Why is it that when an article written by a contributor is published by the site administrator, the ...

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

Problem:
The client was facing an issue where the corresponding language version of an article, written by a Contributor and published by the site administrator, wasn't appearing on the front end of the website.
Solution:
We advised the client to check the status of the post in the backend. It was discovered that the post was in a 'pending' status because it was translated by a Contributor who does not have the permission to publish. We changed the language to Indonesian from the top admin language bar, selected the 'edit anyway' option, and changed the status from pending to published. This resolved the issue, and the post now appears correctly on the front end. We recommend avoiding the use of the Contributor role for translations and suggest using at least an Editor role.

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Tagged: Not WPML issue

This topic contains 6 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by seanC-20 3 days, 22 hours ago.

Assisted by: Christopher Amirian.

Author	Posts
August 4, 2025 at 10:49 am #17292707
seanC-20	Background of the issue: I am trying to understand why the corresponding language version of an article, written by a Contributor and published by the site administrator, doesn’t show up on the front end. I’ve checked in the backend, but the issue still remains. Here is the link to a page where the issue can be seen: hidden link Symptoms: The corresponding language version of an article doesn’t appear on the front end after being published by the site administrator. Questions: Why doesn’t the corresponding language version of an article show up on the front end after being published? How can this issue be resolved?
August 4, 2025 at 1:49 pm #17293302
Christopher Amirian WPML Supporter since 07/2020 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Yerevan (GMT+04:00)	Hi, Welcome to WPML support. May I know the details of the steps you take to do the translation? Also, I want you to go to WPML > Translation Management and, as an admin user, send the page in question to translation and assign it to yourself. Then go to WPML > Translations and take the translation, make sure the green complete button is clicked, and it is 100%. I also need to know if this is happening on the homepage of the website only, or also happens on inner pages? Thanks.
August 5, 2025 at 6:58 am #17294974
seanC-20	Hi Christopher, Thanks for your reply. I’ve double-checked everything, and currently, neither the homepage nor the inner pages are displaying properly. Here’s my website: hidden link hidden link Would you mind helping me take a look? Really appreciate it! Thank you
August 5, 2025 at 5:13 pm #17297530
Christopher Amirian WPML Supporter since 07/2020 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Yerevan (GMT+04:00)	Hi, I would be happy to help if I knew exactly what the problem is. The image you shared is not working, and I get this error: {"data":{"error":"Imgur is temporarily over capacity. Please try again later."},"success":false,"status":403} Maybe if you can use loom.com website to create a screencast so you can explain in detail the problem that you are experiencing. Thanks.
August 6, 2025 at 4:23 am #17298401
seanC-20	Hi Christopher Amirian, Thank you for your reply. I tried using Loom.com, but ran into a bit of trouble. So I’ve used another method for your reference instead — would really appreciate your help with this. Thanks! hidden link
August 6, 2025 at 2:24 pm #17300007
Christopher Amirian WPML Supporter since 07/2020 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Yerevan (GMT+04:00)	Thank you. Would you please check this video? hidden link Also, I'd appreciate it if you could give me the URL/User/Pass of your WordPress dashboard after you make sure that you have a backup of your website. It is absolutely important that you give us a guarantee that you have a backup so if something happens you will have a point of restore. Make sure you set the next reply as private.
August 8, 2025 at 9:58 am #17304976
Christopher Amirian WPML Supporter since 07/2020 Languages: English (English ) Timezone: Asia/Yerevan (GMT+04:00)	Hi, Thank you very much. The issue was that the post in question was in a "pending" status. Most probably the reason behind that is that you created a translation with a contributor user which cannot publish a page when it is translated, and it needs the permission of an admin user to be published. That is why I went to the post in question, from the top admin language bar changed the language to Indonesian, Selected the edit anyway option and from there change the status from pending to published. Now, if you check the front end of the website, you will see that it works correctly and it shows the affirmation post. I suggest that you avoid using contributor user roll for translation and use at least a user role that has the editor permission. Thanks.
August 11, 2025 at 3:50 am #17308054
seanC-20	Hi Christopher Amirian, Thank you for your reply. We’ll run some tests again today, and if we encounter any issues, we’ll get in touch with you. Thanks!