Problem: The client reported that after using WPML's automatic translation feature, some pages displayed blank content (post_content) on the front end, even though the translation appeared complete in the Advanced Translation Editor (ATE). No PHP errors were logged, and the issue persisted even after database changes. The problem occurred when editing auto-translated pages where only part of the text was editable in the Translation Editor, and the uneditable text reverted to English. Solution: We recommended re-initiating the automatic translation from the Translation Dashboard. This approach ensured that the full text appeared in the Translation Editor and the translation was correctly reflected on the displayed page. Additionally, we suggested verifying that all WPML plugins are up-to-date to avoid similar issues, as outdated plugins or errors in the ATE logs could contribute to such problems.
If this solution does not resolve your issue, or if it seems outdated or irrelevant to your case, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix,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. If problems persist, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum for further assistance.
Problem: You are encountering two issues with bulk machine translation in WPML. The first issue is that parts of the content are not translated despite the translation manager indicating complete translation. The second issue is that some pages appear empty after translation. Solution: This is usually related to the emojis that are being used on the content. The DB tables are using utf8mb3, which is insufficient to translate contents with emojis. To resolve these issues, we recommend running specific SQL queries on your production database to change the collation from utf8mb3 to utf8mb4 for certain tables. First, ensure you perform a full database backup. Then, execute the following SQL queries:
ALTER TABLE `wp_icl_strings`
ROW_FORMAT=DYNAMIC,
CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4
COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
ALTER TABLE `icl_string_translations`
ROW_FORMAT=DYNAMIC,
CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4
COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
After running these queries, update the page in the primary language and retranslate it. If the issue persists or if this solution becomes outdated, please check related known issues, verify the version of the permanent fix, and confirm that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If necessary, do not hesitate to open a new support ticket.
