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

Problem:
The client needs to control the publishing status of pages translated through WPML and a third-party service, Smartling. Specifically, the client wants to prevent automatic publishing of translated pages and ensure that corrections to already published translations do not revert them to draft status.
Solution:
1. To prevent a translated page from being automatically published upon receipt from a translation service, you can adjust the settings in WPML. Navigate to WPML > Settings > Multilingual Content Setup Tab > Translated documents options. Here, you can set 'When you receive completed translations' and 'When you publish the original post' to save translations as drafts instead of publishing them automatically.
2. If you are correcting a typo in an already published translation, the status of the page will not change to draft; it will remain published.
3. Currently, it is not possible to set different automatic actions (publish or draft) for different types of posts. However, we have noted your interest in this feature and will consider it for future updates.

Please note that the solution provided might be outdated or not applicable to your specific case.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. If the issue persists, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum.

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This topic contains 5 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Kor 1 week, 2 days ago.

Assisted by: Kor.

Author Posts
February 18, 2025 at 1:16 pm #16719071

simpleT

Background of the issue:
I am trying to send a blog to a translation service using WPML. Once the translation is done, I want to approve it on my end before it is published. I also want to ensure that if a page is already translated, like a German version, it doesn't revert to a draft when I receive the translation.

Symptoms:
No specific issue or error message mentioned.

Questions:
How can I prevent a translated page from being automatically published when received from a translation management system?
How do I ensure that an already translated page, like a German version, does not become a draft upon receiving a new translation?

February 19, 2025 at 5:07 am #16721741

Kor
Supporter

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)

Thanks for contacting us.

I'm quite confused about your questions. You wanted to prevent a translated page from being automatically published when received from a translation management system and you do not want the page to become a draft upon receiving a new translation. If you wish to prevent a page from being published, it will be set as drafts.

You can locate the option in WPML > Settings > Multilingual Content Setup Tab > Translated documents options > When you receive completed translations and When you publish the original post.

February 19, 2025 at 9:57 am #16723403

simpleT

this is my situation currently.

/blog/single-blog - > I send this to translation to our translation service - Smartling.
We receive it back from them in DE.
I check /de/blog/single-blog-de - its published.

Okay, if we swap to "Save the translated post as a draft" in WPML

/blog/single-blog - > I send this to translation to our translation service - Smartling.
We receive it back from them in DE.
I check /de/blog/single-blog-de - its in draft.

HOWEVER

what if I just want to fix a typo on an already published DE translation.
so we have
/blog/single-blog - published already, I send it again to smartling for a typo fix
/de/blog/single-blog-de - published already

Will the page I receive back using the setting "Save the translated post as a draft" be published or set to draft retroactively?

Also, is it possible to separate the flow where some post types get set as draft and some get set as published automatically?

February 19, 2025 at 12:53 pm #16724524

Kor
Supporter

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)

Thanks for getting back to me.

Editing a post to fix a typo in an already published German translation will not revert the published status to draft; it will remain published. Unfortunately, it's not currently possible to separate the workflow. If you're keen on these features, I can submit it as a feature request for consideration.

February 19, 2025 at 2:51 pm #16725403

simpleT

keep in mind that I am re-sending a post to smartling not editing an existing published post manually in WP.

so I receive back the job, but still not sure what happens if my DE blog was already published, will it be switched to draft?

In terms of the feature request. Yes I would like a feature where I can separate post types, some should be published automatically and some should wait for review.

February 19, 2025 at 3:30 pm #16725594

Kor
Supporter

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Singapore (GMT+08:00)

Thanks for your reply.

If you've already published the translated DE language page, receiving the job back from translators will not return the page into drafts mode. It will remain in the published state.

As for your feature request, I will share it with our 2nd Tier Support once we close this ticket.