Not losing current translations not visible in editor

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

Problem:
After migrating from qtranslate to WPML, the client noticed that while the English translations are visible on the frontend, they do not appear in the WPML editor for pages; however, articles are displayed correctly.
Solution:
The issue arises because the translations were manually created without using WPML's translation workflow, leading to no data being associated with these translations in the Classic Translation Editor. We recommend two potential solutions:
1. Switch to the Advanced Translation Editor (ATE), which supports automatic translation. This change might require retranslation and could incur translation credit costs. For more details on how to switch, visit Switching from Classic to Advanced Translation Editor.
2. Continue using the Classic Translation Editor if you prefer full control over the translations, though this method is less convenient and more manual.

If this solution does not apply to your case, or if it seems outdated, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have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

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Tagged: Documentation request

This topic contains 24 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by myleneG 1 week, 4 days ago.

Assisted by: Kor.

Author	Posts
July 18, 2025 at 4:41 pm #17251499
Kor WPML Supporter since 08/2022 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)	Thanks for your patience. I can see the issue and I have no solution for this. Please allow me to escalate this further to our 2nd Tier Support for further investigation. I will come back to you once I've feedback.
July 21, 2025 at 6:43 pm #17257179
Kor WPML Supporter since 08/2022 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)	Thanks for your patience, and apologies for the inconvenience. Could you please clone the production site again from hidden link to our staging environment at hidden link? I’ve made some changes, and the English page now correctly reflects the contents from the Classic Translation Editor. It appears that deleting and retranslating the English page resolves the issue, but this is not the solution we want to rely on. Further investigation at the database level is needed.
July 21, 2025 at 7:19 pm #17257223
myleneG	I cannot lose all work I've done before I've contacted you on the sandbox website. I m not sure why you want me to completely delete it, because it is now to point of no return with your changes made?
July 21, 2025 at 7:21 pm #17257224
myleneG	Also, I dont understand why you needed a copy of the website, wasn't it to work on that instead of my sandbox?
July 22, 2025 at 10:00 am #17258577
Kor WPML Supporter since 08/2022 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)	Thanks for your reply. It's not required now. I'm sharing the backup copy with our 2nd Tier Support. I will come back to you once I've feedback.
July 22, 2025 at 11:08 am #17258959
Kor WPML Supporter since 08/2022 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)	Thanks for your patience. Our 2nd Tier Support has reviewed the issue and shared the following: It appears that the translation was created manually without using WPML's translation workflow. As a result, the Classic Translation Editor (WPML Editor) has no data associated with the translation, and there’s no mechanism to automatically populate it. At this stage, the most viable solution is to switch to the Advanced Translation Editor (ATE), which allows for automatic translation: https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/using-the-translation-editor/switching-from-classic-to-advanced-translation-editor/ Please note that using the ATE will require retranslation and may incur translation credit costs. Alternatively, you can continue using the Classic Translation Editor, which gives you full control over the translations. However, this method is less convenient and more manual compared to the ATE. Let us know how you’d like to proceed.
July 22, 2025 at 3:18 pm #17259961
myleneG	I had used the plugin qtranslate to WPML, so not quite manually but from what I understand there is nothing you can do anyway, so will copy and paste everything. However, is there any way to know what you modified on sandbox site that makes it that even recovering my jul6 backup of the plugin and database doesn't work? 'WPML\UserInterface\Web\Infrastructure\WordPress\CompositionRoot\Config\Event\Translation\Links\ItemUpdateEvent' not found in /home/oinlk951/sandbox.jaquebec.org/wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/vendor/wpml/wpml/src/UserInterface/Web/Infrastructure/WordPress/CompositionRoot/Config/ConfigEvents.php:40 Stack trace: #0 /home/oinlk951/sandbox.jaquebec.org/wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/vendor/wpml/wpml/src/CompositionRoot.php(64): WPML\UserInterface\Web\Infrastructure\WordPress\CompositionRoot\Config\ConfigEvents->loadEvents() #1 /home/oinlk951/sandbox.jaquebec.org/wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/vendor/wpml/wpml/wpml.php(55): WPML\CompositionRoot->loadEventListeners() #2 /home/oinlk951/sandbox.jaquebec.org/wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/sitepress.php(78): require_once('/home/oinlk951/...') #3 /home/oinlk951/sandbox.jaquebec.org/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(324): {closure}('') #4 /home/oinlk951/sandbox.jaquebec.org/wp-includes/class-w in /home/oinlk951/sandbox.jaquebec.org/wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/vendor/wpml/wpml/src/UserInterface/Web/Infrastructure/WordPress/CompositionRoot/Config/ConfigEvents.php on line 40 thank you
July 22, 2025 at 3:22 pm #17259967
Kor WPML Supporter since 08/2022 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)	Thanks for your reply. These are the changes that I've made. 1. I've deactivated most of the 3rd party plugins and leave only some important plugins that are required to troubleshoot the issue. You can reactivate all 3rd party plugins again anytime. 2. I've translated the English language homepage using the Classic Translation Editor(WPML Editor) and this overwrites the English translation. 3. I've run some of the troubleshooting options in WPML > Support > Troubleshooting - Clear the cache in WPML. - Remove ghost entries from the translation tables. - Fix element_type collation. - Fix WPML tables collation. - Set language information. - Fix terms count. - Fix post type assignment for translations.
July 22, 2025 at 8:27 pm #17261308
myleneG	doesn't help figuring out the error I get sadly
July 23, 2025 at 12:38 pm #17263953
Kor WPML Supporter since 08/2022 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)	Thanks for your reply. You previously shared a backup with me from your staging site. Would you like me to resend it to you so you can restore the site from it?
July 23, 2025 at 1:23 pm #17264105
myleneG	I had the backup and as mentioned, that didn't work, reinstalling the plugin manually was the only way that seems to work, for now. Ty