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Supporter timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)

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This topic contains 9 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by matthiasG-45 2 hours, 51 minutes ago.

Assisted by: Andreas W..

Author Posts
March 16, 2025 at 3:58 pm #16821935

matthiasG-45

Background of the issue:
I am trying to translate content on my website. The issue can be seen on this page: hidden link

Symptoms:
The translation is not shown as expected.
I see the original page and click "German"
This leads me to:
hidden link

I can see the translation when I am logged in WordPress (as admin)

But when I am logged out (as a normal viewer would be) and click on "German" I see error 404.

Means: German translation is only visible when logged in.
I didn't test this on all pages, I found this problem accidentally, I am usually logged it all the time when I am on this web page.

Questions:
Why is the translation not appearing as expected?
How can I fix the translation issue on the specified (or all affected) page(s)?

March 16, 2025 at 6:20 pm #16822239

Itamar
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Hebrew (עברית )

Timezone: Asia/Jerusalem (GMT+03:00)

Hi,

Thank you for contacting WPML support. While you wait for one of my colleagues to take this ticket and work on it, let me provide you with the first debugging steps or see if I can help with the issue quickly.

It might be that those pages are still set to the draft status. Among other things, the reason for this can be if you translated your site automatically and set the translations to be reviewed before publishing. The settings is on WPML -> Settings -> Automatic Translation. Please see the attached screenshot.

Regards,
Itamar.

2025-03-16_20-17-50.jpg
March 16, 2025 at 7:26 pm #16822329

matthiasG-45

Hi

we don't use automatic translations.

The status is published, in the original page (English) as well as in the translation (German).

The WMPL Team (at the moment Andreas) has already access to our web page since we have other tickets, too.

March 19, 2025 at 7:06 am #16833332

Osama Mersal
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Arabic (العربية )

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

Hi,

I'm Osama from 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

March 19, 2025 at 4:14 pm #16836460

matthiasG-45

I opened this ticket because I was told so although we have already tickets for the same problem, only other web pages affected

I already explained all in detail dozens of times in our other tickets and shared access already, I can't do this again and again, please coordinate with

March 19, 2025 at 4:51 pm #16836634

Osama Mersal
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Arabic (العربية )

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

Hi,

I need access to a staging site to run the following test.

1- Deactivate all the plugins except WPML CMS.
2- Switch to a WordPress default theme like Twenty Twenty-one.

If the issue is gone, activate them one by one to see which one is causing an interaction issue.

❌ Please back up your database before the above test ❌

Best regards,
Osama

April 1, 2025 at 7:07 pm #16884456

matthiasG-45

The problem is still existent and we have it now additionally on other pages.

Deactivating all plugins, changing theme, this is all useless. We had the very same issue many times in several tickets, and every time there was a problem in the WPML database respective a bug in WPML. It has nothing to do with our theme or any other plugins.

We already discussed and confirmed that - many times.

Could please someone be assigned to this case who is familiar with our latest problems and our web page? Andreas was involved many times and he had full access to our backend and was able to solve many problems, although we don't know for sure until today what the real, underlying problem was. Marcel was also helpful in the past, but I think Andreas might know more about our specific problem.

Bottomline: can please Andreas (or Marcel) take over? We really don't want to reiterate everything from the beginning, explain again and again the very same things, this is all so time consuming.

This here is the latest page which shows the usual WMPL problems:
hidden link
Tested a few minutes ago, problem still there showing this behavior since I started translating 4 days ago.

1. not all strings are shown in the translation editor, no matter if old or ATE
2. translation can be completed, because all shown strings are translated
3. in the page webend usually the gear icon appears, sometimes the pen
4. the shown translation in the frontend is not complete, and/or outdated, or can't be reached at all
above symptoms come, as usual erratic without any obvious pattern

And yes, we did all the tricks and checks we did so far in all the other tickets:
1. small changes, update page, to force the translation editor to update
interesting here: when I undo a change, the relating text disappears again in the ATE!
2. remove this ominous the7 button - doesn't matter if present or not
3. checked a dozen times if all HTML markers are in the translations - yes, they are, without any doubt
4. checked all links, no links to untranslated pages

April 2, 2025 at 8:37 am #16885922

Carlos Rojas
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Hello,
My name is Carlos, and I'm taking this ticket from Osama, who is on vacation.

Before I re-assign this ticket to Andrea -if he is available- I would like to ask you to run this quick workaround:
- Paste this code in the functions.php file located in the active theme folder:

function wpmlsupp_1891_fix_missing_icl_tables() {
    if( function_exists( 'icl_sitepress_activate' ) )
        icl_sitepress_activate();
}
add_action( 'wp_footer', 'wpmlsupp_1891_fix_missing_icl_tables' ); 

- Visit the page in the frontend and wait for it to fully load
- Remove the code from the functions.php file
- Double-check if the issue disappeared

Could you tell me the results of the steps described above?

Regards,
Carlos

April 2, 2025 at 1:33 pm #16887363

matthiasG-45

Hi,

I have followed these steps but nothing has changed.

April 2, 2025 at 9:27 pm #16889160

matthiasG-45

I want also add that we have this problem - not all strings shown to translate and/or can't be completed and/or gear icon instead of pen when all completed - we have also on other pages.

This here is a good example which you may use for debugging:
hidden link

There are almost all strings visible in the ATE, except "GHL Fish Feeder. Making feeding so much easier."

See attachments:
- this webpage in the backend
- this webpage in the ATE - you see all strings except this one
- this webpage in the frontend in English - all ok
- this webpage in the frontend in German: - now the result depends if you are logged in as an administrator in WP (as I am usually all the time) or nor
- if I am logged in I can see the webpage in the frontend in German, but the string ""GHL Fish Feeder. Making feeding so much easier." is displayed in English, all other strings are correct in German
- if I am NOT logged in I see an error 404

So if the German (partially wrong) translation is visible depends if logged in in WP or not.

FrontendGerman.jpg
FrontendEnglish.jpg
stringsshowninthetranslationeditor.png
Backendviewofthepage.png
FrontendGermanWhenLoggedOutOfWP.png
April 3, 2025 at 8:42 am #16890479

Carlos Rojas
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Thank you very much for your message.

1.- The missing translation for "GHL Fish Feeder. Making feeding so much easier." text is probably caused by the element (shortcode) not being registered correctly in WPML. To do so, it is necessary to follow the steps described in this guide: https://wpml.org/documentation/support/language-configuration-files/

2.- Regarding the original issue, of the 404 appearing when the user is not logged-in, I suspect it is related to the URL configuration, or it can be caused by a compatibility issue.

Can you share the access credentials to the site in your next message that I have set private, so I can take a closer look at the site configuration?

April 3, 2025 at 3:14 pm #16893473

matthiasG-45

In regards to your other notes.

I and Thilo have discussed this problem (and others) on this and on other pages many times. It would be very helpful, if we would not get assigned too many different supporters, it is very time consuming and exhausting to explain and discuss in detail every time all the same. I understand that Andreas is not available to jump in here, but why don't you just review and understand all our other tickets? This would be appropriate and highly appreciated.

To "text is probably caused by the element (shortcode)".
No, this is not the case, because:
a) this is the standard text box and is used in hundreds of other locations and can be translated, even on the same page
b) this would not explain, why a translatable text is shown in the ATE, when it is (slightly) modified in the backend. In both case it is the same textbox.
c) this would also not explain, why I see in the above mentioned page (doser 2.2) in the ATE only a part of the translations, but the textbox is used everywhere

Another observation:
this is the original URL:
hidden link
this is the translated URL:
hidden link

Why is in that URL a "2" appended to "futterautomat2" ? Why not just "futterautomat"? Is this extra "2" causing the problem?
As a reminder: BOTH URLs work when I am logged in in WP. When I am not logged in the 2nd URL produces an error 404.
You can easily test it. Follow the 2nd URL when not logged in.
Then log in with the credentials I just sent you. Then try again.

To "I suspect it is related to the URL configuration, or it can be caused by a compatibility issue."
I don't understand what this means respective the logic behind it.
Again:
a) There are several pages, where the frontend can be seen in English AND in the German translation, no matter if I am logged in in WP.
b) There are several pages, where the frontend can be seen in English always, but in the German translation ONLY when I am logged in
c) the URL configuration is in all cases the same

PS: I made today the update to your newest version. I had no hance, if this fixed some of the WPML problems.

April 4, 2025 at 9:50 am #16896566

Carlos Rojas
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)

Hi there,

1.- The translation of the text is fixed now. I followed these steps to fix it:
- Edited the page in the original language
- Removed the final dot from the text (small change)
- Save the changes and update the translation

2.- The 'futterautomat2' slug is used (the number 2 is appended by the WordPress core, not WPML plugins) because there is a page with the slug 'futterautomat': hidden link

3.- I ran several troubleshooting steps, but can't find the cause of the issue yet. I will consult my colleagues about it and get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you very much for your patience and understanding!

April 4, 2025 at 4:57 pm #16898546

Andreas W.
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch )

Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)

Hallo,

Zur Seite:
hidden link

Der Slug lautet hier "ghl-doser-2-2" weil der Titel "GHL Doser 2.2" lautet. Das wird von WordPress automatisch so angelegt.

Warum diese Seite unangemeldeten Besuchern der Website nicht angezeigt wird ist mir unklar und ich muss eine lokale Kopie der Website anlegen, um dies genauer zu untersuchen.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Andreas

April 4, 2025 at 8:01 pm #16899023

matthiasG-45

to Carlos
#1 - I did this myself a few times. Slightly modified the text in question (added also just a dot), updated. Then that text was available in the ATR - but still NOT the other missing texts. Then I changed it back to the original text, and that text disappeared again AND the other texts still did not show up. So every time it was the original text, it was not shown, any other variation was shown.
After you worked on that page I checked what you said, and yes, the text was there, plus the extra dot.
I changed it back to no dot, updated.
RESULT: That text showed up correctly in the ATE AND all other missing texts, too.
I don't know what happened, but this page is for now fixed. We had this earlier, Andreas can confirm, without changing from our side anything in a page a problem cured mysteriously over night by itself and we have no real explanation.

#2 - I don't understand this answer.
"because there is a page with the slug 'futterautomat': hidden link"
I can't see here "futterautomat" neither in the english page nor in the translation. Where is here a "futterautomat" slug?
Could you point me to the right direction, where do I have to change what to fix this?

to Carlos and Andreas (thank you for chiming in)
#3 - Yes, this is a miracle, we have this also on other pages, not only there.
Another example is this page:
hidden link
Only available (visible) in German when logged in, not as visitor.