Prevent WPML from translating ACF Pro variables inside Bricks Builder

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

Problem:
You are experiencing issues with WPML translating ACF Pro variables within Bricks Builder, causing layout disruptions upon updating translations.
Solution:
Note that this issue was already resolved in one of the latest updates for the Advanced Translation Editor. The tags might still show up inside the translation editor, but automatic translation should not affect them.

Alternative workarounds:
1. Use the Glossary Feature in the Advanced Translation Editor to declare dynamic tags as general terms to prevent them from being translated. For guidance, visit How to get better translations using WPML Glossary.
2. Alternatively, consider using a different theme and displaying fields with PHP. For more information, check Displaying custom field values in your theme.
3. To exclude ACF Pro variables from being translated in Bricks Builder, add the following code to the end of the functions.php file of your Bricks Theme:

add_filter( 'wpml_tm_job_field_is_translatable', 'wpmltriage_skip_acfdynamic_fields_in_bricks', 10, 2 );<br /><br />function wpmltriage_skip_acfdynamic_fields_in_bricks( $is_translatable, $job_translate ) {<br />    $data = $job_translate['field_data'];<br />    if ( 'base64' === $job_translate['field_format'] ) {<br />        $data = base64_decode( $data );<br />    }<br />    if (isset($data) && strpos($data, '{acf_') === 0) {<br />      return false;<br />  }<br /><br />  return true;<br />}

If this solution does not resolve your issue or seems outdated, we recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have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 further assistance is needed, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum.

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Tagged: ATE, Compatibility

This topic contains 18 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Andreas W. 2 weeks, 6 days ago.

Assisted by: Andreas W..

Author	Posts
December 20, 2024 at 12:08 pm #16533820
andreS-64	Background of the issue: I'm trying to prevent WPML from translating ACF Pro variables inside Bricks Builder on my site hidden link. I am following the documentation at hidden link. Symptoms: Every time I update a translation, my layout breaks. hidden link Questions: How can I stop WPML from translating ACF Pro variables within Bricks Builder?
December 20, 2024 at 6:03 pm #16535169
Laura WPML Supporter since 05/2018 Languages: English (English ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+01:00)	Hi, thanks for contacting us. THe variables are added in ACF how, what kind of fields are they? Which translation preferences are they using?
December 21, 2024 at 2:59 pm #16536704
andreS-64	Hi Laura, It seems to me that the problem is caused by WPML translating Bricks strings. I want WPML to translate only the ACF Pro fields where my client adds the page content. What feature do I need to disable to stop translating Bricks Builder strings?
December 23, 2024 at 2:55 pm #16540801
andreS-64	Hi, I believe the problem was having installed the "String Translator" option with the OTGS Installer plugin. String Translator is translating ACF Pro variables within Bricks, for example: {acf_carreira_1_botao} - original PT-BR {acf_carrera_1_boton} - ES This way the content is not displayed, this string cannot be translated. I tried installing the OTGS Installer plugin to remove "String Translator" but I can't activate the plugin: hidden link Can you help me with this?
December 24, 2024 at 12:22 pm #16543651
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	Hello, This problem seems to be currently expected, as the automatic translation engine will not know how to handle strings like "{acf_carreira_1_botao}". WPML would need to check the Bricks content for dynamic tags first and make sure that those are not send to the translation editor interface. For now, you could try to use the Glossary Feature of the Advanced Translation Editor to avoid such unexpected translations. You can declare the dynmaic tags as general terms (names), which will make sure that they are not longer getting translated. Guide: https://wpml.org/fr/announcements/2024/08/how-to-get-better-translations-using-wpml-glossary/ I hope this might be a workaround for this particular case. I will now try to recreate this issue on a new test site and then escalate this problem internally, so that our compatibility team can work on a solution for this problem. Best regards Andreas
December 24, 2024 at 1:21 pm #16543872
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	I have created a test with WPML, Bricks and ACF and would like to ask you to recreate the issue using a simple example. One-Click-Login: hidden link Please leave me a comment on this ticket once you are done with this task.
December 26, 2024 at 3:41 pm #16547223
andreS-64	Hi Andreas, You need to add a Bricks license so I can reproduce the problem. Another thing, I added 3 options with OTGS Installer: - WPML Multilingual CMS - String Translator - An ACF Pro option that I don't remember the name of Just to make sure the test works.
December 26, 2024 at 4:11 pm #16547253
andreS-64	Hi Andreas, I added my license to reproduce the error (and have already removed it). I changed 2 ACF variables and left one intact so that you can understand the problem. I will read the article you sent me to see if I can solve the problem.
December 26, 2024 at 4:31 pm #16547315
andreS-64	Hi Andreas, I don't know if the glossary can help me, I have hundreds of variables spread across my pages. Could I use the term contains "{acf_" ? Which option should I select? hidden link
December 26, 2024 at 7:24 pm #16547568
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	My apologies, I have registered Bricks now on the sandbox. The translation works as expected, as you can see here: hidden link For the translation to work, the placeholders need to be identical in both languages. At automatic translation engine will not know how to handle such placeholders and translate them. The possible workaround using the glossary seems not to solve the issue on my test. This means, that this is a typical case where a review needs to be done for the translation and anything that is not expected automatically as expected needs to be adjusted manually. Furthermore, if our ATE might be able to consider adding specific flags to exclude such placeholders from translation, would need to be discussed internally and I need to confirm this with the team first. Once I have feedback on this matter I will contact you again.
December 26, 2024 at 7:35 pm #16547577
andreS-64	I disagree, I reproduced the error and you fixed it manually. WPML is not working as expected. It is very easy to fix 3 fields manually. WPML is translating hundreds of ACF variables on dozens of pages. Every time I update a translation the problem returns, this is becoming a nightmare. Here is the error again: hidden link I can't reproduce it faithfully because you didn't give me credits for automatic translation. But every time I need to fix the original text, I need to update the translations and WPML ends up translating the Bricks variables. I'm tired of fixing this manually repeatedly. These {acf_example} variables shouldn't be translated, this is a WPML bug.
December 26, 2024 at 7:58 pm #16547591
andreS-64	Would it be possible to prevent Bricks Builder from translating strings? This already solves my problem. I just need to translate the ACF Pro field groups where my client is adding the page content.
December 26, 2024 at 8:16 pm #16547597
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	What you are actually translating are the following Bricks Widgets: - Title - Basic Text - Button Any text inside those widgets would be expected to appear on the WPML Translation Editor. As you are using automatic translation, the translation engine (DeepL, Microsoft, Google, etc.) will expect those strings to be translated and this is how the issue occurs. For now, I would like to wait until our second tier support will provide more feedback. There is sadly not anything further I can offer to avoid this issue. How to solve the issue? - set WPML > Settings > Translation mode to review automatic translation before publishing - correct the automatic translation while making your review
December 26, 2024 at 8:23 pm #16547604
andreS-64	If I'm using ACF Pro, it's obvious that I don't want to translate anything from Bricks. Just help me with this.
December 26, 2024 at 8:25 pm #16547605
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	You are using Bricks Builder to display the fields and what you are translating on the WPML Translation Editor are Bricks widgets that contain placeholders to display ACF fields. You could use another theme and display the fields with PHP, which would solve the issue. hidden link