems to be a workaround/solution: the first time you click to translate a product, the downloadable file links are appearing in the translation editor. You must click on each of these link fields individually and this somehow "saves" them and they never disappear again.