Background of the issue:
I am a programmer with 10 years of experience. I have two sites - production and a development server. I can't transfer the dev version using all in one or another plugin because the source of truth is in production. I want to translate the entire site into German. I made all editions to wp-admin on production (for example content changes), I made all editions within a code to staging (local) instance of WordPress, then when it's finished I push it via git to dev (server) instance of WordPress and client gives approve or gives me feedback. So it's local -> dev -> production. I told the client that this message is popping up because I assigned the dev version a minimum amount of credits to use, so that they could not be used instead of on prod. Of course, I can increase the amount of credits on dev, can I do that? The client replied: Yes, please increase the amount of credits on dev. We want to translate on the dev version to avoid errors. I understand that it will then be possible to transfer translated subpages to prod? I replied: I am not sure if it will go so smoothly, I will try to contact their support, create a ticket, look for information on the Internet, perform some micro import myself, generally our dev and prod versions have already spread out so I do not know if there will be any surprises. The client replied: k, we will also ask for your recommendations on this topic. If WPML support does not provide the possibility of crediting the dev version, and additionally our dev and prod versions are very different, then maybe we will consider translating to prod. We just need specific info, e.g. whether it is possible to publish the entire translated DE version on prod at once, or do you have to do it in stages - e.g. first upload the translated Homepage, then About us, product by product, etc. I also wonder if it is possible to translate individual subpages and save them as drafts on prod, and then publish them only after most (or all) of the page has been translated. Thanks for the info!
Symptoms:
I am unsure where to perform the translation and what workflow to create.
Questions:
Where should I translate the entire site into German?
What workflow should I create for translating the site?
Is it possible to publish the entire translated DE version on prod at once, or do you have to do it in stages?
Is it possible to translate individual subpages and save them as drafts on prod, and then publish them only after most (or all) of the page has been translated?
Hi it is very complicated process. Upon moving a website to a new domain or server WPML asks if it is a copy if the website or you moved the website. if copy then you will use the same translation memory.
For the credits it is possible to share it between the sites.
I am not sure how your scenario will work, but here is a standard method that we have:
Now when it comes to the translation, you can do the translation for a draft page, but if you later publish the page the translation will not be published and you need to go the translated page to publish it.
You can have a separate plugin which is not official to force WPML sync the status of the page:
hidden link
You can not upload translations one by one from on page to another.
Honestly your case is very complicated and I would encourage the customer to do the translation on the production.
They always can hide the translated language and make sure everything is ok before exposing it to the world. Here is how to hide a language: