Copying content from original posts to translated posts.

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

Problem:
If you're experiencing issues where custom fields appear empty in translated posts despite being set to 'copy' in WPML settings, you might be facing a common synchronization problem.
Solution:
We recommend trying to open any of the original posts and resaving them. This action can often trigger the synchronization process needed to populate the custom fields in the translated versions. Alternatively, you can use the bulk edit feature to resave multiple posts at once. For detailed instructions on how to perform bulk edits, please visit Bulk Edit Documentation.

If these steps do not resolve your issue, or if the solution seems outdated or irrelevant to your specific case, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the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 problem persists, please do not hesitate to open a new support ticket with us for further assistance at WPML Support Forum.

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Tagged: Documentation request

This topic contains 3 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by alanC-15 1 week ago.

Assisted by: Bruno Kos.

Author	Posts
January 21, 2025 at 8:45 pm #16620544
alanC-15	Background of the issue: I am trying to copy content from original posts to translated posts on my site hidden link. I have custom fields and terms that are meant to be the same in all languages. I have set the fields in question to 'copy' under WPML's settings. Symptoms: The custom fields appear to be empty under the translated posts despite setting them to 'copy'. Questions: Why are the custom fields empty in the translated posts even though they are set to 'copy'? Is there a step I am missing in the process of copying custom fields to translated posts?
January 22, 2025 at 5:07 am #16620979
Bigul Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+01:00)	Hello, Welcome to the WPML support forum. Before passing this thread to my colleague, I would like to share some suggestions and possible solutions for the issues you mentioned. We hope you are using WPML Advanced Translation Editor for translating the posts and pages. Please create a new post and duplicate it in a secondary language. Then translate the post title and content (of duplicated post), after that make sure you are getting the expected results or not. Please refer to this article for more details and let us know your feedback - https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/displaying-untranslated-content-on-pages-in-secondary-languages/ -- Thanks! Bigul
January 28, 2025 at 2:32 pm #16642380
alanC-15	Hello, Thanks for your assistance. I have tried creating a new post and then translating it. The custom content was copied to the translated post as desired, and it is updated in every language when I update it the original language post. So that is not an issue. However, I still have older posts where the custom content is not populated on the translated posts.
January 29, 2025 at 9:24 am #16645211
Bruno Kos Supporter Languages: English (English ) German (Deutsch ) French (Français ) Timezone: Europe/Zagreb (GMT+01:00)	What if you open any of these original older posts and just resave them? Are custom fields in translations populated then? Or try resaving them through the bulk edit? hidden link
January 29, 2025 at 9:14 pm #16648673
alanC-15	Yes, if I do that, then the field on the translated post populates. I have over 3000 posts with the issue so bulk edit isn't feasible. But I was able to write a query to get all of the posts and then used wp_update_post() to update them programmatically. Thank you again for your help.