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

Problem:
After disabling some plugins including WCML to reduce website load, the client found that variable products in the second language on their website were missing options, making it impossible to select variations like 'magnetic clasp' and place orders, although the first language worked fine.
Solution:
We identified that the issue was related to the WPML Editor settings. For products, the WPML Editor needs to be active to maintain the functionality of variable products in multiple languages. We advised the client to ensure that the WPML Editor is enabled for products. This setting can be checked and adjusted via the WPML Editor configuration page in the WordPress admin area.

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This topic contains 20 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Marcel 2 months, 1 week ago.

Assisted by: Marcel.

Author Posts
February 12, 2026 at 9:27 pm #17818982
waldemarK

Swatches
I had WCML active for 2 years, I switched it off 1 week for performance issued, than I actived it again…but all this chaos has been created, not all swatches disappeard, but only around the half, more difficult to see and to understand

Bulk save
did not work for me, needed to open product per product and save, now the filter counters are ok

Loosing Category when switching language
see this video: hidden link

ATE Problems
Years ago the functionallity was
pages, posts > ATE or (old) Page translation
products > only (old) Page translations with locked fields
Now it's very strange
1. When I am inside a DE product and click on 'EN' I get the ATE
2. When I list all EN product and click on edit product I get the (old) Page translaton (even after I changed it in ATE)
WPML should avoid this mix, because using 2 I get the the correct translations, but using 1 I got the ATE with the missing paragraph. No warning!

February 13, 2026 at 10:20 am #17819960

Marcel
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch )

Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)

Hi,

did not work for me, needed to open product per product and save, now the filter counters are ok

I see the other ones are now already saved, so we can't test this further. When I tested it yesterday, it changed the values inside red from "20" to "23".

Loosing Category when switching language
see this video: hidden link;
Thanks for the video. I separated the ticket and answered it on https://wpml.org/forums/topic/woodmart-product-category-does-not-retain-category-selection-when-changing-languages-via-ajax/. It's a known issue inside Woodmart with ajax loading.

ATE Problems
Years ago the functionallity was
pages, posts > ATE or (old) Page translation
products > only (old) Page translations with locked fields
Now it's very strange
1. When I am inside a DE product and click on 'EN' I get the ATE
2. When I list all EN product and click on edit product I get the (old) Page translaton (even after I changed it in ATE)

ATE will only open when you access the translation from the default language (DE) via the sidebar editor or through Translation Management. If you open the English (EN) version directly, ATE will not load. This is expected behavior.

This behavior has a technical reason. WPML sends an XLIFF translation file to ATE, and ATE returns the completed translation back to WordPress / WPML. When you open translated content directly, no synchronization with ATE occurs.

The same logic applies to pages, posts, and other content types. Opening a page or post from the EN backend will always load the standard WordPress editor (or page builder). To avoid confusion, access secondary language content through the Translation Editor rather than opening the translated post directly. You can, of course, disable the Translation Editor if necessary. However, this is generally recommended only when you need different designs per language, for example when certain sections must be removed or structured differently: https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/using-different-translation-editors-for-different-pages/

Best Regards,
Marcel

February 13, 2026 at 4:40 pm #17821403

waldemarK

Hi Marcel,

thank you, I understand the workflow. I was wondering why with this website I could edit the product directly without warning and on another website I got the warning + I could decide if editing directly OR using ATE. This is better, but was not working at kettenmacherin,de
See screenshots

Bildschirmfoto 2026-02-13 um 17.30.34.png
Bildschirmfoto 2026-02-13 um 17.31.23.png
February 16, 2026 at 8:23 am #17824580

Marcel
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch )

Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)

Hi,

You will also see this warning on kettenmacherin. However, this warning applies right now to pages, not products. The reason is straightforward. The "WP Editor" is configured for products, as you can see here:
hidden link. So if the WPML editor is deactivated, the warning will not appear.

On the site in your screenshot, this appears because the WPML Editor is enabled for the CPT “Pages”.

Best regards,
Marcel

February 16, 2026 at 8:57 am #17824770

waldemarK

Ok, maybe tell to devs that this warning could be useful

February 16, 2026 at 9:19 am #17824887

Marcel
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch )

Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)

This is intentional. A warning is unnecessary because the editor is simply not active.

Since everything has been addressed, I will go ahead and mark this as resolved.

Best regards,
Marcel