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

Problem:
The client was trying to translate the word 'height' to German 'Höhe' under Taxonomy Translation in Label translation. However, the special character 'ö' was not translated correctly and was saved as an HTML entity.

Solution:
We initially suggested that the issue might be caused by a third-party plugin or a database collation issue, which should be utf8mb4_unicode_ci. We requested temporary access to the site to investigate further. However, the client managed to resolve the issue by themselves. They found the word under String Translation and changed the translation to a different word to test if it would reflect the change. After confirming the change, they reverted it back to the correct translation 'Höhe'.

If you're experiencing a similar issue, we recommend checking your database collation and ensuring it is set to utf8mb4_unicode_ci. Additionally, try modifying the translation in String Translation to see if changes are reflected correctly.

Please note that this solution might be outdated or not applicable to your case.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 3 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by martinS-7 1 week, 4 days ago.

Assisted by: Andreas W..

Author Posts
September 20, 2025 at 11:02 am #17418164

martinS-7

Background of the issue:
I'm trying to translate the word 'height' to German 'Höhe' under Taxonomy Translation in Label translation.

Symptoms:
The special character 'ö' is not translated correctly and the word is saved as 'Höhe'.

Questions:
Why is the special character 'ö' not translating correctly?
How can I ensure special characters are translated properly in Taxonomy Translation?

September 20, 2025 at 7:45 pm #17418478

Andreas W.
WPML Supporter since 12/2018

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch )

Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)

Hello,

Do I understand correctly that you tried to enter "Höhe" in the field and it changed to "Höle"? (Umlaut is replaced with HTML entity)

I can not confirm this behavior on my test site. See screenshot.

Best regards
Andreas

term.png
September 20, 2025 at 8:12 pm #17418500

martinS-7

Hi and thanks for your reply.

Yes my problem is that Umlaut is replaced with HTML entity.

When I save it and then reopen the edit box it is replaced with HTML entities.

I can give you login to to the site?

- Jesper

September 20, 2025 at 9:49 pm #17418607

Andreas W.
WPML Supporter since 12/2018

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch )

Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)

I can not confirm this behavior on a test site in a minimal setup, which means that something else must be causing this issue. It might be a third plugin or an issue with the database collation, which should be utf8mb4_unicode_ci.

I would like to request temporary access (wp-admin and FTP) to the website to investigate the issue further.

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I may need to install a plugin called "All In One WP Migration" to create a copy of the website so I can investigate the issue further.

However, I would also be very grateful if you could provide a staging site or a copy of the website from your server for this purpose.

If you have any questions about creating such a staging site, you can consult your hosting provider. Please note that WPML must also be registered on this staging site at https://wpml.org/account/websites/.

If you are unable to provide such a copy of the website for testing, please let me know on this ticket.

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September 20, 2025 at 11:09 pm #17418617

martinS-7

Hi and thanks again for replying but I finally managed to fix it myself.

I had to find the word under String translation, where I changed the correct translated word from Höhe to something else so i could see if there would be a change.

Went back to Taxonomi translation and found the word and saw that it had changed to the same.

Then went back again to String translation og changed it back to the correct word Höhe.

- Jesper