[Closed] Content in this language cannot be automatically translated unless you map it to a language that's ...

Hello,

To ensure the quickest and most accurate support, please provide your debug information so I can look at some of your configurations. We have an excellent article on how to locate it here: https://wpml.org/faq/provide-debug-information-faster-support/.

Let me rephrase the issue to make sure I got it:
Your site’s default language is English. You added a language called Australia and you want it to be mapped to English, and still use WPML’s AI/automatic translation for that language. WPML then shows: “Content in this language cannot be automatically translated unless you map it to a language that’s different from the default.”

If that's the case, WPML does support automatic translation for custom/variant languages via Language Mapping — but only when the translation engines can see the job as translating between two different supported languages. If your default is English and “Australia” is mapped to English, WPML considers it effectively English → English, and automatic translation is not possible in that setup. 

Also, the “Mapped to” dropdown usually won’t show “English (AU/UK/US)” variants—translation engines typically just provide English as a single supported language option. 

Since AI translation can’t generate “English → English (Australia)” content when the default language is English, the best workflow is to use the Australia language as a locale/SEO/display variant and duplicate the English content, then manually localize it (spelling/terms).

Steps:
• Keep Australia as your secondary language (custom locale like en_AU is fine).
• Keep its mapping as English (that’s expected).
• For each page/post, use Duplicate from English into Australia
• Then edit the Australia version manually for AU wording/spelling where needed.

This is the approach we recommend for multiple English variants when automatic translation isn’t available. 

Best Regards,
Otto