WPML is not automatically recognizing ACF fields correctly

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This topic is split from https://wpml.org/forums/topic/critical-error-on-website-2/

Tagged: Bug

This topic contains 11 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Alejandro 1 month, 2 weeks ago.

Assisted by: Alejandro.

Author	Posts
May 28, 2025 at 2:53 pm #17084224
websitesK	Thank you! By following the steps we got rid of critical error problem that we were facing while trying to log in, so we can mark this off. On the other hand, we're facing problems with translations. Basically, it looks like WPML is not automatically recognizing ACF fields correctly and while using Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual we're not getting it recognized correctly by default. I followed the instructions from here: https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/translate-sites-built-with-acf/ and it helped but it didn't load all the field still. By the way, I chose "Same fields across languages" (see screenshot). On top of that, I'd just like to highlight that I was working on that before the site is launched on this domain: wordpress-1406512-5446971.cloudwaysapps.com and it currently redirects to the live domain. I'd like to mention that this is template-based website and we were not facing any problems before with WPML when it comes to any of our ACF templates.
May 28, 2025 at 2:57 pm #17084228
Alejandro WPML Supporter since 02/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+02:00)	Since this is a different issue from the original topic, we'll continue with this ACF-related problem here. May i know: - A page where I can see the problem - The name of the field group that contains the problematic fields - The name of the fields that are not working as expected. That way I can check where the problem lies and try to see how we can fix it. Regards,
May 29, 2025 at 8:16 am #17086887
websitesK	Basically, if we try to translate any page - a lot of ACF fields are not translateable even with using Advanced Custom Fields Multilingual. On top of that, CSS breaks and there are a lot of mismatches. After enabling that on live site, we faced errors so I reverted the backup. You'll be able to see issues with any page for a lot of ACF blocks/fields. If you want to try sorting it out, it's better to try it on staging environment: hidden link I already shared the credentials in the previous ticket, but if needed, I can share them again, just let me know. You already disabled all the plugin and themes for testing purposes so I didn't want to activate it back, but you can do it on your end if you don't need blank instance (without theme and plugins) anymore. Also, I can do it on my end if you want.
May 29, 2025 at 10:27 am #17087522
Alejandro WPML Supporter since 02/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+02:00)	Please check his video: hidden link - The main problem is that the field groups are not configured at all so they are being ignored. - The other potential issue i see is that if you're using JSON to handle the ACF fields, then you might need to update the JSON after you configure everything and then we might start seeing more content appearing in the translation editor. - Lastly, I couldn't see what was inside the flexible fields, because it was blocked due to a missing license. I did see them on the live site, though (After recording the video) and you do have a few clones as i thought. In that case, then we might have some issues with them since the clone acts as a separate field which will likely have the "copy" setting and that means it wil lforce that option to the cloned fields. this one is a tricky situation but let's take things one step at a time. the ideal situation would be for you to add a license to the staging site and we can use that therapy page, the only one translated so far, and test there. would that be ok with you?
June 2, 2025 at 12:14 pm #17097819
websitesK	The license is activated. Also, as I can see, CSS is broken on that staging (I'm not sure if you're still testing so some plugins are deactivated etc), but we have another staging where everything's fine: hidden link so you may want to test it there. I also activated the license on both URLs.
June 3, 2025 at 3:01 pm #17103006
Alejandro WPML Supporter since 02/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+02:00)	Sure, you can send me the credentials and i can test there. If you want you can delete the other one. --------------- However, to continue Could you please tell me: - Is there a specific page you'd like me to test things with? Is the "Physical Therapy" page the best one to test in? - Do you have a JSON or PHP file with the ACF configuration somewhere (And where) I want to have a clear reference when discussing with you because that not only helps us save time but it helps greatly to avoid confusion and miscommunication. Thanks in advance.
June 4, 2025 at 10:45 am #17105889
Alejandro WPML Supporter since 02/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+02:00)	I'm checking the site at the moment but how do you create that JSON?
June 4, 2025 at 11:55 am #17106179
websitesK	JSON is created automatically when we create any new field. That's built in by default in ACF.
June 4, 2025 at 1:01 pm #17106477
Alejandro WPML Supporter since 02/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+02:00)	I' dividing the work in parts to make it more digestible to you. 1) The first part was setting ACF up to work with WPML: hidden link 2) Make sure you have enough WP memory (the amount of PHP memory that you will be allocating to your WordPress Installation). That was needed in this staging, so I increased it. you can see if you have enough by going to WPML > Support. 3) Translate the page and see if the ACF is copied over or not: hidden link You can see that the structure is there, some fields are empty and others are not. So, could you help me understand if the fields that are empty belong to inactive field groups OR clone fields, etc? if so, please help me find those fields and I'll try to find the correct setting for them. I don't know much about the JSON part and if that could've influenced this outcome, I think not (at least not in the back-end) and "maybe" in the front-end but we'll get there in time.
June 5, 2025 at 3:06 pm #17110961
websitesK	If you create /acf-json/ folder inside child theme, ACF Pro will store all fields settings there by default in JSON format, there are no other settings for that. Regarding cloned fields, yes we are using it across all fields. All fields that you seen as inactive are actually fields that we are use as cloned inside other flexible fields. As an example we can use "description" field (wysiwyg field), it is used inside almost each flexible field.
June 6, 2025 at 10:58 am #17113661
Alejandro WPML Supporter since 02/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+02:00)	Ok. Just so you know I'm waiting on our ACF integration dev team to answer a few questions about your site, regarding the clone fields and this JSON setting. I'll come back with a reply as soon as I have info from them.
June 6, 2025 at 4:05 pm #17114587
Alejandro WPML Supporter since 02/2018 Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) Italian (Italiano ) Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+02:00)	Can you please watch this video: hidden link It looks like after: - Setting up ACF correctly - Adding a small change to the fields from the clone fields - Adding a small change to a native field on the page And then saving + translating, things appear in the editor and start working. This is usually needed only once because the fields need to be "caught" and since they are part of the "clone" field that's a bit tricky but it seems with the current configuration, things work. Can you try it out and let me know?