Background of the issue:
I am using the Blocksy Theme on my WordPress site hidden link. I have posts in English and Chinese Traditional. I want the post-time format to correctly translate from 'F j, Y' to 'Y 年 n 月 j 日' for the Chinese Traditional version.
Symptoms:
The post-time format of posts performed with Blocksy Theme can't be applied to the translation but only the update time. Despite ensuring all translations related to the time/date format have been applied, the issue persists.
Questions:
How can I ensure the post-time format is correctly translated from 'F j, Y' to 'Y 年 n 月 j 日' for the Chinese Traditional version?
Are there any specific translation fields in WPML, including String Translation or Plugins/Themes Translation, that I might have missed?
As you can see from
The single post in English(default) like: hidden link
And the single post in Chinese Traditional like: hidden link
The post-time format of posts performed with Blocksy Theme can't be applied to the translation but only the update time.
I've tried to ensure every translations related to the time/date format has been applied with the format to the Chinese Traditional version, but the part that I'm pointing out to you here still can't be applied successfully.
I don't know if there are any translation fields I missed including the String Translation or Plugins/Themes Translation. I can't be sure if there's an applicable filed to the part I'm mentioning.
Please help me to know how to find out the cause and the solution to make the post-time format on single posts be translated from "F j, Y" to "Y 年 n 月 j 日" like the time/date format to other elements on my website.
Reference to our recent chat. I need to take a closer look at your site. So I request temporary access (WP-Admin and FTP), preferably to a test site where the problem has been replicated.
Your next answer will be private, to share this information safely.
Also provide detailed steps to reproduce the issue and links to pages in the admin and on the frontend.
IMPORTANT: Please take a complete backup of the site to avoid data loss. I may need to activate/deactivate plugins also.
I tried to observe and investigate the problem, but looks like that particular element is coming from your child theme (i.e. a custom template). Because with Blocksy parent theme or with any other theme it's not there.
Since all the related strings have already been translated in String Translation, it is now responsibility of the theme or that particular code which is presenting the content.
Please note that support for custom coding is out of scope of this forum, but I'll try my best to find a solution, if you can provide me access to the theme files and can give me the path to the template.
Looks like the current access is very much restricted, that neither I can see your child theme folders via a File Manager plugin, nor can see any proper WP installation via sFTP.
Sorry for replying late, and thank you for looking into it.
"Since all the related strings have already been translated in String Translation, it is now responsibility of the theme or that particular code which is presenting the content."
-> I just activated the Blocksy Companion plugin, I don't know if it would be helpful to confirm if all the related strings for my original purpose have been translated in the date format correctly. Feel free to deactivate it back from your side.
"Looks like the current access is very much restricted, that neither I can see your child theme folders via a File Manager plugin, nor can see any proper WP installation via sFTP."
-> I'm not sure about the SFTP situation you described. Did you try to access this path "/home/150731300"? Pressable separates all the WordPress core files from the wp-content folder to ensure the version control. Is it the problem that you encounter when you try to look into it further?
Based on your reply, I think I will submit another support ticket to Blocksy's developer. Do you mind providing me with some suggestions on the context and information that should be reported accurately to them?
I've got the reply with a demonstration video that is presenting the translation of the same post-time string works from the Blocksy support team. Please check the quote and the video link as below.
"I see that you have already done this, but sometimes WPML just kicks the bucket and messess these translations up. Have you tried removing all of these related translations and re-adding them?
On a clean setup I can confirm everything works as expected. Check this out - hidden link.
I would recommend at least trying to remove all translations and re-adding them."
Please let me know if the works of "remove all translations and re-adding them." would be applicable and how to do that.
By looking at the screen recording it seems to work for Romanian, have you tried with "Chinese Traditional" for which we're actually working in this ticket?
On the other hand, I'm not sure where and how you tested, because in current site (for which you provided me the access), although child theme says it is a child of Blocksy theme but the parent theme is referring to some other name. Probably you changed the footprints of the parent theme to look different but I'm not sure as I can not assess and confirm.
I tried again via sFTP access and checked /home/150731300 folder, as well as, with a File Manager plugin, but can't see any of the relevant themes or plugins (see attached).
Can you please prepare a simple/fresh dev/staging site with only the Blocksy theme, WPML plugins and reproduce the issue? Or if you can provide proper admin access to the current site, I can check further.
I've set your next reply as private to provide updated access, to whatever you prefer.
I haven't tried the steps on this staging site yet for delivering the information first. The test result in the video was made by the Blocksy support on their other demo site therefore it's in Romanian and some other languages.
Regarding the situation of the parent theme, I guess that's because of the White Label feature of the premium version of Blocksy theme.
I've disabled this feature and all original themes are relatively normal now.
Please try again to see if the problem you encountered has been gone.
I've recorded my screen hidden link to show what I'm seeing when connecting via FTP and using File Manager. I also can't see any native WP's theme/plugin editor (not even with 2021 theme). So I can't assess anything about your child theme for literally anything. Because switching to parent Blocksy theme, changes the design on frontend and there's no that date area (see attached), so I believe this is attached to your child theme.
Additionally I recorded another screen hidden link, showing that I can not find any editing area for the said section or blocks bringing up those meta including date parts.
In short, I'm not sure where to edit that area and to understand which block or element or shortcode is it. If you don't want to share the proper access, you can try this guide https://wpml.org/documentation/support/language-configuration-files/register-page-builder-content-for-translation/ about registering page builder content. Some elements or widgets require registering with WPML, then they can be translated properly in the translation editor. You can register these in WPML -> Settings -> Custom XML Configuration, by following the above mentioned guide.
1. I don't know why you are unable to access the SFTP of the staging site. Did you receive the credentials with the login ID "p024ce11c916c84aa"? I think we have to ensure that the credentials you need have been received and used correctly. Browsing the file manager on the WP layer with a plugin is not reliable and trustworthy from my perspective.
2. I have no idea about what the 2nd video expresses. I should have shared the screenshot with marks of on the certain elements related to the string in a date format that I need help to make the translations work. Besides, you mentioned that "all the related strings have already been translated in String Translation", therefore I don't know what block you are encountering to confirm and check.
Custom XML Configuration should not be a proper way in a top priority in this kind of case.
2) Please check String translation hidden link to find all the 'F j, Y' translated. These are mostly meta_elements -> date_format coming from theme_mods_blocksy-child (see attached or check the provided link).
3) Custom XML is the proper way and WPML does the same for all the compatible themes and plugins. There's a "wpml-config.xml" in mostly compatible themes/plugins which is updated once a particular compatibility is rolled out. However, there are common/regular scenarios because themes/plugins always keep evolving and no one can keep track of a single change on both sides. That's why, WPML offers to fill these gaps via adding more custom XML config as needed.
However, besides all these, I'd request the following, since we're just running in circles:
- Create a fresh test site with full admin access, or, you can fix your current to provide the full admin access.
- Write the steps about where I can edit those meta information and blocks (either a template or layout or whatever) - see attached.
- How can I assess your child theme? Because so far that portion is (see attached) only visible when child theme is active.
Yes, I feel we are running in a circle therefore it's hard for me to know what I should assist while I'm looking for support with the exact steps of any solution to have a clear conclusion since I have checked with you and the Blocksy support that all the related strings have been translated in the very early reply.
1. For that SFTP access details
I still don't know what access issue you are encountered when you tried to access with the credentials I provided. You can also keep all other plugins inactivated but only keep the WPML plugins and Blocksy theme & child theme activated since we've confirmed that these strings and fields don't need their paid version plugin to be activated.
2. Regarding checking string translation
This is the first step that the Blocksy support and I even including you have checked and acknowledged that all the related strings have been translated according to the information from the link and the screenshot you shared.
3. Honestly, I don't think it's meaningful to talk about Custom XML resolution. It should be the last backup plan once if the related plugins/themes don't handle the string fields and the compatibility well, or the situation that WPML hasn't support translating the footnotes the native WP block. Otherwise, all the translation issues and demands to the strings could be directly translated using Custom XML without confirming there's any issue with any other methods.
4. I guess you’re asking which specific string fields we need to investigate further, correct?
If that’s the case, I can reach out to Blocksy support on your behalf to confirm which strings should be reviewed, removed, or re-added. It would be helpful if you could provide me with a note that I can forward to Blocksy support to facilitate clearer communication between both teams.
1. Sorry, I just figured out that the access problem you mentioned wasn't about the SFTP but the temporary login link. The expiry was 7 days after access, I have extended it to one month. Please try it with the same temporary link as the one within the private reply.
Thank you for preparing a sandbox environment to make a test result.
2. However, the element on the page you shared is itemprop="datePublished" that is about the Post Time. The beginning of my topic is about the Update Time of a post on the post list or single post template.
3. I sent a reply to Blocksy support, and I've got a fresh reply at almost the same time you replied. Please see the quote below.
"I'm honestly not sure what I should suggest here. The only impediment that I can see is that the parent theme does indeed have different options from the child one. But that can be solved in one single click, after switching to the parent theme.
Once the parent theme is activated, you can go to the Customiser -> General -> Manage Options and choose to copy the settings from the child theme.
However, even if this is done, I'm not sure of how much help it will be. The child theme does not have any strings that could be translated, so these still come from the parent. 🤔"
I hope this reply will be helpful in investigating and resolving this topic.
