A link in a repeater ACF field is not translatable in the advanced translation editor

This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
The client is unable to translate links within ACF repeater fields in the Advanced Translation Editor (ATE) on their custom-themed website. The links do not appear for translation in the ATE, although other elements like URLs and text links are visible and translatable.
Solution:
First, ensure that the button link URL is searchable in the Translation Editor screen. For more details on how to translate URLs, shortcodes, and HTML attributes using the ATE, visit https://wpml.org/faq/how-to-translate-urls-shortcodes-and-html-attributes-using-the-advanced-translation-editor/.
If the issue persists, it might be related to a known issue with translating links in ACF repeater fields. We recommend trying the workaround suggested in the following forum post after a full site backup: https://wpml.org/forums/topic/cannot-add-translation-to-acf-button-field-label/#post-15403863. Additionally, check the translation settings for ACF Block Field Groups created using JSON files, as these might not be set correctly.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, or if the solution becomes outdated, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If the problem persists, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum for further assistance.

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Tagged: ATE

This topic contains 17 replies, has 2 voices.

Last updated by Bigul 1 week ago.

Assisted by: Bigul.

Author	Posts
August 28, 2024 at 10:56 am #16114257
geertP	Background of the issue: We have a website with a custom theme and a custom post type 'Feed products' (not ecommerce but a product catalog) where we create product pages using ACF fields. For one of the sections on the page, we use the repeater block of ACF. In this repeater block, we also add a button with a link. Symptoms: In the advanced translation editor, it's not showing the link to 'translate' it. Questions: Why is the link in the repeater ACF field not translatable in the advanced translation editor? Is there a specific setting in WPML that needs to be adjusted to make the link translatable? Are there any known issues with translating links in ACF repeater fields using WPML?
August 28, 2024 at 4:01 pm #16116216
Bigul Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)	Hello, Welcome to the WPML support forum. I will do my best to help you to resolve the issue. Please search for the button link URL in the Translation Editor screen and check whether it is showing for translation. Refer to the following doc for more details https://wpml.org/faq/how-to-translate-urls-shortcodes-and-html-attributes-using-the-advanced-translation-editor/ This may be related to the following ticket. Please try workaround suggested there after a site backup and make sure the issue exists or not. https://wpml.org/forums/topic/cannot-add-translation-to-acf-button-field-label/#post-15403863 -- Thanks! Bigul
August 29, 2024 at 11:39 am #16119727
geertP	Hi, Thank you for your fast reply. When I search for the URL in the search field, it (magically) appears and I can translate it. But when I don't search for it, it's not appearing. It's not user friendly enough to ask the translator to search on the url's. The first link you've added was not applicable for me. The second link, this does not completely corresponds with what I see but I've set the fields_group on translatable, made a small change and saved. From that moment, extra content appears to translate in the ATE but not the links I'm looking. I've set it back to 'not translatable'. I did not make a small change again. Any idea how we can make these links become visible? Thanks Geert
August 29, 2024 at 5:10 pm #16121455
Bigul Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)	Hi Geert, Thank you for the feedback. This is the default and expected behavior of WPML’s Advanced Translation Editor. We hide links to prevent accidental changes, especially during automatic translation. However, links are still available for translation. To view them, simply type "http" in the search field above the translated content. However, we are still working on this and you can expect more improvements in future versions. Thank you for your kind understanding. -- Thanks! Bigul
August 30, 2024 at 7:13 am #16123080
geertP	Hi, Thank you for your fast reply. I understand what you say but what we experience is that only links in an ACF repeater are not showing. The other links are showing for translation. This makes it very hard to explain. I've 2 problems: 1/ How do I explain this to my client? 2/ How do you explain this to external translators? You can't expect that they are going to search if there are any links? Are we sure there's nothing else this can cause? thanks already geert
August 30, 2024 at 6:13 pm #16126006
Bigul Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)	Hi Geert, Thank you for the feedback. I have a couple of requests to help with tracking and drawing a conclusion on this. 1) Please fill the private details fields after a full site backup{mandatory}. I would like to access the admin area of your site for further checking. Refer to the following links for more details about our private information sharing policies. https://wpml.org/purchase/support-policy/privacy-and-security-when-providing-debug-information-for-support/ hidden link 2) Please let us know the exact steps to reproduce the issue on your site. Because I would like to consult with our developers about this for an expert opinion. -- Thanks! Bigul
September 3, 2024 at 7:13 am #16134111
Bigul Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)	Hi Geert, Thank you for the details and login information. I am consulting with our team for an expert opinion. We will get back to you as soon as possible. Please wait. -- Thanks! Bigul
September 5, 2024 at 3:49 pm #16145918
Bigul Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)	Hi Geert, We are still working on this issue. As mentioned before this is an expected result (searching for URLs to translate in Advanced Translation Editor). The major reason for this is to avoid the automatic translation of the URLs which may result in wrong links. We have improved it for internal links of posts in the latest version of Advanced Translation Editor (ATE Gen3). In the future, we can expect the same for the links from Custom Fields links. One doubt. How you are managing the ACF Custom Fields for the blocks? We are not able to check the translation preferences of the custom field of this post exactly - hidden link Please check the attached image. The Appearance (Themes) and ACF menus are hidden while we log in. -- Thanks! Bigul
September 12, 2024 at 7:30 am #16169275
geertP	Hi, Hereby the link to the ACF fields. Standard we hide theme and ACF in our menu. hidden link Thanks Geert
September 13, 2024 at 7:14 am #16174175
Bigul Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)	Hi Geert, Thank you for the updates. Please check the attached images. Hope you want to translate these links automatically. Which Custom Field Groups you are using for this Feed product posts? Sorry not able to find it exactly from the field groups list. -- Thanks! Bigul
September 16, 2024 at 10:54 am #16183050
geertP	Hi, The first image with the 'read more' button is indeed an example of a link we would like to be able to translate via the ATE. We are using the repeater fields for this and we have the idea the problem only occurs with this kind of custom fields (repeater) thanks
September 16, 2024 at 3:47 pm #16184853
Bigul Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)	Hi Geert, Thank you for the updates. Please allow me to make a duplicator copy of your site using the Duplicator plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/) for debugging the issue on my local server. So we can troubleshoot this without affecting your live site. -- Thanks! Bigul
September 17, 2024 at 6:51 am #16186293
geertP	OK, you can do this thanks
September 17, 2024 at 6:52 am #16186295
geertP	accidentally chose for reolved
September 17, 2024 at 3:53 pm #16189747
Bigul Supporter Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Europe/Vienna (GMT+02:00)	Hi Geert, Thank you for the permission. But the site credentials are cleared from the ticket when you have marked the ticket as resolved. So please share it again. -- Thanks! Bigul

geertP confirmed that the issue was resolved on 2024-09-30 00:15:49.
This ticket is now closed. If you're a WPML client and need related help, please open a new support ticket.