Importing translations using WP All Import Pro

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

Problem:

[Wp All Import] When I update existing items in the default language, I cannot match the imported translations with them. The imported translations are not connected to the original items in the default language.

Solution:

This happens because the step to include the unique identifier is not there. However, this is not a bug. It is like that by design from WP All Import.

https://www.wpallimport.com/documentation/update-existing-posts/

To add translations when default language content already exists on the site:

1. Export your default language content using WP All Export.

2. Edit the newly created CSV to add a column for the unique identifier.

3. Delete the original content from the site.

4. Import the default language CSV file with the unique identifier column. Make sure to import it as New items.

Once the default language file has been imported, you can continue with your secondary language file, as previously explained.

Relevant Documentation:

Please check our WPML All Import guide here.

https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/wpml-all-import-plugin-website-import-with-wpml/#first-import-the-default-language-file

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: Documentation request

This topic contains 30 replies, has 3 voices.

Last updated by edgardC-2 2 years, 1 month ago.

Assisted by: Itamar.

Author	Posts
December 22, 2022 at 3:26 pm #12702015
edgardC-2	Tell us what you are trying to do? I have a staging site and a live site. The staging site has translated content (translated manually) that I would like to move over to the live site. Is there any documentation that you are following? https://wpml.org/tutorials/2016/08/export-multilingual-websites-using-wp-all-export-and-wpml/ https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/wpml-all-import-plugin-website-import-with-wpml/ hidden link ("Stage") hidden link ("Live") I do not want to have to delete all the content on my live site and reimport. Only some of the content is translated. The sites are IDENTICAL except one has translated content available. Is what I am trying to do even possible? The directions are not explicit about this. Right now what happens is the translated content gets imported but is not connected to the default language content at all.
December 22, 2022 at 4:43 pm #12702489
Laura Supporter Languages: English (English ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+01:00)	Hi, thanks for contacting us. You don't have to delete the content on one of the sites, but you need to export it and reimport (as un update), otherwise it's expected the translations do not match. If you read our documentation, we ask do add a column with a "unique identifier". This value is used to match translations, but the content on your site doesn't have it associated since it hasn't been imported. So WPML can't match the translations with the originals. You need to reimport the site's content with an unique identifier before you can match it with translations.
December 22, 2022 at 6:57 pm #12703039
edgardC-2	I did run an import with a unique identifier first but it didn't help. Can you provide more precise instructions on this method? I started by generating an export with the wpml_translation_id and ran an import on the live site to add that field using the default language. Then I ran an import with a translation using that same wpml_translation_id field as the unique identifier, and it didn't work.
December 25, 2022 at 11:32 am #12710813
Itamar Supporter Languages: English (English ) Hebrew (עברית ) Timezone: Asia/Jerusalem (GMT+02:00)	Hi. I'll continue to help you with this issue. I've read this thread. By looking at the attached debug information of your site, I can see that our bridge plugin WP All Import Multilingual is not active on your site. The WP All Import Multilingual add-on is required when working with WP All Import and WPML. Therefore, it explains why the import did not work as expected, although (according to your description) you took the correct steps. Please install this bridge plugin and try again. I also want to suggest another approach to take. You wrote: The sites are IDENTICAL except one has translated content available. If the sites are identical and the only difference is the translations missing on the live site, I suggest the following. Instead of exporting the content from one site and importing it to another, use a migration plugin to migrate the staging site over the live site. You can use plugins like All In One Migration (https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/) or Duplicator (https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/). ** Important! Please make a full site backup (files and DB) before you proceed with those steps** Regards, Itamar.
December 26, 2022 at 7:31 pm #12714929
edgardC-2	Do you know if either of those plugins allow you to move just content? (or to pick specific content?) I put in All In One Migration and it wants to just do a full copy of the site. I'd like to avoid overwriting other things, like the Menu. I am not seeing a way this works with either of those plugins. Back to the original method, just starting with the export to try and figure out where it's going wrong. The content for the page is in metadata, because the pages are built with Elementor. I assume this is part of the problem. I should also note that my Spanish export looks a little funky right out of the box, which also may be part of what's going wrong (screenshot attached). There is only one page in spanish that I am trying to move over in this current scenario. I've included the '_elementor_data' meta field since that's where the actual content is. Note that the "WP All Import Multilingual" is enabled for this export.
December 27, 2022 at 12:44 pm #12717835
Itamar Supporter Languages: English (English ) Hebrew (עברית ) Timezone: Asia/Jerusalem (GMT+02:00)	Hi, The plugins I sent you (All In One Import and Duplicator) are to migrate an entire site, as far as I know. You wrote: The content for the page is in metadata, because the pages are built with Elementor. I assume this is part of the problem. I should also note that my Spanish export looks a little funky right out of the box, which also may be part of what's going wrong (screenshot attached). I don't see how this is related to WPML. If you have questions about exporting Elementor content, please refer them to the WP All Export plugin support. If I have misunderstood what you meant, please elaborate on this point. You wrote: Note that the "WP All Import Multilingual" is enabled for this export. The "WP All Import Multilingual" add-on is not required when working with WPML and WP All Export. It is only required when working with WPML and WP All Import. Please read our guide here to learn about working with WPML and WP All Export. https://wpml.org/documentation/plugins-compatibility/export-multilingual-websites-using-wp-all-export-wpml/ Regards, Itamar.
December 27, 2022 at 7:59 pm #12719491
edgardC-2	We can forget the Elementor thing, since the import is not connecting the Spanish content to the English content, something else is going wrong. The debug information was for the site the content was exported from. The import site has always had "WPML All Import" plugin installed and turned on. So why is the translated content not getting attached to the English node after import?
December 27, 2022 at 9:03 pm #12719711
edgardC-2	Re:https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/wpml-all-import-plugin-website-import-with-wpml/ I never get to this Import step 4. Because I am not adding NEW content, I am just trying to get the mapping to work. So my English import for Step 1 "Import data from this file into..." I choose "Existing Data". And as such I never get the Unique Identifier option. Instead it asks me "Records in your file will be matched with Pages on your site based on..."
December 27, 2022 at 9:29 pm #12719809
Itamar Supporter Languages: English (English ) Hebrew (עברית ) Timezone: Asia/Jerusalem (GMT+02:00)	Hi, If you are not getting to step 4, you're probably doing something wrong. Can you please send me the files you are importing? I need the file for English, the default language, and the file for Spanish, the second language. You can upload those files to a service like Google Drive or Dropbox and share the link with me. For this, I'm enabling a private message for the next reply. Thanks, Itamar.
December 29, 2022 at 1:40 pm #12729153
Itamar Supporter Languages: English (English ) Hebrew (עברית ) Timezone: Asia/Jerusalem (GMT+02:00)	Thanks. Please approve my request to get access to this folder. Thanks, Itamar.
December 29, 2022 at 4:42 pm #12729995
edgardC-2	Done!
December 30, 2022 at 9:28 am #12731873
Itamar Supporter Languages: English (English ) Hebrew (עברית ) Timezone: Asia/Jerusalem (GMT+02:00)	Thanks. In a previous reply, you wrote: I started by generating an export with the wpml_translation_id and ran an import on the live site to add that field using the default language. Then I ran an import with a translation using that same wpml_translation_id field as the unique identifier, and it didn't work. And in a later reply, you wrote: We can forget the Elementor thing, since the import is not connecting the Spanish content to the English content, something else is going wrong. When I examined the CSV files you shared with me, I could see two rows with content. The first row in both files does not contain any value (marked with a red X). The second row in both files contains unmatching values (double-headed red arrow). Please see the attached screenshot. This explains why the Spanish and English imports are not connected to each other. To connect the imported data, you need under the "WPML Translation ID" column to insert in each row the same value. For example, if for row 3 on your Spanish-Pages (3).csv file the value is "1234", it also needs to be "1234" on the English-Pages (5).csv file for row 3. I hope that this makes things more clear. Regards, Itamar.
December 31, 2022 at 2:11 am #12734799
edgardC-2	Yes. This is what is coming out when I export. Like there is an extra comma in the body content that messes up the export. But I am following the export instructions. So why is that happening?
January 1, 2023 at 12:56 pm #12736145
Itamar Supporter Languages: English (English ) Hebrew (עברית ) Timezone: Asia/Jerusalem (GMT+02:00)	Hi, and thanks for further elaborating on this issue. If an extra comma in the body content messes up the export, I'm unsure that it is a WPML issue. I've just made a test on a new WordPress site with WPML, Elementor, and WP All Export, and I'm not able to replicate this problem. The WPML Translation ID values match in both the exported files. Please see the attached screenshot. Maybe you have different configurations. Can you please replicate this issue on a fresh WordPress installation? Then I'll be able to escalate it to our compatibility team. You can access the test site through this link: hidden link With this link, you'll be directly logged in. I already installed all the related plugins and configured WPML to have English as the default language and French as the second language. Please let me know when everything is finished, and you can replicate the problem. It would also be great if you can take a screencast of the process you are taking please do that. Regards, Itamar.
January 1, 2023 at 6:39 pm #12736815
edgardC-2	hidden link I imported my content, and here is a screencast of my export config. Same issue happens on export CSV. My import overwrote the users table, too, so can I send you some credentials to get you back in?