Problem with Turkish Characters

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

Problem:
If you're experiencing issues with Turkish characters such as 'şçöğü' displaying as '?' after using automatic translation with WPML on your site, the issue might be related to the database character set.
Solution:
We recommend checking if your database character set is set to UTF-8. You can find instructions on how to retrieve this information here.

If this solution does not apply to your case, or if it seems outdated, please open a new support ticket. We also 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.

This is the technical support forum for WPML - the multilingual WordPress plugin.

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Tagged: Exception

This topic contains 0 reply, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Otto 1 year ago.

Assisted by: Otto.

Author	Posts
March 10, 2025 at 3:04 pm #16797190
bernaT	Background of the issue: I've used the automatic translation with WPML on my site hidden link to translate content into Turkish. Symptoms: The Turkish characters such as 'şçöğü' are showing as '?'. Questions: How can I solve the problem with Turkish characters displaying incorrectly? Is there a way to recover or reuse the translation credits spent on incorrect translations?
March 10, 2025 at 6:08 pm #16797931
Marcel Supporter Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)	Hi, before your ticket is assigned to one of my colleagues, please allow me to walk you through some initial debugging steps. This will help speed up the support process. Could you please check if your database character set is set to UTF-8? You can find instructions on how to retrieve this information here: How to find out the charset of a database and table with phpMyAdmin. Best regards, Marcel
March 11, 2025 at 9:58 am #16800590
bernaT	Yes, as can be seen in the photos attached, my database u452833898_iOe53 is already set to utf8mb4 with the collation utf8mb4_unicode_ci! I can write with Turkish Characters but the translated output with WPML is shown as => ???? How can we solve this matter? Best Regards
March 11, 2025 at 1:29 pm #16801970
Otto	Hello, Thanks for your reply. I'll take care of this ticket. Which translation engine did you use for the automatic translation? To replicate the issue in my local development environment without affecting your website, could you provide me with a copy of your site? Please follow these steps: - Install this plugin. - Follow hidden link">these instructions, including only the database, themes, and plugins. - Share the download link with me. This will allow me to duplicate your site locally and investigate the issue. I set your next reply as private, which means only you and I can see and have access to it. You can share the download link safely (there is no need to share the credentials). Once the problem is resolved, I will delete the local site. Thanks!
March 12, 2025 at 2:52 pm #16807803
bernaT	It takes ages to create a backup. Can I share credentials?
March 12, 2025 at 3:46 pm #16808197
Otto	Hi, In any case, before providing us with access to your site you'll need to have a backup :). You may know another tool that works faster, but you'll need to be able to restore it if something goes wrong. I would like to request temporary access (wp-admin and FTP) to your site to take a better look at the issue. It would be better to a testing site where the issue is replicated. The information you will enter is private, which means only you and I can see and have access to it. Maybe I'll need to replicate your site locally. For this, I'll need to temporarily install a plugin called “Duplicator” or "All in One WP Migration" on your site. This will allow me to create a copy of your site and your content. Once the problem is resolved I will delete the local site. IMPORTANT - Please make a backup of site files and database before providing us access. - If you do not see the wp-admin/FTP fields this means your post & website login details will be made PUBLIC. DO NOT post your website details unless you see the required wp-admin/FTP fields. Best Regards, Otto
March 12, 2025 at 8:13 pm #16809153
Otto	Hello, Thanks. I managed to get the DB (with WP Staging) and check it. Although your database and tables are fully set to utf8mb4, individual tables or columns may still be set differently. In phpMyAdmin, open the structure of key tables like _posts, _postmeta, _terms, _term_taxonomy, and verify each table and column’s collation. As far as I can see wp_posts has latin1_swedish_ci, and there are many more with this collation. Also, even if your database is configured for UTF-8, data might have been saved incorrectly in the past. After fixing the collation, check a problematic post directly in the database via phpMyAdmin to see if it displays Turkish characters correctly in the content fields. If it’s already stored incorrectly, you may need to re-enter or update that text in WordPress so it’s saved properly. Let me know if this helps, please. Best Regards, Otto
March 15, 2025 at 2:23 pm #16819956
bernaT	Hello Otto, thank you for addressing the situation. I've created a PHP my admin user for you. Can I please share it so we can fix this problem once and for all. 1- Can you please adjust the chat so I can reply privately to share your details? 2- I've also used almost all my credit to translate, and all of the translations are wrong. Are we going to be able to use the lost credits again, or do you think it's translated correctly but is just showing wrong on the WordPress side? Thanks!
March 17, 2025 at 1:38 pm #16825385
Otto	Hi, I think it's translated correctly but stored incorrectly due to the wrong collation of the tables. You may need to resend the content to translate but you should not be charged because of the translation memory feature of the Advanced Translation editor: https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/how-wpml-keeps-track-of-your-translations/ I've enabled the private form. ❌ Please make a full website backup before proceeding ❌ Best Regards, Otto
March 21, 2025 at 12:38 pm #16844522
Otto	Hello, The user you provided doesn't have access to the site's DB. Only to the schema and an empty DB (see the screenshot attached). Can you please check? Best Regards, Otto
March 21, 2025 at 12:50 pm #16844548
bernaT	Try the following usernames with the same password, please u452833898_z0aRu u452833898_e1mHL Thanks
March 21, 2025 at 4:03 pm #16845460
Otto	Hello, The second user can't log in. The first one, logs in but the DB there doesn't seem to be the one on your site. It doesn't have WPML tables. I am enabling a new private reply so you can check and share the credentials for the DB. Thanks!
March 24, 2025 at 11:29 am #16851386
Otto	Hello, I changed the collation of the columns of the posts and postmeta tables. Can you please check if this solves the problem? You may need to resend to translate the content. To do so, make a small change in the post title (like adding a space or a dot). Send the post to update the translation, Check if the issue is gone. Let me know your results, please. Best Regards, Otto
March 25, 2025 at 3:53 pm #16858848
bernaT	The problem persists on the published pages, but it looks okay on the translation screen. Please check the photos attached. How can we solve this problem? Best
March 25, 2025 at 3:58 pm #16858899
bernaT	Also, I tried changing the name of the title of the courses, but the previous translations did not come back from memory, and all my automatic translation credit is finished. This is very frustrating! I thought using WPML Pro would make this process much more easier. Please help me fix this problem! Best