Website built with the classic WordPress editor – what should we do with the new translations?

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

Problem:
The client's website was initially translated using the classic WordPress editor. After deciding to switch to the advanced translation editor for adding more languages, they encountered an issue where products, posts, and pages originally created with the WordPress still open in that format. The client is concerned about losing existing translations and the credits used for them if they switch to the new editor for older post IDs.
Solution:
We explained that switching the translation method for content that was previously translated using the WordPress Editor to the WPML Translation Editor could result in the loss of the old translations, as they would be overwritten. This is because the translations are stored in the translation memory of the WPML Translation Editor and are applied when the content is sent for translation. If the client decides to proceed with switching to the Advanced Translation Editor and uses credits for automatic translation, it is not advisable to switch the translation method back to use the "WordPress Editor". If you run into issues where translations open on the WordPress Editor while you expect the Advanced Translation Editor to open, please revise the right sidebar of the original content inside the WordPress Editor and make sure that the translation method is set to "WPML Translation Editor". Also note, that automatic translations are technically not possible when using the WordPress Editor as translation method.

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Tagged: ATE, Documentation request

This topic contains 29 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Giulio 2 days, 23 hours ago.

Assisted by: Andreas W..

Author	Posts
April 10, 2025 at 2:29 pm #16919220
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	Sure, I will enable the private reply form on my upcoming reply, but could you please first answer these questions: 1) You are all the time referring to "Classic Editor". Do you mean the "WordPress Editor" or the "Classic Translation Editor"? 2) Which translation method is set on your original contents? The "WPML Translation Editor" or the "WordPress Editor". Please revise the sidebar of the WordPress Editor on the original content. Screenshot of the option that I am referring to: https://wpml.org/forums/topic/website-built-with-the-classic-wordpress-editor-what-should-we-do-with-the-new-translations/#post-16914470
April 10, 2025 at 2:32 pm #16919247
Giulio	1) I’ve always been referring to the WordPress Editor—not the Classic Translation Editor. 2) On all our original content, the WordPress Editor is selected. The same goes for the second language, which was translated manually. And as a result, it’s now also being used for the third, fourth, and fifth languages that we’ve started translating with WPML AI.
April 10, 2025 at 3:11 pm #16919401
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	If the "WordPress Editor" is the translation method, then the post or page will be translated into all languages using this method. If you want to use automatic translation you need to switch the translation method to "WPML Translation Editor". A dialog will pop up and allow you to change the translation method for the current content, all contents of the same post type or all the site's content. As far I understood, what happened here, is that you had sent those pages or posts to automatic translation while having the "WordPress Editor" set as the translation method. You have been charged credits for that usage but the translations can not be applied, as on the original contents the WordPress Editor is still set as the translation method. Could you please explain what you are expecting?
April 10, 2025 at 3:21 pm #16919499
Giulio	We’re not interested in full automatic translation at this stage. Our plan is to translate everything gradually, by sending content to the translation queue—as we’ve already started doing with WPML AI. From what we’ve understood and read in the feature descriptions, the new WPML Translation Editor is superior to the WordPress Editor. That’s exactly why we’d like to use it for new translations; in fact, we’ve already selected it in the options. However, we didn’t know that if the original post was set to use the WordPress Editor, we’d end up with that editor in the translations as well. So now here’s what I’d like to understand: 1. Considering our situation—where we have a second language already live and fully translated using the WordPress Editor—how should we proceed with the new languages? Is it safe to switch to the WPML Translation Editor in the original posts if we’ll still need to work with the second language? Or are we risking trouble? 2. I also noticed that the feature comparison between the WordPress Editor and the WPML Translation Editor says that the Glossary only works with the WPML Translation Editor. And yet, we’ve translated some product pages that were set to use the WordPress Editor, and the Glossary wasn’t ignored—in fact, WPML seemed to respect some of the terms we had added. 3. Lastly, in the worst-case scenario—if we continue to use the WordPress Editor even for new translations—what would happen in the future? Will WPML eventually phase out support for it?
April 10, 2025 at 3:40 pm #16919676
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	1 - The translation method is set per page or post and is used for all languages. If you choose "WordPress Editor" as the translation method, then this will be the method for all translations in all languages. If you want to use Translation Management you will need to switch the method to "WPML Translation Editor" and then all translations will use this method. In this case, the translation will need to be done completely again. Old translations from the WordPress Editor will not be overwritten. 2 - The Glossary can only work when using the WPML Translation Editor, or in this case the Advanced Translation Editor. The same counts for features like automatic translation. 3 - It is very unlikely that WPML would stop supporting the WordPress Editor as a translation method. It is the only method that can be used if you try to have different layouts, designs, and contents in different languages.
April 10, 2025 at 3:49 pm #16919708
Giulio	Given your response to point no. 3, to optimise things, we could continue using WPML AI along with the WordPress Editor for all languages—this would avoid the compatibility issues that seem likely, considering our current setup. I would make the switch to the new WPML Translation Editor, but I’m genuinely concerned about losing the manually translated content in our second language. I don’t want to run into problems, especially since that subdomain is performing well on our site and already ranks nicely on Google. So may I ask—what would you suggest we do?
April 10, 2025 at 4:43 pm #16919864
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	You can not use WPML AI along with the WordPress Editor. WPML AI is a translation engine that is only available when using the Advanced Translation Editor. (WPML Translation Editor) This means, you will need to switch to "WPML Translation Editor" as the translation method and this will create completely new translations.
April 10, 2025 at 4:50 pm #16919926
Giulio	Sorry, but I’ve already translated some product pages using WPML AI. These product pages are set to use the WordPress Editor. What am I missing here?
April 10, 2025 at 6:18 pm #16920232
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	It is true that you can send any post or page to automatic translation by going to WPML > Translation Management > Dashboard. The difference is, that as long the "WordPress Editor" is enabled on the original content, those translations will not take effect. The WPML AI is used inside the Advanced Translation Editor and for this, the translation method needs to be changed to "WPML Translation Editor".
April 10, 2025 at 6:36 pm #16920304
Giulio	Are you referring only to pages and posts, or also to WooCommerce products? I’m asking because so far, we’ve only translated products—and the translation not only went through, but it’s working. The content was translated.
April 10, 2025 at 7:13 pm #16920341
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	This counts for any post, page, or custom post type. Do you mean that you have sent products to automatic translation and they were translated, even while having the translation method for those products set to "WordPress Editor"? If so, please see the translation method to "WPML Translation Editor" for those products. Otherwise, the WordPress Editor will open if you try to edit the translation.
April 11, 2025 at 7:54 am #16921415
Giulio	Exactly—we sent the products for translation using WPML AI, even though the WordPress Editor was set on the product page in the primary language. Once we received confirmation that the translation was complete, we tried accessing the product page via Translation Management, but there was no way to do it. So in the end, we tried the classic method—through the WordPress Editor. And the product page had indeed been translated correctly.
April 11, 2025 at 2:10 pm #16923081
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	If you do not want the product to keep opening its translation on the "WordPress Editor", you will need to enable the "WPML Translation Editor" as the translation method for this product.
April 12, 2025 at 8:55 am #16925072
Giulio	Okay, but you told me that if I do that, I’ll lose the translation that was just completed. So what should I do?
April 12, 2025 at 6:01 pm #16925585
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	If you switch to the WPML Translation Editor as a translation method, the product will use the translations that you created, when sending this product to automatic translation with WPML AI. What will be lost is any manual translation that has been created directly on the product. To understand this behavior better, I suggest you read these documents: https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/using-different-translation-editors-for-different-pages/ https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/how-wpml-keeps-track-of-your-translations/ --- If this is still unclear to you, please name me the permalinks or title of one of the affected products, pages or posts and I will look it up inside the system.