By default, WordPress does not offer an easy way to manage multilingual content. However, you can easily translate your WordPress website by using plugins.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily translate your WordPress website with TranslatePress.

Why Use TranslatePress for Translating a WordPress Website?

The best part about WordPress is that it can be used in any language. Most WordPress themes and plugins can also be used and translated into any language as well.

If your business website has a multilingual audience, then it can be super beneficial to translate your content.

You can rely on machine translations like Google Translate, but these translations are not good and sometimes can be quite misleading.

On the other hand, if you’re using a multilingual WordPress plugin, then you need to create multiple posts which require switching back and forth between different languages.

With the TranslatePress plugin, you can translate your website and content using a live editor and won’t need to create multiple posts for the same content.

You can instantly switch languages from the live editor and can also translate themes and plugins using TranslatePress.

Having said that, let’s see how you can easily translate your WordPress website with TranslatePress.

Step 1: Install TranslatePress in WordPress

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the TranslatePress plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, head over to the Settings » TranslatePress page from the WordPress admin dashboard to configure your plugin settings.

From here, you need to switch to the ‘General’ tab.

Now, you first need to choose the default language of your website from the dropdown menu beside the ‘Default Language’ option.

This is the language your WordPress is already downloaded in.

After that, you need to choose the language that you want to translate your site into.

Simply head over to the ‘All Languages’ section, and choose a language you want to translate your website into from the dropdown menu below the ‘Language’ option.

After that, you need to click the ‘Add’ button.

Now scroll down to the ‘Native Language Name’ setting on the page.

Here, you need to select whether you want to display language names in their own language or in English. You can choose ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ accordingly.

The next option is to choose if you want to display the default language name in the URL as a subdirectory. For example, http://example.com/en/.

We recommend leaving this setting as it is because it is better for search engine optimization.

After that, head over to the ‘Force language in custom links’ setting.

The default option for it is ‘Yes’ which will allow the plugin to change custom links for translated languages, making the URLs more SEO-friendly.

In the next option, you can choose if you want to use Google Translate for automatic translations.

The default choice is ‘No’, but you can change that if you would like to use Google Translate.

All you would need to do is provide a Google Translate API key in the next option. You will find a link under the option which will show you instructions on how to get one.

Finally, you will come to the options on how you want to display the language switcher on your website. TranslatePress provides you with three choices.

You can use a shortcode, add a switcher to your navigation menu, or display a floating menu. We will show you how to add the language switcher to your website later in this article.

Now, simply go ahead and click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

Step 2: Translating Your Website Content

To translate your website, you can either click the ‘Translate Site’ tab on the plugin’s settings page or the ‘Translate Site’ button in your WordPress admin bar.

This will open the live translation editor in a new browser tab.

Now, you need to simply click the blue translate icon present next to any text on your website that you want to translate.

After that, TranslatePress will automatically load the chosen text in the left column of the translation editor.

Once the text is loaded in the column, simply add its transition in the box below and then click the ‘Save Translation’ button at the top to store your changes.

This way, you can translate all the content on any page of your site including navigation menus, buttons, sidebar, widgets, meta-text, and more.

With TranslatePress, you can also instantly start translating any page or post on your site when logged in.

All you would need to do is click on the ‘Translate Page’ button on the top to open up the live editor.

Another benefit of this plugin is that you only need to translate a specific string once.

Once you have translated a string, the plugin will automatically translate it for you in other places.

Step 3: Adding Language Switcher to Your Website

After translating your site, you will need to add a language switcher to your website.

A language switcher allows users to select a language when they visit your website. It usually displays the flag of each country to indicate languages available on your site.

TranslatePress allows you to add a language switcher by using a shortcode, as a navigation menu item, or as a floating banner.

The language switcher can be displayed as flags, language names, or both.

Adding language switcher in WordPress using shortcode

If you want to add a language switcher in WordPress using shortcode, then head over to the Settings » TranslatePress page from the admin dashboard.

Once you’re on the ‘Settings’ page, scroll down on the ‘General’ tab and then copy the [language-switcher] shortcode in the ‘Language Switcher’ section.

You can now paste this shortcode on any page, post, or sidebar widget where you want to display the language switcher.

This is how the language switcher looked on our demo site.

Adding a language switcher to your WordPress navigation menu

If you want to add a language switcher as a navigation menu item, then go to the Appearance » Menus page from the dashboard.

From here, you need to click on the ‘Language Switcher’ tab in the ‘Add Menu Items’ section on the left corner of the screen.

Once the tab expands, simply check the languages that you want to display in the language switcher.

After that, click the ‘Add Menu’ button to add the language switcher as a menu item.

Finally, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Menu’ button to store your changes.

You will now see a language switcher added to your WordPress navigation menu.

This is how it looked on our test site.

Adding a floating language switcher

If you want to add a floating language switcher, then you simply need to head over to the Settings » TranslatePress page from the admin dashboard.

First, you need to scroll down to the ‘Language Switcher’ section in the ‘General’ tab.

From here, make sure to check the box next to the ‘Floating language selection’ option.

You can also switch the position of the floating language switcher from the dropdown menu on the right corner of the screen.

After that, don’t forget to click on the save changes button to store your settings.

You can now visit your website to see the floating language switcher at the bottom of every page on your website.

We hope this article helped you learn how to translate your WordPress site with TranslatePress. You may also want to see our article on how to create a multilingual sitemap in WordPress and our list of the best WordPress plugins for business websites.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Easily Translate Your WordPress with TranslatePress first appeared on WPBeginner.

By translating a WordPress plugin into another language, you will make it accessible to a broader audience. This allows users from different countries to use the plugin in their native languages.

In this article, we will show you how to easily translate a WordPress plugin into your language.

Why Translate WordPress Plugins?

By default, WordPress is available in many languages and can be used to easily create a multilingual website using a plugin.

Similarly, most of the top WordPress plugins are also translation-ready. All you have to do is ask the plugin author if you can help by contributing translations in other languages.

By translating the plugin, you can increase its reach and create a larger user base. This can lead to more installs, feedback, and exposure for the plugin.

It can also help you establish yourself in the WordPress community and provide you with new networking opportunities with other developers, translators, and businesses in the industry.

You can even add the translation to your portfolio and demonstrate your skills and contributions to the WordPress community.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily translate WordPress plugins in your language. We will cover a few different methods in this post, and you can use the quick links below to jump to the method you want to use:

Method 1: Translate a WordPress Plugin Into Your Language for Everyone

If you want to translate a WordPress plugin in a way that helps other people use the plugin in their languages, then this method is for you.

WordPress.org currently hosts a web-based translation tool that allows anyone to contribute translations for plugins within the WordPress repository.

First, you will need to visit a plugin’s page on the WordPress.org website. Once you are there, just switch to the ‘Development’ tab at the top.

Here, you will see a link asking you to help translate the plugin into your language.

You can simply click on it to start contributing to the plugin translation.

However, if the link isn’t available, then you can visit the Translating WordPress website.

Once there, you will see a list of languages on the screen. From here, find your language and simply click the ‘Contribute Translation’ button under it.

This will take you to a new screen, where you need to switch to the ‘Plugins’ tab.

After that, search for the plugin you want to translate using the search field and then click the ‘Translate Project’ button under it.

This will direct you to the plugin translation page, where you must select the ‘Stable (latest release)’ sub-project from the left column.

If you want to translate the plugin’s development or readme files, then you can choose those sub-projects from the list instead.

Finally, you will be taken to a new page where you will see the original strings in one column and the translations in another.

Keep in mind that you will need to be logged in to your WordPress.org account to contribute translations.

From here, just click on the ‘Details’ link in the right column to open up the string you want to translate.

Once you have done that, a text field will open where you can add a translation for the original string.

Once you are done, simply click the ‘Save’ button to submit your translations.

Method 2: Translate a WordPress Plugin for Your Own Website

If you only want to translate a WordPress plugin for your own website, then this method is for you.

First, you will need to install and activate the Loco Translate plugin. For detailed instructions, please see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, head over to the Loco Translate » Plugins page from the WordPress admin sidebar.

Here, you will see a list of plugins that are currently installed on your website. Just click on the plugin you want to translate.

This will take you to a new screen, where you will see a list of languages available for the plugin, along with the translation progress status for each language.

If the language you want to translate the plugin into is listed there, then simply click on the ‘Edit’ link under it.

If not, then you need to click the ‘New language’ button at the top.

This will direct you to a new page where you can start by selecting a language.

From here, you can pick the ‘WordPress language’ option and then choose your language from the dropdown menu under it.

This option will automatically start using the language file if a user sets the WordPress admin area in this language.

If you don’t want to use a WordPress language, then you can select the ‘Custom Language’ option.

Next, you have to choose where you want to store the translation files. By default, Loco Translate will recommend saving the translation files in its own folder.

However, you can easily change that to save the files in WordPress languages or the plugin’s own languages folder.

Once you have done that, just click the ‘Start translating’ button to continue.

This will take you to a new screen, where you will see a text source section along with a translation field.

You can now start by adding a translation for the source string and then select the next string to translate.

Once you are done, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button at the top to store your settings.

Method 3: Translate a WordPress Plugin on Your Computer

If you want to translate a WordPress plugin on your computer using gettext translation apps, then this method is for you.

Keep in mind that you can also submit these translations to plugin authors so that they can include them in their plugins.

First, you need to download the plugin you want to translate on your computer. Next, double-click the plugin zip file to extract it.

Once you have done that, you need to open the plugin’s folder and then find and click on the ‘languages’ folder.

You should find a .pot file inside this folder. This is the translation template file that you will need to translate the plugin.

If the plugin doesn’t have a .pot file or a languages folder, then it is most likely not translation-ready.

In that case, you can contact the plugin author and ask if they have any plans for their plugin translation. For more details, please see our guide on how to ask for WordPress support and get it.

Once you have the .pot file, you are ready to translate the plugin into any language.

Next, you need to download and install the Poedit app on your computer, which is a free translation app for Mac and Windows.

After you have the app installed, go ahead and open it up. This will launch the Poedit home screen, where you must click the ‘Create New’ option.

You will now be directed to your computer’s file manager. From here, simply find and select the .pot file for the plugin that you want to translate.

Once you have done that, Poedit will ask you to choose a language for translation from the dropdown menu.

After that, click the ‘OK’ button to continue forward.

Poedit will now show the translation interface, where you will see the list of strings available.

All you have to do is click on a string to select it and provide a translation in the ‘Translation’ field.

Once you are done translating the plugin, go to File » Save from the menu bar at the top and name your file after the language name and country code.

For example, if you are saving a French translation for the plugin, then you should save the file as ‘fr_FR’ for French and France.

Poedit will save your translation as .po and .mo files.

Now, all you need to do is place these files in your plugin’s languages folder to start using the translated plugin on your website.

We hope this article helped you learn how to translate a WordPress plugin easily. You may also want to see our beginner’s guide on how to translate your WooCommerce store and our top picks for the best WordPress translation plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Translate a WordPress Plugin in Your Language first appeared on WPBeginner.