My ACF fields are missing from WPML's Advanced Translation Editor (ATE)

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

Problem:
You are using the Advanced Translation Editor (ATE) to translate content, but your ACF fields are missing when you access ATE.
Solution:
1. Check the configuration of your ACF Field Groups in your posts. If they are set to "Expert", you need to configure each field individually.
2. We recommend setting the field groups to "Same fields across languages" to automatically configure all fields appropriately. Alternatively, follow the guide on setting up ACF fields with WPML: Recommended Custom Fields Translation Preferences for ACF and WPML.
3. Ensure that fields such as Flexible Content and Repeater are set to "Copy", and all text fields are set to "Translate".
4. After adjusting these settings, edit any field on the original content, save the post, and then attempt to translate it again.

If this solution does not resolve your issue, or if it seems outdated or irrelevant to your specific case, please open a new support ticket. We also 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. For further assistance, visit our support forum: WPML Support Forum.

This is the technical support forum for WPML - the multilingual WordPress plugin.

Everyone can read, but only WPML clients can post here. WPML team is replying on the forum 6 days per week, 22 hours per day.

Tagged: Documentation request

This topic contains 3 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by johnS-9 18 hours, 47 minutes ago.

Assisted by: Andreas W..

Author	Posts
April 25, 2025 at 10:04 am #16967663
johnS-9	Background of the issue: I am trying to use the Advanced Translation Editor to use credits to automatically translate my content. I login to the CMS, edit a piece of content and click the + button to translate it using ATE. When I am taken to ATE all of my ACF fields are missing. The ATE issue can be seen at this link: hidden link. The content I'm trying to translate can be seen here (on a test site): hidden link The edit URL for this is: hidden link On my test site I have disabled all plugins which are not required for the WPML and ACF functionality or for the site to work. Symptoms: I expected to see the ATE page with my WP core field and my ACF fields. Instead, I only got the ATE page missing all ACF fields. Questions: Why are my ACF fields missing from WPML's Advanced Translation Editor? How can I ensure that ACF fields appear in the ATE?
April 25, 2025 at 10:11 am #16967774
johnS-9	Just to add: - The test site has a htpasswd applied. I can supply this if you send me a private request. - I can supply you with CMS logins for the test site. - I can also supply the WPML debug output specifically for the test site if that's helpful
April 25, 2025 at 6:28 pm #16969673
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	Hello, Which settings do your field groups use? Take note, that if you use the WPML Translation Editor, you should set the field groups to "Same fields across languages". Then edit any field on the original content, save the page and send it again to translation. Also, make sure the post type "ACF Field Groups" is set to "Not translatable" inside WPML > Settings > Post Type Translation. In case you earlier translated the field group, please remove the translated groups from the site. Let me know if further assistance will be needed. Best regards Andreas
April 25, 2025 at 6:45 pm #16969722
johnS-9	Hi Andreas, Thanks for taking a look. The field group I created for testing this is set to "Same fields across languages" and it is new and has never been translated. Under WPML settings, 'acf-field-group' is set to Not Translatable. The result in ATE is the same. Screenshots attached. Kind regards,
April 25, 2025 at 7:17 pm #16969793
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	Hello, I'd be happy to offer to take a closer look. I would like to request temporary access (wp-admin and FTP) to the website to investigate the issue further. You can find the required fields below the comments section when you log in to leave the next reply. The information you provide is private, meaning only you and I can see and access it. IMPORTANT Please be sure to back up your website and database before granting us access. If you can't see the "wp-admin / FTP" fields, your post and website credentials will be set to "PUBLIC." DO NOT publish the data unless you see the required wp-admin / FTP fields. 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. The private reply form looks like this: hidden link Click "I still need assistance" the next time you reply. Video: hidden link Please note that we are required to request this information individually on each ticket. We are not permitted to access any credentials that were not specifically submitted on this ticket using the private response form. Best regards, Andreas
April 25, 2025 at 9:11 pm #16969987
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	Various of the ACF Field Groups that are used on your posts use the "Expert" setting which means that you are responsible for configuring each field individually. I would suggest you set the filed groups all to "Same fields across languages" or you follow this guide to make sure that the correct settings are used for each field: https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/translate-sites-built-with-acf/recommended-custom-fields-translation-preferences-for-acf-and-wpml/ Example: The group "Page builder [template]" is set to "Expert" and the Flexible Content and Repeater field, for example, are set to "Copy once". These fields should be set to "Copy" when using the WPML Translation Editor. Also, you have actual Text fields that are set to "Copy once" but they need to be set to "Translate" if you want the text to be available on the WPML Translation Editor. Choosing the field group setting "Same fields across languages" will set all the fields automatically for you. After that, edit any field on the original content, save the post, and then translate it.
April 26, 2025 at 9:19 am #16970608
johnS-9	Hi Andreas, The new field group I created for testing (the one called "Fields for WPML Testing", here hidden link) is set to "Same fields across languages". Saving and retrying ATE doesn't work. Even if I create a brand new piece of content and try to use ATE the ACF fields still don't appear. (Screenshot attached using a brand new piece of content). Some fields are intentionally set to Expert as there are fields that I need to be consistent across all languages (e.g. some config, some non text based fields where there's nothing to translate, things I want to have the same value across all languages). If I really have to I can try changing these to "Same fields across all languages" but for the purpose of this thread can we focus on my "Fields for WPML Testing" group that doesn't appear? I am expecting: 1 - WP Core fields to appear in ATE 2 - ACF fields set to "Same fields" to appear in ATE 3 - ACF fields set to "Expert" I would understand if they don't appear in ATE (but would ideally like the individual fields that are translatable to appear in ATE). --- Off topic - Does ATE not support Expert field groups at all then? Why does it recommend not using Expert for new field groups?
April 26, 2025 at 9:28 am #16970632
johnS-9	I have created a brand new post type which only has the "Fields for WPML Testing" field group and these DO appear in ATE. So now I'm wondering why this isn't the case for my existing content types? Is it because they have a mix of "Same" and "Expert"? To test this I have added an Expert field group to my new "ATE Posts" content type. Screenshots attached of - ATE before Expert group was added, the fields appear - ATE after also added a second field group set to Expert, the fields set to "Same" appear. (ok I guess this is expected). - Screenshot of the two field groups. Test post here: hidden link
April 26, 2025 at 9:39 am #16970694
johnS-9	Ok I'm setting more things to "Same fields" and they're starting to appear in ATE. I'll need to test this more on Monday (when it's an actual working day!). So Expert is just completely not compatible with ATE? Is it an issue to change from Expert to Same? E.g. if I have a lot of content that is not "symmetrical" e.g.: Blog Post English: - Page builder - Text block - Call to action And then Blog Post French: - Page builder - Text block - Featured content - Call to action What would happen if I change this from Expert to Same? (Obviously I don't want to lose any content inadvertently).
April 26, 2025 at 2:11 pm #16971016
Andreas W. WPML Supporter since 12/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	There is not any issue in setting the field group from, "Expert" to "Same fields across languages". You can use Expert mode, but it is simply that translations will not behave as expected if you follow the suggested settings. Flexible Content, Repeater, Groups, Select fields, etc. should be set to "Copy". All fields that contain text need to be set to "Translate".
April 29, 2025 at 7:40 am #16977514
johnS-9	Hi Andreas, Thanks for the advice, setting everything to "Same fields across languages" is the closest I've managed to get to this working! I'm quite keen to try to get Expert mode working because certain fields I would like retained across languages while allowing the text inputs to be translated. I've changed this field group back to "Expert": hidden link This results in settings which match your description: Field Group: Expert - Flexible content field: Copy - - Accordion block layout: sub repeater: Copy - - - Title: Translate - - - Content: Copy / Translate - - Text block layout: Body field: Translate Looking at the acf-json git diff it looks like a brief period set to "Same fields" has configured the sub fields as needed. (Attached). I'm going to try replicating this on production and will report back. Many thanks,
April 29, 2025 at 1:04 pm #16979271
johnS-9	Toggling to "Same fields" and back to "Expert" seems to have done the trick. Production looks to be working now, I'm just waiting for the "Updating affected posts for changes in translatable fields" process to complete which looks like it's going to take a very long time. Thanks for the help, this one has been hard to pinpoint.