This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: If you're experiencing a critical error when updating or activating WPML Multilingual CMS (sitepress-multilingual-cms) on your website, it might be due to mismatched versions of WPML components. The client had updated WPML String Translation and WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency successfully, but encountered a critical error upon updating WPML Multilingual CMS. Solution: We recommend ensuring that all WPML components, including WPML Multilingual CMS (WPML Core), are updated to their latest compatible versions. This should resolve the critical error as all components will be synchronized in terms of version compatibility.
If this solution does not resolve your issue, or if it seems outdated or irrelevant to your specific case, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the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 problems persist, please open a new support ticket.
This is the technical support forum for WPML - the multilingual WordPress plugin.
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I am experiencing a critical error when updating WPML on my website.
Current situation:
* I successfully updated WPML String Translation.
* I successfully updated WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency.
* However, when I update or activate WPML Multilingual CMS (sitepress-multilingual-cms), the website immediately shows a critical error.
I initially received the following message:
"WPML Update is Incomplete
You are running updated woocommerce-multilingual and wpml-string-translation, but the following components are not updated:
Your site will not work as it should in this configuration."
To resolve this, I manually uploaded the latest version of sitepress-multilingual-cms via SFTP. As soon as the plugin was activated, the website crashed with a critical error.
I then restored the previous plugin folder, but the issue persisted. Because of this, I am now restoring a full website backup.
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)
Hi Jim,
I can see that WPML Multilingual CMS is still running version 4.6.11, while WPML String Translation and WooCommerce Multilingual have already been updated. This explains the "WPML Update is Incomplete" message.
The missing piece is understanding why the WPML core plugin update fails and triggers the critical error.
I would eventually also need to request temporary access (WP-Admin and FTP) to your site
– preferably to a test site where the problem has been replicated if possible –
in order to be of better help and check if some configurations might need to be changed
Your next answer will be private which means only you and I have access to it.
❌ Please backup your database and website ❌
✙ I would additionally need your permission to de-activate and re-activate Plugins and the Theme, and to change configurations on the site. This is also a reason the backup is really important.
✙ Please add the Links to the […] Edit Screen, the Page/Post where you insert the […] and the corresponding Front End Page/Screen
I don’t have a staging site so you’ll have to make changes on my live site. However it’s not possible right now to do so, I have another question; could you provide me the ZIP of these 2 other plugins I already updated which is working with sitepress version I have now? So my site is working properly again till the issue is resolved.
If your hosting provider does not offer a staging environment, you can also use a plugin such as [WP Staging](hidden link) as a quick alternative for the investigation.
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)
Hi Jim,
WPML 4.6.11 was released together with WPML String Translation 3.2.12 and WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency 5.3.6, so those would be the recommended versions to use alongside WPML 4.6.11.
That said, could you let me know why you need to stay on WPML 4.6.11? If possible, I would generally recommend updating all WPML components to their latest versions, as they include important compatibility, performance, and security improvements.
Once you are ready to update to WordPress 7.0, you can also update WPML to our current release, WPML 4.9.5.
I changed back the string translation to 3.2.12, but nothing has changed back to normal. My site is still giving the error and also giving English and dutch together.
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)
Hi,
I would eventually also need to request temporary access (WP-Admin and FTP) to your site
– preferably to a test site where the problem has been replicated if possible –
in order to be of better help and check if some configurations might need to be changed
Your next answer will be private which means only you and I have access to it.
❌ Please backup your database and website ❌
✙ I would additionally need your permission to de-activate and re-activate Plugins and the Theme, and to change configurations on the site. This is also a reason the backup is really important.
✙ Please add the Links to the […] Edit Screen, the Page/Post where you insert the […] and the corresponding Front End Page/Screen
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)
Hi Jim,
Thank you for the access details.
Before I start making changes on the site, I would like to better understand the actual issue.
The message about the WPML versions being incompatible is expected in this situation. Since WPML Multilingual CMS is still on version 4.6.11 while the other WPML components were updated, WPML correctly displays a warning that the installation is using a mismatched set of versions.
What I still need to clarify is the actual error you are currently experiencing.
Could you please provide:
- The exact error message you are seeing (a screenshot is fine).
- A URL where I can see the Dutch and English content mixed together.
- Whether the site is currently showing any critical error, or if the site itself is loading normally and only the content/language behavior is incorrect.
Once I can see the specific problem, I'll investigate further.
Hi, I updated string translation and WooCommerce but after I update the other, my site gives a critical error and I have to upload a backup before its working again.
Before the update everything worked fine. For example hidden link the menu buttons are in English now on the dutch side. This was dutch previously. Some things are done with loco translate so that's still dutch.
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)
Hi Jim,
Could you please share the exact critical error that occurs when updating WPML Multilingual CMS?
At the moment, it is a bit difficult to troubleshoot the issue, as WPML Core is still running an older version, the WPML add-ons have already been updated, and I can also see that there are currently 29 plugin updates pending on the site.
The exact error message or debug log will help us determine whether the issue is related to WPML itself or to a compatibility issue with another plugin or theme.
After I updated wpml I get this error on my whole site. In my e-mailbox I get this error:
Hallo!
WordPress heeft een ingebouwde functie die detecteert wanneer een plugin of thema een fatale fout op je site veroorzaakt en je op de hoogte stelt met deze geautomatiseerde e-mail.
In dit geval heeft WordPress een fout gevonden met één van je plugins, WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency.
Bezoek eerst je site (hidden link) en controleer op zichtbare problemen. Bezoek vervolgens de pagina waar de fout is opgetreden (hidden link) en controleer op zichtbare problemen.
Neem contact op met je host voor hulp bij het verder onderzoeken van dit probleem.
Als je site kapot lijkt en je kunt je dashboard niet normaal openen, heeft WordPress nu een speciale "herstelmodus". Hiermee kun je veilig inloggen op je dashboard en verder onderzoeken.
hidden link
Om je site veilig te houden, verloopt deze link in 1 dag. Maak je daar echter geen zorgen over: een nieuwe link wordt naar je gemaild als de fout opnieuw optreedt nadat deze is verlopen.
Wanneer je hulp zoekt bij dit probleem, kun je worden gevraagd om enkele van de volgende informatie:
WordPress versie 6.8.3
Actief thema: BuddyBoss Child (versie 1.0.0)
Huidige plugin: WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency (versie 5.5.1)
PHP versie 8.1.11
Fout details
============
Een fout van het type E_ERROR werd veroorzaakt op regelnummer 298 van het bestand /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-multilingual/inc/class-wcml-wc-gateways.php. Foutmelding: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function icl_get_string_id() in /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-multilingual/inc/class-wcml-wc-gateways.php:298
Stack trace:
#0 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-multilingual/inc/class-wcml-wc-gateways.php(94): WCML_WC_Gateways->get_gateway_string_id()
#1 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-multilingual/inc/class-wcml-wc-gateways.php(79): WCML_WC_Gateways->register_gateway_settings_strings()
#2 [internal function]: WCML_WC_Gateways->loaded_woocommerce_payment_gateways()
#3 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/vendor/wpml/fp/core/Fns.php(358): call_user_func_array()
#4 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(324): WPML\FP\Fns::WPML\FP\{closure}()
#5 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-includes/plugin.php(205): WP_Hook->apply_filters()
#6 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/class-wc-payment-gateways.php(95): apply_filters()
#7 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/class-wc-payment-gateways.php(77): WC_Payment_Gateways->init()
#8 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/class-wc-payment-gateways.php(50): WC_Payment_Gateways->__construct()
#9 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/class-woocommerce.php(1178): WC_Payment_Gateways::instance()
#10 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-multilingual/classes/multi-currency/payment-gateways/class-wcml-currencies-payment-gateways.php(212): WooCommerce->payment_gateways()
#11 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-multilingual/classes/multi-currency/payment-gateways/class-wcml-currencies-payment-gateways.php(97): WCML_Currencies_Payment_Gateways->get_available_payment_gateways()
#12 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(324): WCML_Currencies_Payment_Gateways->init_gateways()
#13 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(348): WP_Hook->apply_filters()
#14 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-includes/plugin.php(517): WP_Hook->do_action()
#15 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-settings.php(749): do_action()
#16 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-config.php(139): require_once('...')
#17 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-load.php(50): require_once('...')
#18 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-admin/admin.php(35): require_once('...')
#19 /var/www/gstalearning.nl/public_html/wp-admin/update-core.php(10): require_once('...')
#20 {main}
thrown
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)
Hi,
The error indicates that WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency was updated successfully, but WPML Core and/or WPML String Translation may not have been updated at the same time.
As a result, WooCommerce Multilingual is looking for a function that should be provided by WPML String Translation, but that function is not available because the WPML plugins are currently not on matching versions.
I would recommend updating WPML Multilingual CMS (WPML Core) as well and ensuring that all WPML components are running the latest compatible versions. Once all WPML plugins are updated successfully, the error should no longer occur.
