I have a website that so far was mono-lingual. I would now make some content translatable. Entity translation is definitively what I need.

My database however already contains a fair amount of data. Now when I try to make a field translatable (Manage fields -> Field settings") I get the following error message:

"There is data for this field in the database. The field settings can no longer be changed."

Do I understand it right that I can not make existing fields translatable, but that I have to create a new content type and make the fields translatable before I fill in any content, then transfer the content from the old content type to the new one?

Or is there a more elegant way around this?

Simon

CommentFileSizeAuthor
#2 Error message in "Field settings"28.67 KBsimon147
#2 Translation is enabled in "Field edit"39.63 KBsimon147
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Comments

plach’s picture

plach
he/him
Primary language Italian
Location Venezia
CreditAttribution: plach commented
Component: Node translation upgrade » User interface
Status: Active » Fixed

It's just a misleading message: just go to the main field edit page and switch the field translatability. For instance go to http://www.yoursite.net/admin/structure/types/manage/page/fields/body and click the Enable translation link at the bottom of the page.

Remember to always backup your DB before doing data migrations.

simon147’s picture

simon147 CreditAttribution: simon147 commented
Status: Fixed » Active
FileSize
Translation is enabled in "Field edit"39.63 KB
Error message in "Field settings"28.67 KB

Thanks plach for the quick answer. That enable translation link sure is descrete... And maybe this should also be mentioned here.

Now, I DID enable translation. However, if I edit my field, I still get the same error message (see attached screenshot). Not sure why this happens.

plach’s picture

plach
he/him
Primary language Italian
Location Venezia
CreditAttribution: plach commented
Status: Active » Fixed

That enable translation link sure is descrete... And maybe this should also be mentioned here.

Feel free to update the documentation :)

However, if I edit my field, I still get the same error message (see attached screenshot). Not sure why this happens.

That's a core behavior, nothing to do with ET.

Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)

Automatically closed -- issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.

sfelder’s picture

sfelder CreditAttribution: sfelder as a volunteer commented

The "There is data for this field in the database. The field settings can no longer be changed." message means that there's already content in this field in one or more of your content types. So you can't change the settings as if it were a new, unused field.