I’m experiencing an issue with WPML automatic translation.
I launched an automatic translation for a post (hidden link). However, the translations for the following languages are empty: ES, EN, NL, and DE.
There is no translated content visible but WPML statue is "done" for each language
screencast : hidden link
Could you please let me know where i can find my translated content or explain me why it doesn't work only with this CPT?
We have updated WPML and all its add-ons to the latest versions, but the issue is still occurring.
We are using ACF for our content, and it seems that the problem specifically affects Flexible Content and Repeater fields — these are not being translated.
All fields are set to “Translate” in WPML settings, except for images which are set to “Copy”.
Please let us know if this could be related to ACF configuration or WPML compatibility with these field types.
Thanks for contacting WPML Support, and I’m sorry for the delayed reply due to the weekend.
I’m Prosenjit from the WPML Development Team, and I’ll be happy to assist you with this.
I reviewed all the details you shared and fully understand the issue. This looks very likely related to the field/field group translation configuration. In many cases like this, the issue can be resolved by adjusting the translation settings for the fields and then resending the content for translation.
Could you please try the following steps?
- First, go to ACF → Field Groups and edit the field group used in your Blog custom post type.
- Then check the translation option selected for the field group. If it is set to Expert, please verify the following:
-- Click on the Flexible Content / Repeater field and make sure its translation preference is set to Copy
-- For the text fields inside that Flexible Content / Repeater field, make sure their translation preference is set to Translate
- Save the changes
After that:
- Go to WPML → Settings
- Scroll down to the Custom Field Translation section
- Click on Show system fields
- In the search box, enter the custom field name where you add the content, for example: titre
If that field appears in the results:
- Make sure the field itself (for example, titre) is set to Translate
- You should also see another field with the same name starting with an underscore, for example _titre, please make sure that one is also set to Translate
- Save the changes
Once that is done, please open the original post in the default language, make a small change, and save it.
Then send it for translation again (or update the existing translation). This step is important because the field setting changes only apply properly after the post is updated and resent for translation.
Please give it a try and let me know how it goes. In most cases, these stpes helps to solve the issue. If you need any help along the way, I’ll be happy to assist further.
Thanks a lot for your detailed reply, really appreciated.
I’ve tested your recommendations, and it does seem indeed related to the Flexible Content field being set to “Translate”. Adjusting that already improves the behavior.
I do have a follow-up question: is there somewhere in WPML’s documentation a clear guideline or matrix outlining the recommended translation preferences for each ACF field type (e.g. Flexible Content, Repeater, text, etc.)?
That would help avoid this kind of issue upfront and ensure consistent setups across projects.
Thanks again for your support, and I’ll continue testing on my side.
Prosenjit is not available today, so let me answer that last question. We do have some documentation on the recommended translation preferences for ACF fields based on their type - you can find it here.
As a rule of thumb, recommended translation preferences for fields work as follows:
- If the field contains free text, you probably want to translate it.
- If the field contains a numeric value, a fixed value (like an email address or the selected value for a dropdown where labels are translated instead), or a reference (like an image, or a page link), it depends on whether you want to sync the values (hence copy) or not (hence copy once).
- If the field is a container, except a Message field, then it again depends on whether you want to sync the values (hence copy) or not (hence copy once).
