WPML is breaking my site

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

Problem:
You are experiencing deprecated warnings related to sitepress-multilingual-cms and a critical error message stating 'There has been a critical error on this website' when the wp-config is turned on.
Solution:
The issue might be due to the PHP version compatibility with WordPress. We recommend downgrading to PHP 8.3 or lower as WordPress is not yet fully compatible with PHP 8.4. You can check the compatibility details here: WordPress PHP Compatibility.

If this solution does not resolve your issue or seems irrelevant due to being outdated or not applicable to your case, we highly recommend checking related known issues at WPML Known Issues, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and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 with us for further assistance.

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Tagged: Exception

This topic contains 6 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Lauren 2 weeks, 2 days ago.

Assisted by: Lauren.

Author	Posts
August 20, 2025 at 2:50 pm
rabinG	Background of the issue: I am trying to get my site running without issues. When we turn on the wp-config, we see a lot of deprecated warnings related to sitepress-multilingual-cms. The issue can be seen at hidden link. Symptoms: The site is not running at all. There are deprecated warnings related to sitepress-multilingual-cms. I got a critical error message: 'There has been a critical error on this website. Please check your site admin email inbox for instructions.' Questions: Why is WPML causing deprecated warnings? How can I resolve the critical error on my website?
August 20, 2025 at 4:11 pm
August 20, 2025 at 7:05 pm
August 20, 2025 at 7:06 pm #17335419
Lauren WPML Supporter since 10/2015 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: America/New_York (GMT-04:00)	Please see my previous private reply and let me know once the migration has completed. THanks!
August 22, 2025 at 4:57 am #17339360
rabinG	The migration has been completed. Please investigate and let us know what is the issue, we need to get this resolved ASAP. Thanks for your support.
August 22, 2025 at 5:07 am #17339380
rabinG	by the way we are using php 8.4.10 version hidden link for more details if it helps.
August 22, 2025 at 9:43 pm #17341450
Lauren WPML Supporter since 10/2015 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: America/New_York (GMT-04:00)	On the test site, I deactivated all plugins except for WPML and switched to a default theme and was able to activate both the core plugin and string translation without issue. I then reactivated your theme and still no error. So then I activated all other plugins and still no error. Perhaps the issue is related the version of PHP. Can you test downgrading the PHP version and let me know if the error is resolved?
August 25, 2025 at 2:18 pm #17345415
rabinG	Hi, we still see the issue on the live site. Would you please recommend the version of PHP we should downgrade to? Are the deprecated issues related to the PHP version? Please advise.
August 25, 2025 at 5:24 pm #17345901
Lauren WPML Supporter since 10/2015 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: America/New_York (GMT-04:00)	Since WordPRess is not yet fully compatible with 8.4 (https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/php-compatibility-and-wordpress-versions/) I suggest 8.3 or lower.Most likely that is causing the deprecated errors. Please let me know if that resolves the error.