I’ve been using WPML and WPForms together for nearly two years but just recently I’ve experienced a problem. On every translated page I’m getting this error message: wpforms_settings is not defined
I reached out to WPForms first and after they looked into it this is what they said:
"…when the WPML String Translation plugin is active, the WordPress hook wp_footer is not being fired, or its content is not being passed to the frontend. WPForms relies on this WordPress hook to write the wpforms_settings variable and its value. For that reason, WPForms is unable to write the required settings on the frontend DOM, hence causing this issue.
“I suspect the file at StringTranslation\Application\StringHtml\Service\HtmlStringsService.php on the WPML String Translation plugin, which seems to read the frontend content and buffer it, might be running into issues.”
If I turn off the WPML String Translation plugin the error disappears but then the content rendered from the plugins disappears, too. So that isn’t a viable solution.
Anyway, I hope you’re able to find a workaround and thanks in advance for any assistance you’re able to offer!
I checked for any similar reported bugs in our system but couldn’t find anything related. I also attempted to reproduce the issue on a fresh test site, and everything worked correctly there. This suggests the problem is likely specific to your setup or environment, and we’ll need to investigate further.
If possible, could you please provide access to a staging site in your next private reply? This will allow me to review the setup directly and identify what might be causing the issue. Please also include the steps to reproduce the problem and the URL where I can see it.
If a staging site is not available, I can provide instructions on how to share a copy of your website safely, as checking directly on the live site wouldn’t be safe.
If neither option is convenient for you, just let me know and we’ll find an alternative solution together.
I'm not sure what caused the issue, but it seems that 'wpforms_settings' wasn't defined.
- I went to WPForms > Settings and resaved the settings but it didn't help
- I inspected the wp_options table and simply resaved the option (no changes) and it seems to have cleared the issue on our local copy.
Could you please confirm that it resolves the issue on your site?
Yeah, that was the row I was editing… I clicked on the pencil and then clicked Save but I get a message that reads “No change.” So I don’t know if it was really saved or not.
Anyway, I ended up rebuilding the Elementor footer and hardcoded both languages such that it wouldn’t require WPML. Javascript detects whether or not the user is on an english or spanish page and displays the appropriate text. It’s inconvenient but it’s working.
As I was recreating the footer I noticed that this error only occurs on translated Elementor templates like the footer or a popup where WPForms also reside. However, on a translated page or post, WPForms works fine. Weird.
If you have any other ideas, I’m open to trying them. Otherwise, since I’ve built this workaround, I don’t urgently need help on this matter…
Everything should be working correctly after using the mentioned workaround shared from our side.
If you’re happy with the current yours workaround you applied and it’s working well for you, you can absolutely continue using that approach.
That said, if you still run into the issue or decide you’d like us to investigate further, we can recheck this to our 2nd-tier team for a deeper check. In that case, a staging site where the problem can be reproduced would be very helpful, as it would allow us to test it properly as the mentioned workaround worked fine for us.
