Skip Navigation

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.

Elementor users - please update WPML to the latest version to maintain compatibility. More details here - https://wpml.org/changelog/2024/12/wpml-4-6-15-critical-update-for-elementor-sites/
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
9:00 – 18:00 9:00 – 18:00 9:00 – 18:00 9:00 – 18:00 9:00 – 18:00 - -
- - - - - - -

Supporter timezone: Africa/Cairo (GMT+02:00)

This topic contains 1 reply, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Osama Mersal 22 hours, 38 minutes ago.

Assisted by: Osama Mersal.

Author Posts
December 12, 2024 at 5:26 pm #16509079

Pieter

<b>Background of the issue: </b>
I am trying to make sure that none of my content is overridden for unknown reasons. When trying to adjust some part of the translation, it is affecting other (not changed) areas and reverting content to that of the original language. This issue can be seen in Stream logs and can be recreated every time. Link to a page where the issue can be seen: hidden link

<b>Symptoms: </b>
Changed content on my FR translations, which reverted some content (not all) back to NL (default language) when opening the ATE.

<b>Questions: </b>
Why is the translation being overridden when opening the ATE?
How can I prevent content from reverting to the original language?

I made a screen recording of what is happening: hidden link

December 12, 2024 at 7:05 pm #16509314

Pieter

I want to clarify that, if I edit the FR version of the page through Gutenberg (and change nothing) it has the same effect.

December 15, 2024 at 12:23 pm #16514826

Osama Mersal
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Arabic (العربية )

Timezone: Africa/Cairo (GMT+02:00)

Hi,

Thanks for contacting WPML forums support. I'll be glad to help you today.

First of all, sorry for the late reply; it was due to a higher workload.

I would need to look closely at your site, so I would need to request temporary access (WP-Admin and FTP)
Preferably to a test site where the problem has been replicated.

Your answer will be private, meaning only you and I can access it.

❌ Please backup your database and website ❌

✙ I need your permission to deactivate and reactivate the plugins and themes and change site configurations. This is also why the backup is critical.

✙ I also need your permission to take a local copy of your site to debug the issue without affecting your live site.

Best regards,
Osama

December 16, 2024 at 1:11 pm #16517450

Osama Mersal
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Arabic (العربية )

Timezone: Africa/Cairo (GMT+02:00)

Hi,

Thanks for the access details. I checked the issue and found that the pages are pending review, so I approved the translation.

After that, I made a minor edit to the default language page and updated the translation using the translation editor.

When trying to reproduce the issue after that, the issue didn't happen. Kindly check this hidden link">video.

Please check and let me know if you can reproduce the issue on the home page.

Best regards,
Osama

December 17, 2024 at 3:02 pm #16522419

Pieter

Thanks for the information, I'm failing to see however how it can be that when a page is in "pending review" it gets overridden like it did in my original video.

Aside from that I tried it with another page where I:
1 - Went to WPML -> Translations -> Accepted the two pages that were "pending review"
2 - Went to the page
3 - Opened the ETA by clicking "Edit translation" (in the admin top bar) when viewing the page
4 - It again caused the website to be mixed translations between french and dutch...

hidden link

So am I understandin correctly we should always accept translations, before continueing to make changes to any page? Is there a way to prevent the whole reviewing system and have them by default always accepted so that our case doesn't happen anymore?

December 17, 2024 at 3:59 pm #16522694

Osama Mersal
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Arabic (العربية )

Timezone: Africa/Cairo (GMT+02:00)

Hi,

1) Thanks for your reply. Please try the following steps to fix the issue:

1- Go to WPML-> Translations
2- Approve the page's translation
3- Edit the page in the default language
4- Click the update button
5- Edit the translation
6- Complete the translation in the editor and save it
7- Try to reproduce the issue for the page again

2) For the pending review content, you can bulk approve the translations. If you want to use the automatic translation later without the review process, please go to WPML-> Settings and select "Publish right away without reviewing".

Best regards,
Osama

December 18, 2024 at 9:41 am #16524959

Pieter

Hi Osama,

Thanks for the help, I've just tried your solution and it indeed does work but as I'm saying at the end of my video I can't believe this is desired logic on the side of WPML. This website is a quite small one in terms of amount of pages so accepting all translations in reviews is simple and editing the pages is a bit of a hassle but still duable.

But we also have multiple websites with over 50 pages and one where there are more then 3.000 pages. As you can imagine going through all 3.000 pages in the original language (your steps 3 and 4) is not something that is doable in that case.

Can you confirm that this is a bug you are reporting internally that it gets resolved?

Is there a way we can prevent this from happening currently?

hidden link

December 18, 2024 at 10:18 am #16525113

Osama Mersal
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Arabic (العربية )

Timezone: Africa/Cairo (GMT+02:00)

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I tested the issue on a hidden link">sandbox site but couldn't reproduce it using the same steps. Kindly check this hidden link">video.

I think the problem might be a corrupted database record or translation. The minor update forces WPML to re-create the translation job, which fixes the issue.

The workflow when you use automatic translation should be the following:

1- Send a page to automatic translation
2- Review the translation and approve it
3- Or review the translation and edit it from the review page
4- Edit the translation normally

Best regards,
Osama

December 19, 2024 at 2:42 pm #16530591

Pieter

Thanks for the answer, I'll try to repeat the steps you said on 17/12. In the sandbox I would like to try it with a page that has a pattern that also needs translation as I think it could be related to that as we had various issues.

Is there a different approach when working with patterns? What order of steps should we follow to make sure that both the pattern is translated and that the page uses the translated pattern and not the default one?

December 19, 2024 at 3:39 pm #16530881

Osama Mersal
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Arabic (العربية )

Timezone: Africa/Cairo (GMT+02:00)

Hi,

1) If you can reproduce the issue on the sandbox site, please let me know the steps to check it and consult our 2nd tier support team.

2) Please check our guide regarding using the WordPress site editor. If you face any issues translating patterns, please open a new ticket for this issue, as we try to keep one issue per ticket in our forum. Continuing with one ticket per issue helps supporters focus on one issue at once and enables other users to find solutions to their questions faster.

Best regards,
Osama