Needed to re-install WPML on a site of a client of mine. Since WPML actually does not remove database tables with Reset, I went ahead and did that myself.
Now upon re-installing and setting up WPML, I'm getting several warning messages:
- There is a problem with the String Translation table in your site.
- We have detected a problem with some tables in the database. wp_icl_strings doesn't exist
- WPML is missing some records in the languages tables and it cannot fully work until this issue is fixed.
I have checked the database and the wp_icl_strings table is in fact present.
Went through the troubleshooting and at first the option "Clear language information and repopulate languages" was available, but now not anymore, error message still shows.
Also please can you give me language code, locale and hreflang of Belarusian?
and 'be' as the hreflang code but I'd recommend doing a quick google search to verify this: hidden link..69i57j33i10i160l2.5285j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
In addition with debug set to true there are database errors showing:
WordPress database error: [Unknown column 'jobs.ate_sync_count' in 'field list']
WordPress database error: [Unknown column 'jobs.ate_sync_count' in 'field list']
What I don't understand is when I completely remove WPML including any and all tables from the database as well as all wpml_ related rows from the _options table, so basically doing a clean install. Why all these errors are occurring?
Does that mean that WPML basically does not do a clean install? Next question then would be how to force it to do a clean install?
The translation memory should be attached the ATE ID together with the site key, so somewhere on the ATE server all translations should still be there.
And lastly, this problem is occurring so frequently (looking at the entries in the support forum), why isn't there documentation available on how to solve it. I don't care if it is a technical procedure and people who don't understand that, can always ask for support.
Waiting for days on end for your support to get back to a ticket to solve something that inherently is a bug on WPML side is incredibly frustrating.
I understand this is frustrating especially when you are technically capable of working on the database.
In your case, it seems like there is some minor corruption in the database that can be easily fixed by either removing the false positive message manually or by patching a missing field, however, there are other cases that do not have false positives and do need our team to do extensive database work to patch the issue, which is why we ask you to contact our support.
1. To fully remove WPML you would need to go to WPML->Support->Troubleshooting->RESET WPML
Please do note that it is not recommended to do this if you have existing translations you do not want to lose. I would highly recommend having a backup in place. ( not recommended to do this and count on the ATE Translation memory)
I have not managed to wait for your reply which comes now almost 24 hours after your first reply.
In the meantime I have removed all
_icl_
tables (again) and reset and completely removed WPML a number of times.
When re-installing now, it doesn't even install all tables.
The client is hosted on GoDaddy, which I suspect is an issue, because what I also did in the meantime was to deploy the site on one of my own sandboxes (hosted on Siteground) and there I could set up WPML without any issues.
This actually is the 2nd time in even so many months that a client on GoDaddy had issues with properly installing WPML on its site; is WPML Support aware of any issues between GoDaddy hosting and WPML Setup?
Anyways, after my latest install attempt 5 minutes ago the table wp_icl_translate_job does not even exist, let alone the field ate_sync_count within that table...
Even if the table and the field would have existed, you fail to give me further instructions on what to do. I now have to wait yet another 24 hours for you to get back to me with the next question?
I understand that you want to single out the problem by method of deduction, but knowing how infrequently you have time to get back to a certain ticket, it might be an idea to line up a whole bundle of instructions. Or better even make a documentation page available for the hundreds of other people that face similar problems!
Removing the string translations warning is pointless if it is not a real solution. Disabling a warning in the options table simply hides the warning, but obviously the issue is still there. Thanks for the tip though.
Please note the timezone [America/Los_Angeles (GMT-07:00)] below my username, I would be happy to re-assign this ticket to a supporter closer to your timezone if we have a gap.
{Yesterday I provided my initial reply and did not receive a response from you until after 8 hours which is after my working hours, thus replying at the beginning of my working hours this morning.}
We also have a chat feature that might work better for you in the future as it allows to get instant answers as long as a supporter is available.
1. Regarding the solution, I provided for the String Translation message ---
it is the solution for this issue you are experiencing. IF the db table (wp_icl_strings) exists and 'domain_name_context_md5' does as well then the warning is a false warning and it requires the change in the database in order to be removed. There is nothing to be fixed or patched.
2. I don't recommend removing tables manually.
Simply run the RESET WPML and you will be able to install fresh
3. wp_icl_translate_job IF this table does not exist we would need to take a closer look at the database and the environment.
If you instead wish to try first on your own you can try the following:
-- See a clean database on the sandbox I created (Go to Tools->WP Adminer to view the db) and compare to yours. If you need to manually create a missing field for example. (I assume you know how to do this, thus skipping the details)
-- IF the tables was populated and it's still missing the field ate_sync_count exist then go back to step 1 compare with the clean database i provided and add the missing field manually.
Otherwise, I have enabled the private field reply for our team to access the backend.
At the bottom of Troubleshooting under Reset it clearly says in the first line:
The 'Reset' action will deactivate the WPML plugin after it deletes the WPML tables (tables with the 'icl_' prefix) from the database.
(emphasis mine)
And that is simply NOT the case! Hence I have taken it up myself to delete the tables.
Anyways, long story short, we migrated the site from GoDaddy to Siteground and there the WPML install went without a hitch, something I already knew when placing the site on a sandbox of mine which is also running on Siteground.
This is my 2nd client (within 2 months) that has experienced severe problems on GoDaddy and after migrating to Siteground all those problems disappeared.
I therefore have come to the conclusion that there is some kind of conflict between GoDaddy hosting and setting up WPML and to be honest I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one encountering this.
Thank you for the resources, I have copied the vanilla WPML database tables, so next time I run into issues, I can always simply install that and work my way up from there.
