Skip Navigation

This is the technical support forum for WPML - the multilingual WordPress plugin.

Everyone can read, but only WPML clients can post here. WPML team is replying on the forum 6 days per week, 22 hours per day.

Our wait time is higher than usual, please make sure you are meeting the minimum requirement - https://wpml.org/home/minimum-requirements before you report issues, and if you can take a look at current Known Issues - https://wpml.org/known-issues/. Thank you.
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
10:00 – 14:00 10:00 – 14:00 10:00 – 14:00 10:00 – 14:00 10:00 – 14:00 - -
16:00 – 20:00 16:00 – 20:00 16:00 – 20:00 16:00 – 20:00 16:00 – 20:00 - -

Supporter timezone: Asia/Jerusalem (GMT+03:00)

Tagged: 

This topic contains 2 replies, has 1 voice.

Last updated by Itamar 3 days ago.

Assisted by: Itamar.

Author Posts
April 16, 2025 at 3:21 pm #16939799

gabriellaN

Background of the issue:
I am implementing WPML with ACF on a site under development. I am trying to edit some text fields in translation mode.

Symptoms:
Some text fields are greyed out and cannot be edited in translation mode, although they can be edited in the original language.

Questions:
Why are some text fields greyed out and ineditable in translation mode?
Is this a bug with WPML or ACF?

April 17, 2025 at 1:43 pm #16944317

Shekhar Bhandari
WPML Supporter since 03/2015

Languages: English (English )

Timezone: Asia/Kathmandu (GMT+05:45)

Hi there,

Before one of my colleagues picks up your ticket, I’d like to walk you through a few initial steps that might help resolve the issue more quickly.

When using ACFML, each field has a translation preference—Translate, Copy, or Copy once. If a field appears greyed out, it usually means its translation preference is set to Copy, meaning the content is automatically pulled from the original language and cannot be edited in the translation.

You can adjust the translation preferences to fit your needs by following the guide here:
Translate sites built with ACF

Let me know if this helps or if you need further assistance.

Thanks!

April 20, 2025 at 6:36 am #16949439

gabriellaN

Yes, that is the first thing I looked at and the permission was all set to Translate. It only affects text fields and not WYSIWYG fields which are located under the same accordion style tab.

Captura de pantalla 2025-04-20 083525.jpg
April 21, 2025 at 9:03 pm #16952746

Itamar
WPML Supporter since 02/2016

Languages: English (English ) Hebrew (עברית )

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

Hi,

I'll continue to help you with this issue.

Please grant me access to your site so I can investigate this issue.
Please also tell me which page to edit and which field group is involved.

If you need further help with this, please share the access details to your site with me. I'm enabling a private message for the following reply.

Privacy and Security Policy
We have strict policies regarding privacy and access to your information. Please see:
https://wpml.org/purchase/support-policy/privacy-and-security-when-providing-debug-information-for-support/
**IMPORTANT**
- - Please backup the site files and database before providing us access. --
-- If you have a staging site where the problem can be reproduced, it is better to share access to the staging site.--

Regards,
Itamar.

April 23, 2025 at 8:50 am #16958558

gabriellaN

The ACF fiels affected are found in Menus
hidden link

Captura de pantalla 2025-04-23 104816.jpg
April 23, 2025 at 4:38 pm #16961538

gabriellaN

As this was a very urgent matter I have recreated all the ACF field but have not put them inside the ACF accordion. There could be an odd incompatibility with ACF in that regards which should be looked into as I am likely not the only one who has experienced this. In any case it's all working now.

April 23, 2025 at 7:38 pm #16961901

Itamar
WPML Supporter since 02/2016

Languages: English (English ) Hebrew (עברית )

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

Hi,

I'm glad you've found a way to make things work on your site.

According to the last screenshot you shared, I noticed that you selected the Same Fields Across Languages translation option. Please note that with this option, you must translate the page using the Advanced Translation Editor only. This might be the reason why you were unable to edit the fields using the WordPress editor.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards,
Itamar.

April 24, 2025 at 9:37 am #16963433

gabriellaN

Thanks Itamar,

these are the same settings in all the ACF elements and didn't cause the the same issue anywhere else. Basically I was not able to enter any content in the greyed out fields while all the rest worked fine. My understanding is that by selecting "Same fields across languages" means that I can use the same fields and just update the content and not the name in a different language of the field.

I really wish that WPML had a lean option for simple inline translations done by users (without using a translation service) and a bulky option for everything else.

Thank you for your help!

April 24, 2025 at 12:18 pm #16964171

gabriellaN

I have a question: how do I remove "Warning: You are about to edit your translation using the standard WordPress editor but your site is configured to use the WPML Translation Editor. Any edits you do here will be lost if you later open it in the WPML Translation Editor."

I am using the theme.co pro if that helps. I have looked at the various solutions but none applies as I have set the page to Translate the page with WordPress Editor.

Captura de pantalla 2025-04-24 141631.jpg
April 24, 2025 at 8:29 pm #16966257

Itamar
WPML Supporter since 02/2016

Languages: English (English ) Hebrew (עברית )

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

Hi,

You wrote:

I really wish that WPML had a lean option for simple inline translations done by users (without using a translation service) and a bulky option for everything else.

You may want ot check the legacy way of translating pages with ACF fields. We refer to it as the Expert Translation Option. With this option, the user determines the translation option for each field. You can read about it here.

https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/translate-sites-built-with-acf/expert-translation-option/

However, in my mind, it is the "bulky" option, and "Same Fields Across Languages" is the lean option.

You asked:

I have a question: how do I remove "Warning: You are about to edit your translation using the standard WordPress editor but your site is configured to use the WPML Translation Editor. Any edits you do here will be lost if you later open it in the WPML Translation Editor."

You need to follow the steps explained in this guide.

https://wpml.org/documentation/translating-your-contents/using-different-translation-editors-for-different-pages/

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Please note that my weekend is Friday-Saturday, and I'll be able to continue to check this issue and help you on Sunday.

Regards,
Itamar.