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[Resolved] Translations reverting back to English whenever a change is made to the page.
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: If you're experiencing issues where translations revert back to English after making changes to a page in Elementor, even minor ones, this might be due to the way WPML handles duplicated pages and their translations. This problem occurs when a page translated into another language (e.g., German) reverts to English upon re-saving the original English page in Elementor. Solution: We recommend setting a consistent workflow for managing translations. Here are the steps you can follow: 1. Avoid mixing different translation workflows (manual Elementor edits, WPML Translation Editor, and external services like LanguageWire) on the same page. 2. If a page is duplicated in WPML, ensure it is marked as 'Independently Translated' before making edits. This prevents the original page's updates from overwriting the translation. 3. Choose one method for translation—either use the WPML Translation Editor (with or without LanguageWire) or manually translate using Elementor after detaching the duplicate. Stick to this chosen method consistently to avoid conflicts.
If this solution does not apply to your case, or if it seems outdated, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have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. If issues persist, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum for further assistance.
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Hello, we are having a problem with translations reverting back to English whenever a change is made on a page. It is making it very inconvenient to address minor layout changes and QA responsiveness.
We have been able to consistently reproduce the problem, but we are not sure why it is happening or how to fix it. The behavior is as follows:
1. A page is translated into German (for example).
2. A change is made to the English version of that page in Elementor, even something as minor as adding a period and then removing it, which triggers a re-save.
3. When viewing the German version again, all content has reverted back to English, even though the German translation still exists.
This is affecting the live site’s translations, with many missing or reverting to English, making it a high priority to resolve. Thank you very much for the help.
So, let me describe the whole situation. There is a live site and there is a staging. All the pages were translated via LanguageWire on staging and staging was pushed to live. We left staging as main site for WPML. After that the design of the staging was updated, as a result we had to translate all the pages individually because Elementor didn't recognize translations. We did this manually, so that the pages were not sent to LanguageWire once again, by pressing Overwrite with English content.
The updated staging was pushed to live once again. However, I don't see a possibility right now how to mark which site is main and which is a copy. The main problem is that when you now make any changes on the English page on live site, translations on DE, ES and FR pages disappear and English text is shown. I understood, that I need to open translated page pressing pencil and press Translate independently.
I did this, but for some pages I see this - hidden link. Some fields are marked with strings. And even though such fields are shown as translated, on front pages they are not.
How this can be fixed? The problem is different people work on the site and they can't be forbidden to open either only Elementor editor or wpml editor. We need to fix this. What should we do to get rid of this mess? Thank you in advance.
I think the issue is that the content becomes overwritten when using Elementor, LanguageWire, and the WPML Translation Editor after duplicating pages.
When you duplicate a page in WPML, the translated page remains linked to the original. This means:
1. The translated page is set to “Duplicate” status.
2. Any changes made to the original page will automatically overwrite the duplicate.
The duplicate is not meant to be edited independently until it is detached.
Now, when multiple translation workflows are mixed (for example: duplicating pages, then editing directly with Elementor, then sending content to LanguageWire, then opening the page in WPML Translation Editor), conflicts can occur because:
WPML Translation Editor expects to control the translation content.
If you edit the page directly in Elementor, WPML considers that content out of sync.
LanguageWire creates translation jobs.
When a job is completed, WPML pushes that translated content into the page, which can overwrite manual edits made in Elementor.
Duplicated pages remain synchronized.
If the duplicate was never converted to an independent translation, changes to the original page will continue to overwrite the translated version.
So in short:
When the same page is handled by duplication, manual Elementor edits, and translation jobs (LanguageWire/WPML Editor), WPML will always prioritize the translation workflow it is managing — which can result in content being replaced.
Best practice going forward:
Please choose one consistent workflow per page:
-Either use WPML Translation Editor (with or without LanguageWire),
or
-Translate manually using Elementor (after detaching the duplicate),
but avoid mixing both methods on the same page.
Thank you for your reply. But in this situation. Should I just detach the pages and update them via Elementor manually? I mean can I use the already created pages? Or Should I delete them and create new pages? Please advise. Thank you in advance.
You don't need to delete any translations. Just edit the translation to mark it as Independently Translated. Then, choose if you want to use Elementor, WPML Editor or external Translation Services and stick with whichever translation method you choose instead of switching to different editors. Then you should not run into any problems.
