Troubleshoot dictation and transcription
Dictation problems fall into three stages: the browser cannot record, the recording fails to transcribe, or the transcript is poor. The status line beside the button tells you which.
The control is not there
The Dictate prompt button appears on tools that have a prompt field. If it is missing:
- confirm the tool is enabled under Settings → POM AI → AI Tools;
- confirm you are on a screen with a prompt field — the translation and image metadata tools have none;
- reload the page, in case a script failed to load.
The browser cannot record
| Status message | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Audio recording is not supported in this browser | Not a secure origin, or the browser lacks media recording | Use HTTPS; try a current browser |
| Microphone access was blocked | The site permission was denied | Re-allow it in the browser and reload |
| No audio was captured. Try recording again | Recording ran but captured nothing | Check the device, mute switches and input selection |
The fastest diagnosis is the level indicator beside the button: if it does not animate while you speak, the browser is not receiving audio and the problem is permission or hardware, not POM AI. See Allow microphone access.
Note that localhost counts as secure but a staging site on plain HTTP does not.
The recording is rejected before sending
These messages come from your own site, and nothing is charged:
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The recording must be between 0 and 180 seconds | Duration outside the limit |
| The recording must be larger than zero and no bigger than 4 MB | Empty or oversized |
| That audio format is not supported | The audio is not one of the accepted types |
| The audio upload did not complete | The upload to your site failed |
| No audio was received | Nothing arrived |
An unsupported format on a browser that normally works usually means a browser extension or a privacy tool interfered with the recording.
Transcription fails
| Message | Likely cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| You do not have permission to transcribe audio | Your user lacks edit_posts and upload_files |
Ask an administrator |
| Add your POM AI license key before using dictation | No license stored | See Activate a POM AI license |
| An insufficient-credits message | Account balance or domain limit reached | See Resolve an insufficient-credit error |
| A license or domain error | Authorization failed | See Troubleshoot license and domain errors |
| The transcription came back empty | The service produced no text | Re-record closer to the microphone |
| We could not transcribe your audio | A transport or service failure | Retry once, then check connectivity |
If every POM AI tool is failing and not just dictation, the cause is licensing, credits or outbound connectivity rather than audio. Check whether the credit balance loads on Settings → POM AI → License — that single check separates the two cases.
Nothing happens after stopping
The status should change to Transcribing audio... and the button should be disabled while it works. A recording takes a few seconds to transcribe.
If the status never changes:
- check whether a security plugin is blocking
admin-ajax.php; - check the server can make outbound HTTPS requests;
- check PHP's upload and post size limits are not below the recording size;
- try a shorter recording, to rule out a size-related limit.
The transcript is poor
Accuracy problems are almost always input problems:
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Words consistently wrong | Move closer to the microphone; use a headset |
| Names and products wrong | Type those; dictate the rest |
| Numbers wrong | Always type numbers |
| Random words appear | Background noise or nearby conversation |
| Missing punctuation | Expected; pause between sentences and fix in the field |
| False starts included | Expected; delete them before generating |
Re-recording the same way in the same conditions produces the same result. Change the input, not the attempt. See Improve dictation language and punctuation.
The transcript went to the wrong field
The transcript is appended to the field its control belongs to. On a screen with more than one prompt field, the keyboard shortcut targets the currently recording control, or the first available one.
If you have a specific field in mind, use its own button rather than Ctrl+Shift+.
Charges you did not expect
Cost is six credits per started minute, so a ten-second recording costs the same as a fifty-second one. Several short recordings therefore cost far more than one longer one.
Dictation also charges without an estimate or confirmation, unlike the generation tools. Check the usage log for transcribe_audio entries to see the pattern. See Review your credit history.
Before contacting support
Collect the site URL, the POM AI version, the browser and version, the operating system, the screen and tool, the exact status message copied not paraphrased, the recording length, and whether it fails every time or occasionally.
Never send the license key, and do not attach the audio. See Updates, support and safe maintenance.