Language files changes automatically in /wp-content/languages/plugins

[Diego Hinz]

Hello,

we have a urgend problem with some language files, which we use in the folder /wordpress/current/wp-content/languages/plugins

In this folder we have the following files:
the-events-calendar-de_DE.po
the-events-calendar-de_DE.mo
the-events-calendar-de_DE_formal.po
the-events-calendar-de_DE_formal.mo

Your plugin “events calendar-pro” gives us the possibility to overwrite the language files in this folder, like explained here https://theeventscalendar.com/knowledgebase/how-to-override-plugin-language-files/

Now the problem:
We just need the following two files:
the-events-calendar-de_DE.po
the-events-calendar-de_DE.mo

We deleted the other two language files via ftp, but they come back automatically (last night was the last time). We deleted them yesterday at about 16:45 in the afternoon. See screenshot attached.

Additionally (that is our main problem) the two needed files have been changed or replaced with another/an older version. We uploaded an other version of the files yesterday at about 16:45 too. But now, some translations are wrong again.

Have you any ideas, how (and why) these files will be replaced again and again? Our customer is very unhappy, that they see wrong translations on their website again and again (they check it every 2-3 days).

Would be great, if you could find out something!

Thanks in advance.
Diego

[Geoff B.]

Good evening Diego and welcome back!

Thank you for reaching out to us.

We are sorry to hear about the issues you are experiencing with the language files. Yikes!
I would love to help you with this topic.

We deleted the other two language files via ftp, but they come back automatically (last night was the last time).

This is usually caused by your WordPress auto update settings.
Thankfully, you can disable automatic updates for translations as explained here https://codex.wordpress.org/Configuring_Automatic_Background_Updates#Translation_Updates_via_Filter

Another creative solution would be to “fool” the system with the other files (not the ones that require customization).

Simply drop-in an exact copy of the language files found in the plugins’ folder in your /wordpress/current/wp-content/languages/plugins/ folder.

Additionally (that is our main problem) the two needed files have been changed or replaced with another/an older version. We uploaded an other version of the files yesterday at about 16:45 too. But now, some translations are wrong again.

I believe this is another facet of the same issue. By turning off the auto updates for language files, the issue should go away.

Let me know how that goes.

Best regards,
Geoff B.

[Diego Hinz]

Thanks for your help. Unfortunately the issue is still there, although I disabled the automatical language updates via filter (like explained here: https://codex.wordpress.org/Configuring_Automatic_Background_Updates#Configuration_via_Filters)

I created a php file in the folder /wordpress/current/wp-content/mu-plugins with following content:

<?php

/*
Plugin Name: Add Filter Plugin
Plugin URI: 
Description: Adds filter to wordpress
Author: MEWIGO
Author URI: https://www.mewigo.de
License: GPL2
*/

add_filter( 'auto_update_translation', '__return_false' );

In the WP backend, I can see it in the “must use plugin” list. It seems to be “installed” correctly.

Do you have any other ideas, how the language files can be changed? Are there any possibilities to disable the writing-file-permissions via ftp (e.g. chmod to 444) ?

Thanks in advance.
Diego

[Geoff B.]

Good evening Diego,

I am sorry that this did not yield better results.
Let us continue the investigation then.

Would you mind trying the snippet in the wp-config.php file.
In my experience that might make an important difference in the net result.

I would also recommend installing something a CRON manager plugin (e.g.: WP Crontrol).
This will let you see if this is triggered by some type of CRON job and stop it from happening.

If you could also look at the CRON jobs at the server level, that would be awesome.

Finally, can you tell me if you have some kind of “backup” plugin or service in place (through WordPress or at the server level).

The reason I am asking is because sometimes when there is a “server failure” (of any kind), these services tend to revert back to the last backup. It might be a long shot, but worth checking too.

Let me know how that goes.

Best regards,
Geoff B.

[Support Droid]

Hey there! This thread has been pretty quiet for the last three weeks, so we’re going to go ahead and close it to avoid confusion with other topics. If you’re still looking for help with this, please do open a new thread, reference this one and we’d be more than happy to continue the conversation over there.

Thanks so much!
The Events Calendar Support Team

[Author]

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