How do I handle product attributes for multilingual sites in WooCommerce with WPML?

When running a multilingual WooCommerce store with WPML, product attributes need special attention—especially if you add attributes after your initial translations. Since WriteText.ai relies on product attributes to generate accurate and relevant texts, it’s important to ensure they are properly synced across languages.

Understanding Attribute Behavior in WPML

• Initial setup. If you first create your products and custom attributes in English (or your primary language), WPML will carry over those attributes to the translated versions. However, they remain editable only in the source language (EN in this example).
• Adding new attributes later. If you later add more attributes to your English product, they will not automatically sync with the translated products. This means the Danish (DA) product, for example, won’t receive those new attributes unless you manually sync them.

Syncing Attributes in WPML 4.7.6

WPML version 4.7.6 makes syncing straightforward:

1. Go to WooCommerce → Products.
2. Select the products you want to update.
3. From the Bulk actions dropdown, choose Edit and click Apply.
4. Without changing anything, click Update.
   

This bulk update action triggers WPML to sync the new attributes from your English product to the translated products.

Note: For older versions of WPML, the syncing method may differ. If you’re not on version 4.7.6, please check the WPML documentation or support resources for the correct process.

Important Notes

• Attribute values are not auto-translated. Syncing will copy the structure of the attributes across languages, but not translate the values.
• WriteText.ai handles it smartly. Even if the attribute values are still in English, WriteText.ai will generate product texts in your target language, integrating them naturally.
• Alternative approach. If you prefer not to sync, you can manually create and manage attributes in each language. This avoids dependency on syncing but requires more setup effort.

Why This Matters for WriteText.ai

Attributes (such as size, material, color, compatibility, etc.) provide crucial context for generating high-quality product descriptions, SEO texts, and metadata. Missing or unsynced attributes could result in incomplete or less accurate AI-generated text. Keeping attributes properly synced ensures that WriteText.ai delivers the most precise, localized content for every product variation.