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

Problem:
If you're trying to use automatic translation from English to other languages and encountering issues because the system tells you that you can only translate from the default language, which is set to English, here's what you need to know.
Solution:
First, ensure that the default language is indeed set to English. If Dutch was the original language used for creating the page, automatic translation will only work from Dutch. Here are the steps you can take:
1. Change the default language to Dutch in WPML → Translation Management, then try translating from there.
2. If the automatic translation from Dutch isn't satisfactory, edit the page in English using the WordPress editor. Then, click "+" to translate into another language. You will be redirected to the Advanced Translation Editor (ATE), where you can translate sentence by sentence. Note that bulk automatic translation won't be available with this method.
For more details on translating your site yourself, visit https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/#translating-your-site-yourself
If none of these solutions work, consider changing the page's original language. You can edit the translated version, disconnect it from the original, and reconnect choosing English as the original language. Remember to backup your database before making any changes.
For guidance on linking already translated pages, visit https://wpml.org/faq/how-to-link-already-translated-pages/

If this solution does not resolve your issue or seems outdated, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have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. If the problem persists, please open a new support ticket at https://wpml.org/forums/forum/english-support/.

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

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This topic contains 5 replies, has 2 voices.

Last updated by Andrey 1 month, 1 week ago.

Assisted by: Andrey.

Author Posts
May 10, 2024 at 2:00 pm #15615182

bramv-19

b. when wanting to automatic translate from english to the other languages except for dutch, it is not possible? telling that i can only translate from default language english, but default language is set to english, so why does this not work?
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May 10, 2024 at 2:23 pm #15615257

Andrey
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский )

Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)

Yes, that is correct. The automatic translation works only from the default language. Please show a few examples. What are the results if you create a new page in English (not to be translated from Dutch)?

May 13, 2024 at 1:43 pm #15621198

bramv-19

But the default language is set to english, so why would it not translate from english now?

To be clear: original was dutch, translated all to english, now set english to default language. but cannot translate anything automaticaly to spanish, french etc. because it says this content was originally created in dutch??? what does that matter?

of course when i create a new product/page, that content is possible, because that was not original in dutch.

Thing is that auto translation is better from english to other languages, then from dutch. That is why i first translated everything from dutch to english and changed the default language after that.

May 13, 2024 at 8:44 pm #15622560

Andrey
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский )

Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)

Thank you for explaining the process to me. I understand the sequence of steps involved. WPML is designed that way and does not allow changes to be made in this process. Considering that Dutch was the original language used for the page, the automatic translation will only work from Dutch.

What I can suggest is:

– change the default language to Dutch and translate from the default language in WPML → Translation Management.

– however, you mentioned that the automatic translation from Dutch isn't perfect enough. You can try to edit the page (using the WordPress editor) in English. Then, you should be able to click "+" to translate the page into another language. You'll be redirected to ATE (Advanced Translation Editor) and can translate the page by sentences. The bulk automatic translation won't be available with this method, and I cannot guarantee that it will work 100% for your content.

https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/#translating-your-site-yourself

May 17, 2024 at 12:36 pm #15639668

bramv-19

Thanks for the answer.
There is no other option to make it work?
Like a workaround to let wpml think english was original language?
Based on what does wpml determin that dutch was the original language?
Is the only option to uninstall wpml and make everything in english first and the install it again and create the dutch pages/product manually. And the other languages with automatic translation.

Greetings Bram

May 17, 2024 at 1:40 pm #15639916

Andrey
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Russian (Русский )

Timezone: Europe/Kyiv (GMT+03:00)

If you uninstall WPML, you will lose all the translations that have been made.

https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/deleting-languages-and-plugin-data-by-doing-a-wpml-reset-on-your-site/

One possible solution is to change the page's original language. You can open the translated version of a page for editing, disconnect the page from the original, and then reconnect it, but choose English as the page's original language. You'll need to discount all translations.

https://wpml.org/faq/how-to-link-already-translated-pages/

Please backup your database before making any changes.

This ticket is now closed. If you're a WPML client and need related help, please open a new support ticket.