There has been a critical error on this website

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

Problem:
If you're experiencing a critical error message when trying to translate a page using WPML, and you have debug settings enabled in your WordPress configuration, the issue might not be directly related to WPML.
Solution:
First, check the

debug.log

file in your wp-content folder for any fatal error messages. This will help identify if the issue is with WPML or another plugin. In this case, the error was traced back to the WooCommerce plugin, specifically an unknown format specifier in a PHP file. Since the problem originates from WooCommerce, we recommend contacting WooCommerce support to resolve this issue.

Please note that this solution might be outdated or not applicable to your specific case.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 with us.

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Tagged: Not WPML issue

This topic contains 5 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Carlos Rojas 3 weeks, 1 day ago.

Assisted by: Carlos Rojas.

Author	Posts
June 10, 2025 at 12:23 pm #17121818
pooladd	Background of the issue: I am trying to translate a page on my website hidden link using WPML. I have added the following code to my configuration: define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); Symptoms: When I click on the Flag to translate the page, I receive the message 'There has been a critical error on this website'. Questions: Why am I receiving a critical error message when trying to translate a page using WPML? What steps should I take to resolve the critical error on my website?
June 10, 2025 at 2:52 pm #17122455
Carlos Rojas WPML Supporter since 03/2017 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)	Hello, Thank you for contacting us Please share the latest Fatal Error message that appears in the debug.log file located within the wp-content folder. That will give us more information about the cause of the issue. Looking forward to your message. Regards, Carlos
June 11, 2025 at 12:21 pm #17125761
pooladd	Hello, Please find it at below link, hidden link Regards, Poolad
June 11, 2025 at 12:40 pm #17125902
Carlos Rojas WPML Supporter since 03/2017 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)	Hi Poolad, Thank you very much for sharing the link Here is the fatal error: [11-Jun-2025 12:18:38 UTC] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught ValueError: Unknown format specifier "Ð" in /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/src/Internal/Features/FeaturesController.php:372 Stack trace: #0 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/src/Internal/Features/FeaturesController.php(372): sprintf('\xD0\xA0\xD0\xB0\xD0\xB7\xD1\x80\xD0\xB5\xD1\x88\xD0\xB5\xD1...', '<a href="https:...', '</a>') #1 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/src/Internal/Features/FeaturesController.php(510): Automattic\WooCommerce\Internal\Features\FeaturesController->init_feature_definitions() #2 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/class-woocommerce.php(836): Automattic\WooCommerce\Internal\Features\FeaturesController->register_additional_features() #3 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(324): WooCommerce->init('') #4 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(348): WP_Hook->apply_filters(NULL, Array) #5 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-includes/plugin.php(517): WP_Hook->do_action(Array) #6 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-settings.php(727): do_action('init') #7 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-config.php(118): require_once('/home/kilimpoi/...') #8 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-load.php(50): require_once('/home/kilimpoi/...') #9 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-blog-header.php(13): require_once('/home/kilimpoi/...') #10 /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/index.php(17): require('/home/kilimpoi/...') #11 {main} thrown in /home/kilimpoi/domains/kilimpoint.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/src/Internal/Features/FeaturesController.php on line 372 As you can see, the error comes from the WooCommerce plugin, not from the WPML plugins.
June 11, 2025 at 12:42 pm #17125909
pooladd	Interesting! But without the WooCommerce plugin, a WordPress website can’t function properly. What’s the solution?"
June 11, 2025 at 12:46 pm #17125913
Carlos Rojas WPML Supporter since 03/2017 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)	We can't provide a solution for a problem coming from WooCommerce. You must contact the WooCommerce support service and ask them to investigate their code to determine what is causing the failure.