WPML automatic translation and deletion issue with WP All Import

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

Problem:
The client is importing real estate properties daily from Bitrix into WordPress using WP All Import, with the main import language being English. The properties should automatically translate into Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. However, issues include some English properties not translating into all languages, some translations remaining incomplete, and when properties are deleted from the English import, their translated versions and associated images are not deleted properly.
Solution:
1. Navigate to All Import -> Manage Imports in your WordPress admin.
2. Click Edit on your property import.
3. In Step 4 (Configure Advanced Settings), change the deletion setting to Delete posts that are missing from this import and were created by a previous run of this import.
4. Ensure the option Also delete Attachments is unchecked to prevent media deletion issues.
5. Save your import configuration.
6. After the next import run, verify if the translated versions and their images are also properly removed.
7. To ensure automatic deletion of translations, go to WPML > Settings, scroll to Posts and pages synchronization, and enable When deleting a post, delete translations as well.

If this solution does not resolve your issue, or if it seems outdated or irrelevant to your specific case, we recommend opening a new support ticket. We also 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. For further assistance, please visit our support forum at https://wpml.org/forums/.

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Tagged: Documentation request

This topic contains 38 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Carlos Rojas 1 month, 2 weeks ago.

Assisted by: Carlos Rojas.

Author	Posts
May 5, 2026 at 1:17 pm #18014129
Carlos Rojas WPML Supporter since 03/2017 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)	You are welcome! I will be waiting for your message.
May 5, 2026 at 1:33 pm #18014193
nas-luxuryR	Hey Are you there?
May 5, 2026 at 1:38 pm #18014213
nas-luxuryR	Hi, Now History file not found. Probably you are using wrong encoding or XPath. what happend? our proprties are not showing in website. hidden link. Please check this asap. This will affect our business.
May 6, 2026 at 5:26 am #18015731
nas-luxuryR	Hi, Good morning. Now one property image is missing and some of city comes with chinese language, but its not reflected in website. and not automatically translated hidden link Thanks
May 6, 2026 at 6:27 am #18015842
Carlos Rojas WPML Supporter since 03/2017 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)	Hi there, Thank you very much for your messages. As you described and showed in the screenshot, the import process is causing the issue. If you deactivate the WPML plugins, the results on the import process will be the same, which means that WPML plugins are not the culprit. I recommend that you take a closer look at the import file and make sure it contains the correct information. Once one import is run successfully, WPML will automatically translate the content.
May 6, 2026 at 7:09 am #18015911
nas-luxuryR	Hi, Thanks for messaging. Ok I will check on that issue. But there is some another issue related to translated media, in english site showing only 68,840 medias. But in Arabic 139,014 medias, in chinese 131,530 and in russian 131,741 medias. so we want to delete medias from translated pages. Its not possible to delete manually from our end. But we tried manually with small batches and it causes server error. Please help me to delete the duplicated properties medias from wordpress dashboard.
May 6, 2026 at 10:05 am #18016875
Carlos Rojas WPML Supporter since 03/2017 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)	Hi, Can you confirm you used the WP Bulk Delete plugin to delete the properties?
May 7, 2026 at 5:42 am #18018905
nas-luxuryR	Hi, We manuallly deleted alll the duplcates items from different languages and its around 16000 something in trash and using WP bulk delete plugin deleted all the trashed properties. But media are not deleted . count remains same for media. I have also checked today after the import some of the properties are not automatically translated and i manually translated that . And there is also duplication happening in translated site. Please look on the counts. Please help me to solve the issue asap. Thanks .
May 7, 2026 at 11:09 am #18020096
Carlos Rojas WPML Supporter since 03/2017 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)	Hi there, Thank you very much for your message. Since the properties were deleted using the WP Bulk Delete plugin, I would recommend contacting their support team to check whether the plugin also removes the attached or related media files during the deletion process. It’s possible that the plugin performs the deletion directly via SQL queries, which bypasses the standard WordPress hooks and actions. WPML relies on these WordPress actions to properly handle related translations and media associations, so if they are skipped, WPML cannot process the cleanup correctly. The plugin authors should be able to confirm whether their deletion method triggers the native WordPress delete actions and advise on the correct way to remove related media, together with the properties.
May 14, 2026 at 5:20 am #18034594
nas-luxuryR	Hi, Good day! Its not fully automatically translated everyday after import and if i manually translated its increases the count of properties in tranlated languages, not deleting non existing properties from translated languages. Thanks.
May 14, 2026 at 11:27 am #18035515
Carlos Rojas WPML Supporter since 03/2017 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)	Hi there, I'm sorry, I don't understand your latest message. Could you elaborate a little more and provide some examples so I can have a better understanding?
May 15, 2026 at 6:27 am #18037441
nas-luxuryR	Hi, Good morning! hidden link Please watch this, some of the properties are not tranlsted after import. If i manually translate, the counts of translated properties are changing, not automatically deleting the properties that are deleted from english. Thanks
May 18, 2026 at 8:07 am #18041860
Carlos Rojas WPML Supporter since 03/2017 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)	Hi there, Thank you very much for sharing the video There are a few issues on the site, and I want to start solving them in an orderly manner. The first step I kindly ask you to do is to update all outdated plugins, themes, and the WordPress core in this link: hidden link Important: Don't forget to create a full site backup that you can restore if necessary. Please let me know when all functionalites are up-to-date.
May 21, 2026 at 5:06 am #18049871
nas-luxuryR	Hi, Good morning! Updated all the plugins and watched the workflow 2 days. same problem is there. why this issue is existing?
May 21, 2026 at 9:02 am #18050636
Carlos Rojas WPML Supporter since 03/2017 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)	Hi, good morning! There are still 10 pending updates on the site, including WPML plugins and the WordPress core: hidden link Please update all outdated plugins, themes, and the WordPress core.