I'm having a problem with variants in other languages.
I have a product attribute called "Rozměr" (= Dimension) that is set to "Translatable
use translation if available or fallback to default language" in WPML > Settings > Taxonomies Translation
I recently changed this setting to "Translatable only show translated items" and for a short while it was even set to "Not translatable".
The problem started after I changed this setting.
Now, however, I have a problem where the variations are missing in other languages. Specifically, when I perform a synchronization
in Taxonomy Translation or "Synchronize product variations" in WPML > Troubleshooting, the variations sync and are OK in all languages. But after a while, they disappear again on their own, and I have to keep running the synchronization over and over.
When I look at the product details in a secondary language, I can see the variations there, but the correct attribute isn’t selected for the variation, and instead it says “Any [taxonomy name]”
All attributes and taxonomies are translated.
For example, last night we ran a synchronization and the variants were OK, but this morning they disappeared again and we had to run the synchronization repeatedly until the issue was resolved.
I need to eliminate the root cause of the problem so I can be sure the variants won’t disappear anymore. This error is causing direct financial losses for the client.
I’ll be happy to help with this unusual and troublesome issue. Based on the description alone, I haven’t encountered a case like this before, so I would kindly ask for:
* if possible, access to an environment where the issue is reproducible - ideally not a production environment. This would allow me to create a copy (e.g. via Duplicator) and properly diagnose the root cause. I will mark my next reply as private.
* confirmation whether there are any plugins or cron jobs running in the background that could affect product data and potentially cause desynchronization (e.g. stock updates, content updates, etc.). This could significantly help narrow down the root cause
* clarification whether the issue affects all products or only a specific group
Please share feedback and access so I can investigate further.
I ran some diagnostics directly in the database and found that the translated versions still display the slug from the original language; see the database output:
SELECT
pm.post_id,
p.post_parent,
it.language_code,
pm.meta_key,
pm.meta_value
FROM wp_postmeta pm
JOIN wp_posts p ON p.ID = pm.post_id
LEFT JOIN wp_icl_translations it ON it.element_id = pm.post_id AND it.element_type = 'post_product_variation'
WHERE p.post_type = 'product_variation'
AND p.post_parent IN (9361, 37138) -- original product id, translated product id
AND pm.meta_key LIKE 'attribute_%'
ORDER BY pm.post_id, pm.meta_key;
You can see that IDs 37140, 37144, and 37145 have the same slug as the original product, and that's causing problems. Variants with the same slug as original are not visible at the translated product page.
Please let us know if you need any additional database exports or logs.
I tried to reproduce the issue on my side so I can properly diagnose it, and a few questions came up:
* I can see that WPML-related plugins are almost up to date, but WooCommerce is about “7 versions behind”
* is there any blocker preventing WooCommerce from being updated?
* has the issue been occurring consistently, or did it start recently (e.g. after an update)?
* would it be possible to update WPML plugins to the latest version?
* I also noticed that “WPML Synchronize Post Status” is installed, but I couldn’t find any reference in the forum threads explaining why it was added (I’ll be able to review the configuration once I have access to the environment copy)
I’m asking these questions to better understand the root cause.
I looked into the cause and I think I figured it out... just a rookie mistake. How could I have missed that!
Root cause probably identified: switching taxonomy translation mode caused WPML to register attribute_pa_* custom fields as Copy in Translation Management settings. This silently overwrote correctly translated variation attribute slugs on every sync.
Fix: setting the field to Don't translate in WPML → Translation Management → Custom Fields.
I believe this fix will help; if not, I'll let you know.
As for "WPML Synchronize Post Status," I don't remember exactly. We've had it on our site since 2023, and I think we used it to solve a problem so we wouldn't have to set product visibility separately for each language. Do you have any recommendations regarding this plugin?
I’m very glad that we managed to minimize the resolution time for this issue - thank you for sharing your solution.
Based on your experience, I’ll try to propose some UI improvements to better illustrate what’s happening and how to avoid similar situations in the future.
Regarding “WPML Synchronize Post Status” - I asked about it because it might have influenced certain functionalities, and only by looking into its configuration can we fully understand its impact.
If you can confirm that everything is now working correctly, I would kindly ask you to close this thread. Of course, if any issues arise, feel free to open a new one at any time.
