[Resolved] Media Translation sync failing

Hello,

It seems you were inactive and left the chat. To avoid the conversation being closed, I have created a support ticket so we can continue there.

1) Regarding the Media Translation add-on not appearing as not installed under WPML > Support, this is a known minor UI issue. It will be fixed in an upcoming release and does not affect the Media plugin functionality in any way.

2) As for WPML Media Sync, we can investigate this further if you agree. Do you see any errors in the WP debug log or in the browser console that might explain why it fails? It’s also possible that a server timeout is causing the issue, if possible please check.

Additionally, do you have a staging site where we could safely log in and test this? Ideally, we would like to temporarily disable the theme and plugins to confirm that nothing is interfering, but only on a staging environment if available.

Please let me know.

Regards,
Drazen

Hello,

Thank you for getting back to me.

I checked this further and noticed that when Media Translation was set to automatic under WPML > Setting while duplication was disabled for existing content.

I’ve now turned off the automatic option, set the correct setting via manual, and then ran the media sync process.

Based on my testing, everything is working correctly now and the text is being copied as expected. This setup should also work for any new content going forward like this.

Please check on your end and let me know how it goes.

Regards,
Drazen

Hello,

our 2nd tier check and have provided a workaround you can use for now.

Please make sure to create a backup, before doing any actions, just in case.

- Go to /wp-content/plugins/sitepress-multilingual-cms/classes/media/duplication/class-wpml-media-attachments-duplication.php

- Find:

		if ( ! isset( $_POST['changes'] ) ) {
			return;
		}

- Adjust fix before that code for that private functions so it looks like this now:

	private function update_attachment_texts( $translation ) {
        // Only for that specific admin action
        if ( empty($_POST['action']) || $_POST['action'] !== 'wpml_media_duplicate_media' ) {
            return;
        }

        // Prevent recursion if wp_update_post triggers the same hook again
        static $in_progress = false;
        if ( $in_progress ) {
            return;
        }
        $in_progress = true;

        $translated_post = get_post( (int) $translation->element_id );
        $translated_alt = get_post_meta( $translation->element_id, '_wp_attachment_image_alt', true );
        if ( ! $translated_post || $translated_post->post_type !== 'attachment' ) {
            $in_progress = false;
            return;
        }

        $original_id = apply_filters( 'wpml_original_element_id', null, (int) $translation->element_id, 'post_attachment' );
        $original    = $original_id ? get_post( (int) $original_id ) : null;
        $original_alt = get_post_meta( $original_id, '_wp_attachment_image_alt', true );

        if ( ! $original ) {
            $in_progress = false;
            return;
        }

        // Build an update payload only if something differs
        $update = [ 'ID' => $translated_post->ID ];
        $changed = false;

        if ( $original->post_excerpt !== $translated_post->post_excerpt ) {
            $update['post_excerpt'] = $original->post_excerpt;
            $changed = true;
        }
        if ( $original->post_content !== $translated_post->post_content ) {
            $update['post_content'] = $original->post_content;
            $changed = true;
        }
        if ( $original->post_title !== $translated_post->post_title ) {
            $update['post_title'] = $original->post_title;
            $changed = true;
        }
        if ($original_alt !== $translated_alt){
            update_post_meta($translation->element_id, '_wp_attachment_image_alt', $original_alt);
        }

        if ( $changed ) {
            // If you don't want filters to fire, consider wp_update_post($update, true, false)
            wp_update_post( $update );
        }

        $in_progress = false;

		if ( ! isset( $_POST['changes'] ) ) {
			return;
		}

- Go to WPML > Media translation > Select to duplicate text for existing content and run the process.

It should work fine now, let me know how it goes.

Regards,
Drazen

Hello Wolfgang,

thanks for getting back to me and for taking the time to try the workaround.

I’ve adjusted the file and updated the text in the media library to confirm whether it works. I then went to WPML > Media settings and ran the duplication process for existing content, and it seems to be working correctly now.

Images attached.

Please check and let me know if any other questions or doubts.

Regards,
Drazen