[Escalated to WPML Developers team] menu sync doesn't work

Thanks, Michael.

I've created a Duplicator package (Duplicator was installed on your site) of your site and will continue to debug this issue on my local server. I'll keep you updated on any news regarding this issue.

Thanks,
Itamar.

Hi,

Our second-tier supporter has recognized the issue. There seems to be a performance issue with a site containing many languages and menus. This issue has been escalated to our developers, they will address this issue and try to fix it in future versions of WPML. Meanwhile, there is a workaround suggested by our second-tier supporter that you can apply to your site. The workaround will improve the loading time of the WP Menu Sync page. I checked on the copy of your site, and it works. here is what you need to do.

1. Take a full backup of your site in case something goes wrong.

2. With a code editor or in Plugins -> Plugins File Editor, edit this file:
/wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/inc/wp-nav-menus/menus-sync.php

3. On line 88, replace this function:

function get_menus_tree() {
		global $sitepress, $wpdb;

		$menus = $wpdb->get_results(
			$wpdb->prepare(
				"
            SELECT tm.term_id, tm.name FROM {$wpdb->terms} tm 
                JOIN {$wpdb->term_taxonomy} tx ON tx.term_id = tm.term_id
                JOIN {$wpdb->prefix}icl_translations tr ON tr.element_id = tx.term_taxonomy_id AND tr.element_type='tax_nav_menu'
            WHERE tr.language_code=%s
        ",
				$sitepress->get_default_language()
			)
		);

		if ( $menus ) {
			foreach ( $menus as $menu ) {
				$this->menus[ $menu->term_id ] = array(
					'name'         => $menu->name,
					'items'        => $this->get_menu_items( $menu->term_id, true ),
					'translations' => $this->get_menu_translations( $menu->term_id ),
				);
			}

			$this->add_ghost_entries();
			$this->set_new_menu_order();
		}
	}

With this:

function get_menus_tree() {
		global $sitepress, $wpdb;

		$menus = $wpdb->get_results(
			$wpdb->prepare(
				"
            SELECT tm.term_id, tm.name FROM {$wpdb->terms} tm 
                JOIN {$wpdb->term_taxonomy} tx ON tx.term_id = tm.term_id
                JOIN {$wpdb->prefix}icl_translations tr ON tr.element_id = tx.term_taxonomy_id AND tr.element_type='tax_nav_menu'
            WHERE tr.language_code=%s
        ",
				$sitepress->get_default_language()
			)
		);

		if ( $menus ) {
			foreach ( $menus as $menu ) {
                $menuproc = get_transient("menu_term_id". $menu->term_id );
                if (empty($menuproc)) {
                    $this->menus[$menu->term_id] = array(
                        'name' => $menu->name,
                        'items' => $this->get_menu_items($menu->term_id, true),
                        'translations' => $this->get_menu_translations($menu->term_id),
                    );
                    set_transient("menu_term_id". $menu->term_id, $this->menus[$menu->term_id] );
                } else {
                    $this->menus[$menu->term_id] = $menuproc;
                }


			}

			$this->add_ghost_entries();
			$this->set_new_menu_order();
		}
	}

4. Save the change.

Now the problem should improve. You should be able to access the WP Menu Sync page.

I'll keep you updated on any news regarding this issue.

Thank you for your patience.
Itamar.

Hi,

I'm sorry, but what you are trying to translate automatically are custom menu items, which can not be translated automatically. You can read more about translating custom menu items here.

https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/translating-menus/#translate-custom-links

It is possible to send strings to automatic translation. You can read about it here.

https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/string-translation/#translating-strings

But the problem is with internal links. There is no way that the automatic translation can "guess" the correct translated link.

However, if you change those custom menu links to regular menu links, WPML should handle them correctly, and you will not need to translate those menu items.

As for links with #, I guess you can simply copy the # sign to the translation. I'm not sure if this can be done automatically.

As for links with actual strings like "Partnerships", I guess that you can send them to automatic translation. But I'm unsure if the translation will work for you in the menu. I do not know what those strings are. If they anchor IDs, then you will need to ensure that the anchor IDs on the translation are also translated the same. If it is for JS code, then you will also need to handle this through the JS code.

I understand how much manual work you must do regarding translating the menus when you have 30 languages on your site. And I know how time-consuming it can be. But I'm sorry, with how WPML works, there is nothing else I can suggest other than what I wrote above.

I'll keep you updated on any news regarding the escalated issue with our developers.

Regards,
Itamar.