[Resolved] wpml: Unable to register: Site key not matching
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client is unable to register WPML on their multisite network because the site key is not matching, and they receive an error message indicating that they are using an expired WPML account despite having an active plan. Solution: We recommend two options depending on whether the client wants all sites in the multisite to use WPML or only specific subsites: Option 1 (all subsites use WPML): 1. Unregister the plugin at the sub-site (e.g., https://poxclin.com/ch) using the 'unregister' link from the Commercial screen. 2. Network activate the WPML plugin from the main site's plugins page and register it with the key from the WPML.org accounts > sites page. This should resolve the site key mismatch and allow WPML to be used on any website in the network. Option 2 (specific sites use WPML): 1. Unregister the WPML plugin at the specific sub-site using the 'Unregister WPML from this site' link on the Commercial screen. 2. Register a new site on WPML.org for only this sub-site to generate a dedicated site key, and apply it to register the WPML plugin. This treats the WPML installation as if it were a single site, requiring individual registration for each sub-site.
If these steps do not resolve your issue, or if the solution seems outdated or irrelevant to your specific case, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the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. Additionally, you can open a new support ticket for further assistance at WPML support forum.
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Background of the issue:
We have an active plan in WPML, but we are unable to register because the site key is not matching. We get the message 'You are using an expired WPML account.' The issue can be seen at hidden link.
Symptoms:
Unable to register: Site key not matching. Error message: 'You are using an expired WPML account.'
Questions:
Why is the site key not matching?
Why are we getting the message 'You are using an expired WPML account' despite having an active plan?
Not yet, we are still investigating what's causing this. Meanwhile, could please provide me with access to hidden link? We'll only check some information and won't change any settings. Please make sure to have a full website backup before providing access.
You will find the needed fields for this below the comment area when you log in to leave your next reply. The information you will enter is private which means only you and I can see and have access to it.
IMPORTANT
- Please make a backup of site files and database before providing us access.
- If you do not see the wp-admin/FTP fields this means your post & website login details will be made PUBLIC. DO NOT post your website details unless you see the required wp-admin/FTP fields. If you do not, please ask me to enable the private box. The private box looks like this:
It seems there's some misconfiguration on the multisite setup, regarding the registration of WPML. Our specialists advised you to “to have it registered on the main site and then activate the plugin for the network.”
Did the solution we offer not work? Please share the details with me, which steps you followed and what was the result. This way I can better analyze what can be causing this behavior.
It is already activated in the two network site's only so I deactivated the all wpml and wpml related plugins and activated it still have the same error.
We have lots websites have wmpl so we are not manually setup the key. we have config file it automatically setup the key in all wpml related site.
basically it is single code WordPress code run on mulltiple websites.
Hey there, so we were able to figure out what was going on. I just want to confirm before offering the solution: do you want to have WPML on all subsites of poxclin.com/wp?
Let me know. The solution varies, depending on what exactly you want to achieve.
As said earlier we have lot of websites. can you suggest both solutions because some websites have all subsite as wpml and some websites are one only 2 subsites as wpml.
in poxclin case ch and be are the wpml websites others are normal multisites.
Sure. The 2 options are: when you want all sites in the multisite to have WPML active, or if you want to have specific subsites with WPML and others without.
The issue we found in the example you sent, is that WPML wasn't network activated, and some keys weren't in fact matching. The explanation about network activation is here:
Option 1 (all subsites use WPML):
• in the sub-site hidden link unregister the plugin by using the unregister link from the Commercial screen hidden link and deactivate it
• in the main site on the plugins page hidden link network activate the WPML plugin, register it with the key from the wpml.org accounts > sites page for hidden link
-> this should resolve the communication issues and particularly the message about site key not matching
-> by network activating the WPML plugins they will be already activated and possible to use on any of the websites on the network
Note that option 1 is the preferred way and the one we mention on our documentation for registering and using WPML on a multisite installation for WordPress. Remembering the documentation: Multilingual Support for WordPress Multisites. In this option, only the main site must be registered with a key.
Option 2 (specific sites in the multisite use WPML, while others don't):
if the client does not want to have the WPML plugin network activated, which means activated on all the websites of the multisite network
• in the hidden link website on the Commercial screen hidden link unregister the WPML plugin by using the link Unregister WPML from this site that is available
• follow the link to register a new site on wpml.org for only this sub-site under his account, this will generate a dedicated site key to the specific sub-site that should be applied to the site to register WPML plugin
-> this should resolve the communication issues and particularly the message about site key not matching
-> by using this option the client is in effect using WPML as if it was a single site installation hence needs to register under his account and individually activate WPML on each of the sub-sites on the multisite installation
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This will require some extra work, but done correctly you should waste no more time with is. Let me know.
when I click unregister I got this message. "Site-key was set by OTGS_INSTALLER_SITE_KEY_WPML, most likely in wp-config.php. Please remove the constant before attempting to unregister"
We are using OTGS_INSTALLER_SITE_KEY_WPML to automatically register in the sites.
I'm assuming you are following option #01, is that right?
If so, you need to completely remove all the site keys, independent of how they were implemented. If you have them in the secret.yml file, remove them from there and also remove any site key setting from wp-config.php. Subsequently, you can register the main site (hidden link) via the admin dashboard, as instructed, and network activate it.
