Background of the issue:
I am working on a site under development that uses WPML and the Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual plugin. We have an options page with an ACF repeater field named 'land_countries_database' on the English version of our site: hidden link and hidden link. I configured this field with the 'Copy' option so that changes in English replicate to Spanish and French.
Symptoms:
In the WordPress backend, the options pages for Spanish and French show the field as disabled and display the same values as the English version. However, on the frontend, when I call get_field('land_countries_database', 'option') in Spanish or French, it returns old data instead of the updated English values.
Questions:
Why aren't the copied values being retrieved properly on the frontend?
How can I ensure that the English data is used consistently across all languages on the frontend?
To isolate the issue let's try this:
❌ Please make a full website backup before proceeding ❌
-Only WPML plugins are activated, as it will tell us if there is an interaction issue with another plugin (of course, also leave ACF)
-Theme is set to a WordPress default like Twenty Twenty Five as it will tell us if there is an interaction issue with your theme
If you don't see the issue happening in the above scenario, can you try to determine whether this is a theme or a plugin issue? To do so, activate one by one to see which is the one causing the conflict. I suspect it may be the caching plugin.
Let's also check the configuration of ACF translation options:
1. Set the Translation Preferences for Field Groups
• Navigate to WPML → Settings and scroll down to Post Types Translation.
• Find Field Groups and set it to Not Translatable.
Reference: WPML Forum - ACF Fields not all copied
2. Configure Translation Preferences for Repeater Fields
• Go to Custom Fields and select the relevant field group.
• For Repeater fields, set the translation preference accordingly:
• Copy – If you want the fields to remain identical in all languages.
• Copy Once – If you want the content to be initially copied but later translated separately.
Reference: WPML Forum - I can’t translate ACF repeater fields
3. Finally, let's try: Update Existing Translations
• After making these changes, edit the original post/page containing the repeater fields.
• Make a small change (e.g., add and remove a space) and save the post.
• Then, update the translation to ensure the repeater fields synchronize correctly.
Reference: WPML Forum - Added ACF repeater items not shown in translation
If the issue persists after following these steps, check the individual translation settings for each field to ensure they are correctly configured. Additionally, test on a new post or page to determine if the issue is specific to existing content.
Let me know how it goes, please.
Best Regards,
Otto
The topic ‘[Closed] Issue with ACF Repeater Field Copying Across Languages (WPML & ACF Multilingual)’ is closed to new replies.
