Hi Daniel,
I hope this message finds you well. Sorry for the delay in responding as I was away due to vacation.
Our 2nd tier team has conducted a thorough investigation and provided some insights regarding the issue. I'm sharing them below.
Upon investigation, it was found that there have been four revisions of the translation. The first two revisions were edited using the WordPress editor, while the most recent two were managed using the Classic Translation Editor. While examining the version just prior to the current one, we noticed it wasn't fully translated — only around 20% had been translated, and no translated strings were present. Please check this screenshot: hidden link.
Additionally, there appears to be a structural discrepancy between the original page and the translated version. The translated page shows different columns and elements that aren’t present in the original one. Please be informed that such structural modifications cannot be made using the classic translation editor. To compare, you can check the screenshot of the original page here(hidden link) and the translated page at (hidden link).
Based on these findings, it seems that the translated page had been edited using the native WordPress editor. It's important to note that if a page is modified using the native WordPress editor after being translated using the Translation editor, the Translation Editor may not display the elements that are manually added using the Native WordPress editor. I hope you can understand.
If there's still a belief that the translation has disappeared unexpectedly, I'd kindly request you to create another All-in-one Migration package(Excluding the media files, caches, and comments from the "Advanced setting") by 100% completing the translation and share that with us in the next response(The private field to share package is enabled for you). This would enable our team to dive deeper and pinpoint the root of the issue.
Thank you for your understanding and patience. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any more questions or concerns.
In case we believe there are unexpected losses of translation: Do I understand correctly following?
> We should translate 100% of the post in question?
> And sending an All-in-One Migration package would be OK as well?
(the private form only mentions Duplicator...)
Otherwise please let us know the appropriate steps to continue in this matter and send us another invite for private message if needed.
You've got it correctly. Please ensure the page/post where you're experiencing the problem is 100% completed. Once it is done, please create another All-in-One Migration package excluding the media files, caches, and comments.
Copy the link of the package or upload the package to Google Drive/OneDrive and just share that link in the next response. I marked that next reply as private so that you can securely share the access.
Looking forward to your response. I appreciate your patience and kind cooperation in this matter.
Hello Prosenjit
I did 100% translate french, english and italian of the page in question as requested. But did not find a possibility to privately send the URL of the backup-package.
Please send me the possibility to privately reply and I will provide you with more detailed information.
Thanks and kind regards, Daniel
Hello Daniel,
Thank you for following the instructions.
At the moment, we don't have a private field specifically for the All-In-One Migration package. Therefore, I've activated the private field for sharing login details. Any information you add there will be kept private. You can add the link to the package in the next response.
Thank you for understanding the matter. Please let me know if you face any difficulties adding the link. I will be happy to assist.
Hello Daniel,
Thank you for sharing the Package. I already have forwarded that to the 2nd tier team for further investigation.
In response to the questions you have:
1- How 20% of the contents only appear translated: Switching between translation editors can cause this issue. For instance, after adding some content and completing 100% of the translation using WPML Translation Editor, you save it. Now, if you later add more content in the default language and at the time of translation, use the native WordPress Editor and manually input the translation, this translated content won't appear when you return to the WPML Translation Editor. Thus, the WPML Editor might display that only a small portion has been translated. I hope you can understand.
2- Structural changes: The WPML Translation editor monitors content changes. If you modify or remove something, it will be noted and during translation, you'll be asked to update that specific translation. If something is deleted, simply save the translation to see the change in the translated version. The structure will always be copied from the default version of the page.
3- A piece of code is missing: We were testing by removing the code that was shared in one of the messages. It will not be required as it is included in 4.6.6.
Since you have shared the package, our 2nd tier team will investigate further and I will surely let you know if I have any update. Thank you so much for your patience and kind cooperation in this matter.
1- yes, I understand. But this should / could only happen when switching WPML and WordPress Editor between translations.
And it should not occur that (partial) translations from a pre-pre-version survive.
In fact, using WordPress-editor should void all existing WPML-translations regardless of their state of translation (100% or less). Only this would lead to a clean slate in translations.
Let me make an example:
Step 1:
original page created, translation using WPML-editor, only 60%
Step 2:
original page changed, translation using WordPress-editor, 100%
Step 3:
original page changed, translation using WPML-editor
-> one should not see partially translated content of step 1, but a completely empty translation.
3. I understand. But I wonder, why this particular piece of code was missing in our installation, although we had the most current code installed.
Therefore I strongly believe, there's a situation since at least WPML version 4.6.5
Besides of the already mentioned hiccup in menu translations, I forgot to mention another anomaly, which still is perfectly visible in the test-site you already have access to.
When translating original (german) to english, WPML-editor shows two fields with the exact same content for translation (please see screenshot with green and orange circled fields).
In my understanding, the "pointer" to show the currently to be translated field is wrong. It only should show to one (the most current one) of the fields for translation.
I try to provide you and your team with as many information as possible. Thanks for forwarding this and having another look.
1- If you switch between the translation editor, no contents will be removed. WPML is not configured to delete translation at all unless users do it. Each editor has its own translation memory where translations are stored. Consequently, when you switch editors to update the translation, only the translations made with that specific editor will be displayed. However, on the front end, you will always see the translations you've added, no matter which editor was used to input them. I hope you can understand the matter.
2- On the dev site, I can see that the WPML 4.6.6 is installed. As I have mentioned, we have included the substitute of that code in that version. Which is why, you're not seeing that code. rest assured that the content deletion issue will not happen again with the WPML 4.6.6
I also would like to address an oversight on my end regarding the backup request and I'm very sorry for it.
Our aim was to get an old backup or database dump from the point when the translation of the page was 100% completed, not after 100% completing the translation. Unfortunately, in my previous request, I may not have specified this, and I sincerely apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.
Understanding the importance of progressing smoothly, would it be possible for you to share a backup or the database dump from the time you 100% completed the translation for that page? Specifically, we're looking for the backup that was captured after 100% completing the translation of the page and prior to when you notice the issue in the editor for the first time. I hope you can understand.
Once again, I deeply regret the oversight and appreciate your understanding and patience. I already have enabled the private field to share the backup or database dump.
Looking forward to your response and appreciate your patience and kind cooperation in this matter.
Re. backup:
We only have the backup with the issue already visible (i.e. the very first backup we provided), and the later one with the translation 100%.
And it would be nearly impossible to find out which of our backups would cover the exact moment when the original page and their translations were 100% translated. I suspect this would have to be a backup from months - if not years ago.
This phenomenon occurred already for quite some time (years...), and it was only right now when we were able to identify this and present it in a way which you may reproduce the erroneous behaviour.
Re. missing code:
It was only after you mentioned the faulty code (your message from Aug, 29) when I updated the affected module manually. Therefore, the code which is now active has not been installed automatically (i.e. through an update of your plugin-system), but it was added manually by me.
So, the question still is valid, why the normal, automatic update mechanism did not play out the correct and latest code to our installation.
I can understand but as you've said the translation was completed 100% and suddenly they vanished from the editor, we need the backup of that time to track what has changed in the database that the translation has lost. I hope you can understand.
However, I also pulled the database dump from the very first backup that you shared and analyzed it further. Please check the screenshots below.
1. Different Translation editor: hidden link
2. Changes made using the WPML Translation Editor: hidden link
On the First screenshot, If you pay attention to the editor column, you'll see that the Translation editor has been changed twice. At first, the translation was added using the WPML Translation editor, then it was changed to the native WordPress Editor and the translation process was completed using that.
In the second screenshot, you will see the changes made using the WPML Translation editor. Some custom fields(Fusion builder fields) are updated using the WPML Translation editor. For your information, changes that are made manually will not be logged in the WPML translation table.
After a careful analysis, I'm pretty sure that the reason the translation isn't appearing in the WPML editor is that the translation wasn't added using that. As I mentioned in my last response, each translation editor has a memory where all the translations are stored and served from there. Since translation memory can't be shared between editors, changes made in the Native editor will not appear in the WPML Editor.
But, if you can share the Backup of the time when the translation was completed 100%, we can do a comprehensive analysis and let you know what has changed. However, rest assured that using different translation editors is the root cause of the issue.
If you plan to keep using the WPML editor, please ensure that all missing data fields are updated and that the translation is 100% completed within the WPML Translation Editor. As highlighted in my September 1st message, you can copy content from the translated page and paste it into the missing fields. Once you're done with that, hopefully, data will not be missing anymore from the editor at the time of the next translation update.
I hope I'm able to clear things for you. Feel free to let me know if you need further clarification. I will be happy to help.
Regarding the missing code: Did you have manually added the code again even after updating the plugin to 4.6.6? If you have updated the plugin, that code is no longer needed. The 4.6.6 update took place correctly on your side and it is safe to remove that code. For your information, the issue is solved in another way on 4.6.6. So, you may not find that specific code on that specific file.
Since the 4.6.6 version is active on your end, make sure to 100% complete the translation using the WPML Translation editor and check if you can still reproduce the issue.
Let me know if you need any further assistance. I will be happy to help.
Thank you so much for this in-deep reply. However, we are not in the position to produce a backup with all translations 100%.
I now instructed the editor to finish all pending translation jobs made with WPML-translation editor. After having completed those translations, we pull a full backup of this state.
And - let's keep fingers crossed - we hope we won't come across any similar hiccups in the future. But should we encounter any problems, we always may reproduce the backup we will be having pulled.
As I mentioned, we encountered as well some unexplainable situations re. translations of WordPress menus. But here as well - we translate everything to 100%, and will have a backup, just in case any hiccups will occur in the future.
Re. missing code:
I did not add any code manually after updating to the most recent version. But the question still remains unanswered, why our installation obviously missed some code which should have been installed automatically thru an earlier module version.
Thank you for your dedication and valuable work.
It was helpful not only in the way we now have a (hopefully) correct software module environment, but as well in the insight I gained through your most recent screenshots investigating the editor used for any particular translation job.
Most appreciated, stay safe and kind regards, Daniel
Thank you so much for understanding the matter. If you're updating the translation through the WPML Translation editor by keeping WPML 4.6.6, be assured that the problem will not appear again. If you ever face any difficulties, feel free to reach out and we will be happy to help.
Regarding missing code: If you're talking about the code mentioned in this Errata[ https://wpml.org/errata/translations-get-erased-when-editing-a-page/ ], then please be informed that this code is no longer required as we already have included the fix in the latest version of WPML(4.6.6). But, if the question is related to some other code, could you specify which code you're referring to? A screenshot and a bit more information regarding that would be really helpful.
I'm genuinely happy to assist you in this case and your appreciation means a lot! Thank you for your patience and all your cooperation.
Best Regards,
Prosenjit
This ticket is now closed. If you're a WPML client and need related help, please open a new support ticket.
