Background of the issue:
I am trying to translate an article on our blog using WPML. We have it set to mimic the date on the English post so that if the English post isn’t yet published, it schedules the post rather than publishing it right away. However, when translating an old post, the translated post takes the original publication date instead of the current date. I want the translated post to have today’s date. The issue can be seen at: hidden link.
Symptoms:
When I try to change the date on the translation, it quickly reverts to the English date. The translation always reverts to match the source language publication date.
Questions:
Are we able to solve the issue of the translated post taking the original publication date?
Do you have a workaround that would allow the translated post to have today’s date?
Thank you for your response! I do understand that this would solve the issue. However, I need any new translations where the English blog is scheduled for the future (and not already published) to be scheduled for the same date rather than published immediately. Often there is information that is embargoed and cannot be published right away.
So, if I uncheck the "Copy publishing date to translations", will any translations that I create be published immediately rather than scheduled for the future to match the English post?
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)
Hi,
The date is usually set by WordPress once the post is saved, once when it is saved as a draft, and then again when the post is published.
It is true that when you translate the post, WPML will use the original post's date. This is the default behavior, but you can change this by going to:
WPML > Settings > Posts and pages synchronization and disabling the option "Copy publishing date to translations".
The default behavior for post publishing would be:
If the original post is a draft, then the translation will also be saved as a draft.
If the original post is published, then the translation will also be published.
You control this behavior at WPML > Settings > Translated documents options.
There you find options to always "Save the translated post as a draft" or to "Do not publish the post translations" if the original post is being published.
Thank you for your reply! I've adjusted the settings, and I'm happy to report that unchecking the "Copy publishing date to translations" did work when I translated a blog originally published in Feburary 2025. The translation was given a publication date of today (Jun 22, 2025).
However, in the WPML > Settings > Translated documents options, I selected "Save the translated post as a draft" and "Do not publish the post translations". When I translated a post scheduled for July 1, 2025 (in the future), the only option when I completed the review of the translation was to publish the translation. It did not become a draft (as I believe the default behavior should be according to your description above). The translation contains information that cannot be released prior to July 1. How can I complete a translation prior to that without publishing the translated blog post?
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)
Ok, you mean that the original post was scheduled, then translated automatically, and when completing the review at WPML > Translations, the translated post got published?
If so, could it be that this was an older job that was created before you changed the translated document option?
Can you still recreate this with a yet untranslated post?
If so, please let me know and I will try to recreate and escalate this issue.
Yes, exactly, the original post was scheduled, then translated automatically, and when completing the review at WPML > Translations, the translated post got published.
This was not an older job. It was a test I ran after I changed the settings.
And, I've just checked and I can recreate this with a yet untranslated post that is scheduled to publish in the future.
Please let me know if you need anything else. Thanks!
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)
Thank you for the provided details!
I will investigate if this issue has already been reported and is already being handled. If this is not the case, I will try to recreate this issue on a new test site and escalate it.
