Critical issue: WPML variable products not working in secondary languages

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

Problem:
If you're experiencing issues with variable products on your WooCommerce + WPML website, where variation dropdowns are empty or display values in the default language (French) in secondary languages (EN, DE, ES, IT), the issue might be due to incorrect translation settings for the _product_attributes custom field.
Solution:
We recommend checking the WPML configuration for the custom field settings. Here's how you can resolve this:
1. Navigate to WPML → Settings → Custom XML Configuration tab and update the configuration to:

<wpml-config>
  <custom-fields>
    <custom-field action="ignore">_product_attributes</custom-field>
  </custom-fields>
</wpml-config>

3. Go to the original product and make a minor change, such as modifying the description (you can revert this change afterward).
4. Update the product to trigger updates to the translation.
5. If the issue persists, try running the troubleshooting settings in WCML again.

If this solution does not resolve your issue or seems outdated, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have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 necessary, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum for further assistance.

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Tagged: Exception, WCML

This topic contains 29 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Andrey 1 week, 1 day ago.

Assisted by: Andrey.

Author	Posts
March 27, 2026 at 7:41 pm #17933213
adrienL-15	Hi, I have a critical issue on my WooCommerce + WPML website affecting variable products. - In the default language (French), everything works correctly (variations, attributes, dropdowns). - In secondary languages (EN, DE, ES, IT), variation dropdowns are either empty or display values in French. Additional details: - Variations and attributes exist correctly in the database. - The issue affects many products (not isolated). - I only noticed it recently, but it may have started earlier. Actions already performed: - Tested multiple backups (issue still present) - WooCommerce → Status → Tools: - Regenerated product lookup tables - Regenerated product attributes lookup table Impact: Customers in non-French languages cannot select variations, which is affecting sales. Please let me know if you need any additional information. Best regards Adrien
March 27, 2026 at 9:37 pm #17933303
adrienL-15	Thank you for your help so far. I have just rerun the WooCommerce Multilingual troubleshooting tools on a clean restored backup. Results: • “Synchronize product variations”: 0 items processed • “Fix translation links for product variations”: 1347 items processed However, the issue is still present: • Variations work correctly in the default language (French) • In secondary languages, the variation dropdowns are still empty or sometimes display the French values So it seems the issue was partially detected and processed, but not resolved. Please let me know if you need any additional information. Best regards, Adrien
March 29, 2026 at 12:24 am #17934340
adrienL-15	Hi, I’d like to follow up on this issue as it is now critical for my business. The problem affects many variable products, and customers in secondary languages (EN, DE, ES, IT) cannot select variations, meaning they cannot complete purchases. This has a direct impact on sales. Additionally, I am also experiencing another WPML issue on my site which might be related: - Ticket ID: #17906179 - Issue: Translation Dashboard / bulk translation buttons are disabled (greyed out) Both issues appeared after recent WPML / WCML updates, so I strongly suspect they are connected. Any help or update on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance, Adrien
March 30, 2026 at 4:00 am #17935043
adrienL-15	Hi, I did an additional test that might help. To limit the impact on sales, I temporarily added a link on variable products to redirect users to the French version. Result: - On some products, the link correctly goes to the French version - On others, it stays on the same page (no redirection) This suggests that for some products, WPML cannot retrieve the French counterpart at all. So it seems that translation relationships between products are partially broken (not consistent across the database). This could explain: - empty variation dropdowns - variations showing in French - and the translation dashboard issue Hope this helps your investigation.
March 31, 2026 at 3:39 pm #17940654
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	Thank you for contacting WPML support. I need to request temporary access (wp-admin and FTP) to your site—preferably to a test site where the problem has been replicated, if possible—in order to be of better help. When you log in to leave your next reply, you will find the needed fields below the comment area. The information you will enter is private, meaning only you and I can see and access it. Please provide examples of such affected products.
April 1, 2026 at 7:16 pm #17944340
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	Thank you for sharing the details. Unfortunately, I cannot log in. I am getting the following instead of the login page: Il y a eu une erreur critique sur ce site. Veuillez vérifier la boîte de réception de votre e-mail d’administration pour obtenir des instructions. Si vous continuez à avoir des problèmes, essayez le forum de support. Could you please check this?
April 1, 2026 at 11:58 pm #17944564
adrienL-15	Hi Andrey, Thank you for your message. I was also able to reproduce this critical error occasionally on the previous staging environment. In most cases, the page would load correctly after a refresh, but I understand this is not reliable for your testing. To avoid any issue, I have created a new staging environment which appears to be stable. Could you please enable the private fields again so I can provide you with the updated access details? Thank you. Best regards, Adrien
April 2, 2026 at 12:04 pm #17945898
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	Hello Adrien, Thank you for your feedback. The following reply is private.
April 3, 2026 at 1:34 pm #17948038
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	Thank you for the update. I will take a look and update you as soon as I have more news.
April 4, 2026 at 10:03 am #17948917
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	I’m still unable to log in to the site. When I try accessing /wp-admin/, I get a “Page not found” error. Could you please confirm the correct login URL?
April 4, 2026 at 10:54 am #17949020
adrienL-15	Hi Andrey, Thank you for your message. It seems the current staging environment is not accessible correctly. I am also experiencing issues when trying to access it from a fresh session. To avoid any further issues, I will create a new staging environment and make sure everything is fully accessible before sharing the access details again. Could you please enable the private reply fields once more so I can provide the new credentials? Best regards, Adrien
April 6, 2026 at 7:38 am #17950840
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	Hi Adrien, Sure. The following reply is private.
April 7, 2026 at 11:59 am #17954045
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	Hello Adrien, Thank you for providing access. This one works. I have reviewed this and completed the following steps, which caused the variations to appear: - Go to WPML → Taxonomy Translation - Choose Product Marque and click the button "Synchronize attributes and update product variations" - You can run this option for other attributes, like "Type de produit" Before making any changes, please back up your database.
April 8, 2026 at 7:13 am #17955668
adrienL-15	Hi Andrey, Thank you, this significantly improved the situation. After running the synchronization, the variations are now appearing correctly on almost all products. I tested many products across different categories, and only found a few rare exceptions. So we can consider the main issue (missing variations) as resolved. However, there is still an important remaining issue: Even though the variation terms are translated in WPML (they appear correctly in the translation editor), on the frontend they are still displayed in French in all secondary languages (EN, DE, ES, IT). So it seems that the translated attribute terms are not being properly applied to the product variations. Could you please help investigate why the translated terms are not used on the frontend? Best regards, Adrien
April 8, 2026 at 12:26 pm #17956870
Andrey WPML Supporter since 06/2013 Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский ) Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)	Hello Adrien, Thank you for your feedback. Could you please try the following steps as well? 1. Go to WooCommerce → WooCommerce Multilingual → Status and click the Troubleshooting link at the bottom of the page. 2. On the Troubleshooting page, run the relevant troubleshooting options. If the issue persists, since this involves custom attributes, please try the following: • Edit the product in the original language • Make a small change to the description and also to the variations • Update the product • Open the translation and complete it again Please let me know how it goes.