This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: You are trying to use default WooCommerce translations for your shop, but WPML can't load the default .mo file. Solution: 1) Go to Dashboard > Updates and load the latest updates for WordPress. 2) Go to WPML > Theme & Plugin Localization and scan the theme and plugins for strings. Before running these steps on the staging, ensure to fix collation issues and run WPML troubleshooting options to clean up string tables (WPML > Support > troubleshooting). If these steps do not resolve the issue, it could be due to various factors such as minimum server requirements, server limitations like missing writing permissions, corrupted data on the string tables, corrupted language files, or issues between plugins or the theme. If you encounter issues on the live site after applying these steps, we recommend opening a new support ticket. Additionally, 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 If the solution provided here is not relevant or outdated, please contact us for further assistance at WPML support forum.
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Background of the issue:
I am trying to use default WooCommerce translations for my shop, but WPML can't load the default .mo file. See this picture: hidden link
Symptoms:
WPML can't load WooCommerce .mo
Questions:
Why can't WPML load the default WooCommerce .mo file?
How can I resolve the issue with loading WooCommerce translations?
Do I understand correctly, that you are having issues to complete the dialog visible on your screenshot?
If so, I would like to offer to have a closer look at the problem and request temporary access (wp-admin and FTP) to the website to investigate this issue further.
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IMPORTANT
Please be sure to make a backup copy of the website and database before allowing us access.
If you can't see the wp-admin / FTP fields, your post and website credentials are set as PUBLIC. DO NOT publish the data unless you see the required wp-admin / FTP fields.
I may have to install a plugin called "All In One WP Migration" to make a copy of the website where I can investigate the issue further.
However, I would also be very grateful if you could provide a staging site or copy of the website from your server yourself for this purpose. This step would only be required if the issue is replicable on such a staging site.
If you have any questions about creating such a staging site, you can consult your hosting provider. Just take note that WPML should be registered on this site again.
If you are unable to provide such a copy of the site for testing, please let me know on this ticket.
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I will soon create a staging website and will send you the FTP & WordPress credentials, I need to contact my hosting provider first.
The actual problem is that WPML does not seem to load "default" translations of my themes and plugins.
For example, despite my Woodmart theme having default translations (DE, FR, PO, and so on), WPML does not seem to use them at all. I took a screenshot (in the "Theme and plugins localization" tab) where you can see that woodmart translations don't appear at all (yellow instead of green). Same thing for Woocommerce (yellow instead of green).
I created the staging website and FTP credentials for you, but I am not able to use the private reponse to send you the sensitive data in a secured way.
The possible reason for this seems to be that your /wp-content/languages/plugins folder does not include all the necessary .po-files for all languages used on your site.
Usually, you can obtain them by going to Dashboard > Updates.
Scroll to the bottom and click Update Translations but this option is not working as expected on your site.
This option usually should check for active language on your site and then obtain the .po-files from here: hidden link
The issue persists when testing the site only with WooCommerce, WPML, and a default theme.
Do you agree if I take a local copy for testing this behavior on a virtual server?
I would install the plugin "All in One WP Migration" for this purpose.
Make a backup with updraft on the staging website, then download the full backup via ftp.
Next, on your new instance, install the updraft plugin. Upload the backup via ftp in the wp-content/updraft folder. Then, from the updraft GUI, restore the backup. Updraft will automatically make the migration and will replace the old url with the new one.
My apologies for the delay in answering, since the site's migration was not completed on Friday during my shift.
I have investigated the issue on a copy of your site today and I can sadly not yet confirm what is causing this issue. The issue remains when testing the site in a minimal setup.
About the current test:
Once the site was installed automatically the dialog for creating custom .mo-files started. This is a WPML dialog to create language files for applying the translations from WPML > String Translation.
Also, I ran the option Dashboard > Updates > Update translations, which automatically downloads all the language files from wordpress.org. These files are missing on your site, and I do have them now available on my local install of your site.
Then I scanned the theme and plugins for new strings at WPML > Theme & Plugin Localization and after that ran the .mo-files dialog again.
It might that there is an issue with running this dialog on your site, and this is why the translations are not showing up as expected.
This might be a folder write permission problem and this also might be the reason why your site is not downloading the additional language files from wordpress.org.
You should see a dialog with a white background at the top of the page, saying that WPML found new plugins and needs to create language files.
If I try to run this dialog on the local copy of your site it is not completing and I am not yet finding the reason for the issue.
