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[Resolved] There is a problem with the String Translation table in your site. ....
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client is using a multisite installation dedicated to WooCommerce and encountered an issue with the String Translation table, which could potentially become critical in the future. Solution: We suggested that the client first try translating a string on their site to check if the String Translation table is functioning correctly. If the problem persists, we recommended cloning the site to another staging environment for further troubleshooting.
If this solution does not resolve your issue, or if it seems outdated or irrelevant to your case, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix,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. Should you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to open a new support ticket at WPML support forum.
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Background of the issue:
I am trying to use the latest blog (4) in a multisite installation dedicated to WooCommerce. After the initial setup, I encountered an issue. Link to a page where the issue can be seen: hidden link
Symptoms:
There is a problem with the String Translation table in my site. This problem is not causing a problem running the site right now, but can become a critical issue in the future.
Questions:
What is causing the problem with the String Translation table?
How can I fix the String Translation table issue?
Thanks for contacting I will need to closely examine your website. Therefore, I will require temporary access (WP-Admin and FTP) to a test site where the problem has been replicated, if possible. This will enable me to provide better assistance and determine if any configurations need to be modified.
Please note that it is important to have a backup for security purposes and to prevent any potential data loss. You can use the UpdraftPlus plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus/) to fulfill your backup requirements.
Your upcoming reply will be treated with confidentiality and will only be visible to you and me.
✙ To resolve the issue, I may need your consent to deactivate and reactivate plugins and the theme, as well as make configuration changes on the site if necessary. This emphasizes the significance of having a backup.
I can grant access as admim, and then will you make a test copy on your own ?
You cannot disable our plugin on the operational website.
Consider that our wordpress is a multisite with 4 blogs. Most of the tables for the secundary blogs (also the "icl" set) have been replaced by views. WPML is active on each website but the task automation are supposed to be executed only on the main blog.
Maybe is better to clarify this architectural aspect before making test.
Let me know if this is clear and how we can proceed
Thanks for your reply. The tables seem to be in place, so it might just be a false alarm. Could you try translating a string on your site and let me know if it works?
If it doesn’t, please clone the site to another staging environment so I can troubleshoot the issue further for you.
Thanks for your reply. Could you share access to your server database(PHPMyadmin) so that I can escalate this to our 2nd Tier Support for further investigation?
sorry, i was out of office and i am catching up now.
which string do you want me to translate ?
I guess that, having shared full access to the backend, you can make all checks necessary and this is maybe better and more effective than me trying operations that could be not what you need.
About PHP access, you can use
hidden link TaStyAdmin / TaSty2025
would it be enough for you to check the reason of the error ?
I have updated all the version but this is clearly NOT the origin of the issue.
About the WPML installation multisite, please be avara that we have abandoned the setting of SUNRISE because such feature was incorporated in WordPress "core" a long ago and using SUNRISE in the latest versions has caused a lot of trouble in the domain resolution. (maybe you could revise this in your recent post ?!?)
BUT, more specifically about the current error we are detecting, in debug mode, wordpress clearly reports
[08-Oct-2025 08:00:58 UTC] WordPress database error 'bnyfsmdrmf.wp_4_icl_strings' is not of type 'BASE TABLE' for query ALTER TABLE wp_4_icl_strings ADD INDEX `context` ( `context` ) made by require_once('wp-load.php'), require_once('wp-config.php'), require_once('wp-settings.php'), do_action('plugins_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, SitePress->init, do_action('wpml_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, WPML_Upgrade_Loader->wpml_upgrade, WPML_Upgrade->run, WPML_Upgrade->run_admin, WPML_Upgrade->run_commands, WPML_Upgrade->run_command, WPML_Upgrade->maybe_run_admin, WPML_Upgrade_Run_All->run_admin, WPML\Upgrade\Commands\AddIndexToTable->run, WPML_Upgrade_Schema->add_index
[08-Oct-2025 08:00:58 UTC] WordPress database error 'bnyfsmdrmf.wp_4_icl_string_translations' is not of type 'BASE TABLE' for query ALTER TABLE wp_4_icl_string_translations ADD INDEX `status` ( `status` ) made by require_once('wp-load.php'), require_once('wp-config.php'), require_once('wp-settings.php'), do_action('plugins_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, SitePress->init, do_action('wpml_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, WPML_Upgrade_Loader->wpml_upgrade, WPML_Upgrade->run, WPML_Upgrade->run_admin, WPML_Upgrade->run_commands, WPML_Upgrade->run_command, WPML_Upgrade->maybe_run_admin, WPML_Upgrade_Run_All->run_admin, WPML\Upgrade\Commands\AddIndexToTable->run, WPML_Upgrade_Schema->add_index
[08-Oct-2025 08:00:58 UTC] WordPress database error 'bnyfsmdrmf.wp_4_icl_strings' is not of type 'BASE TABLE' for query ALTER TABLE wp_4_icl_strings ADD INDEX `string_package_id` ( `string_package_id` ) made by require_once('wp-load.php'), require_once('wp-config.php'), require_once('wp-settings.php'), do_action('plugins_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, SitePress->init, do_action('wpml_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, WPML_Upgrade_Loader->wpml_upgrade, WPML_Upgrade->run, WPML_Upgrade->run_admin, WPML_Upgrade->run_commands, WPML_Upgrade->run_command, WPML_Upgrade->maybe_run_admin, WPML_Upgrade_Run_All->run_admin, WPML\Upgrade\Commands\AddIndexToTable->run, WPML_Upgrade_Schema->add_index
[08-Oct-2025 08:00:58 UTC] WordPress database error 'bnyfsmdrmf.wp_4_icl_locale_map' is not of type 'BASE TABLE' for query ALTER TABLE wp_4_icl_locale_map ADD PRIMARY KEY (`code`, `locale`) made by require_once('wp-load.php'), require_once('wp-config.php'), require_once('wp-settings.php'), do_action('plugins_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, SitePress->init, do_action('wpml_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, WPML_Upgrade_Loader->wpml_upgrade, WPML_Upgrade->run, WPML_Upgrade->run_admin, WPML_Upgrade->run_commands, WPML_Upgrade->run_command, WPML_Upgrade->maybe_run_admin, WPML_Upgrade_Run_All->run_admin, WPML\Upgrade\Commands\AddPrimaryKeyToTable->run, WPML_Upgrade_Schema->add_primary_key
[08-Oct-2025 08:00:58 UTC] WordPress database error 'bnyfsmdrmf.wp_4_icl_strings' is not of type 'BASE TABLE' for query
ALTER TABLE wp_4_icl_strings
ADD INDEX `icl_strings_name` (`name` ASC);
made by require_once('wp-load.php'), require_once('wp-config.php'), require_once('wp-settings.php'), do_action('plugins_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, SitePress->init, do_action('wpml_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, wpml_tm_load, WPML_Translation_Management->load, do_action('wpml_tm_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, WPML_String_Translation->load, WPML_ST_Upgrade->run, WPML_ST_Upgrade->run_admin, WPML_ST_Upgrade->maybe_run, WPML_ST_Upgrade_DB_String_Name_Index->run
[08-Oct-2025 08:00:58 UTC] WordPress database error 'bnyfsmdrmf.wp_4_icl_strings' is not of type 'BASE TABLE' for query
ALTER TABLE wp_4_icl_strings
MODIFY COLUMN `value` LONGTEXT NOT NULL;
made by require_once('wp-load.php'), require_once('wp-config.php'), require_once('wp-settings.php'), do_action('plugins_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, SitePress->init, do_action('wpml_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, wpml_tm_load, WPML_Translation_Management->load, do_action('wpml_tm_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, WPML_String_Translation->load, WPML_ST_Upgrade->run, WPML_ST_Upgrade->run_admin, WPML_ST_Upgrade->maybe_run, WPML_ST_Upgrade_DB_Longtext_String_Value->run
[08-Oct-2025 08:00:58 UTC] WordPress database error 'bnyfsmdrmf.wp_4_icl_string_translations' is not of type 'BASE TABLE' for query
ALTER TABLE wp_4_icl_string_translations
MODIFY COLUMN `value` LONGTEXT NULL DEFAULT NULL,
MODIFY COLUMN `mo_string` LONGTEXT NULL DEFAULT NULL;
made by require_once('wp-load.php'), require_once('wp-config.php'), require_once('wp-settings.php'), do_action('plugins_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, SitePress->init, do_action('wpml_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, wpml_tm_load, WPML_Translation_Management->load, do_action('wpml_tm_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, WPML_String_Translation->load, WPML_ST_Upgrade->run, WPML_ST_Upgrade->run_admin, WPML_ST_Upgrade->maybe_run, WPML_ST_Upgrade_DB_Longtext_String_Value->run
[08-Oct-2025 08:00:58 UTC] WordPress database error 'bnyfsmdrmf.wp_4_icl_strings' is not of type 'BASE TABLE' for query
ALTER TABLE wp_4_icl_strings
ADD INDEX `icl_strings_translation_priority` ( `translation_priority` ASC )
made by require_once('wp-load.php'), require_once('wp-config.php'), require_once('wp-settings.php'), do_action('plugins_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, SitePress->init, do_action('wpml_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, wpml_tm_load, WPML_Translation_Management->load, do_action('wpml_tm_loaded'), WP_Hook->do_action, WP_Hook->apply_filters, WPML_String_Translation->load, WPML_ST_Upgrade->run, WPML_ST_Upgrade->run_admin, WPML_ST_Upgrade->maybe_run, WPML_ST_Upgrade_DB_Strings_Add_Translation_Priority_Field->run
and this is due to the fact the "icl" tables for the secondary blogs 2, 3 and 4 are VIEWS and is NOT possible to ALTER VIEWS as woocommerce/WPML is trying.
ALTER TABLE is possible ONLY on the main tables.
Did you consider this report in the debug.log ?
In my opinion this is the reason for the message presented by WPML.
looking forward to finding a solution
while eating for a solution, I analysed your code, found the reason for the warning and patched/update the database. The message is now off.
Thank you for your support, even if there was no quick solution
