Setting up a WordPress multilingual site is an excellent tool for communicating with potentially global audiences and providing users with the site’s content translations. In this guide, we’ll take you through the steps to set up a multilingual website in WordPress. From accessing the WordPress Dashboard to installing necessary plugins like Polylang and Google Language Translator, you’ll learn how to add multiple languages and set up translations for your posts. By the end of this guide, You’ll equip yourself to create a site that appeals to users worldwide, improving the user experience for a global audience.
Multilingual in WordPress Site
In a WordPress site, being multilingual means that the website offers to offer content in multiple languages. The setup lets visitors select the language they prefer, making it easier for those from various regions and backgrounds to access and comprehend the content—multiple languages.
A multilingual WordPress site typically involves plugins, like Polylang or Google Language Translator, to manage translations and display the languages available. These tools can translate webpages, pages, posts, menus, pages, and other interface elements so that users can easily navigate and comprehend the material in their preferred language. This method helps increase Accessibility, improve the user experience, and allow users to connect with a broader international public. This setup is perfect for businesses with multiple locations or audiences in different regions, where users can browse content in their preferred language.
How to Build a Multilingual WordPress Site: A Step-by-Step Tutorial
Let’s begin our step-by-step guide to building a multilingual WordPress site. We’ll keep everything simple so it’s easy to follow. Whether you’re doing this for the first time or you’ve done it before, this guide will take you through each step clearly and easily. Let’s get started and make everything simple for you!
Accessing the WordPress Dashboard
To access the WordPress Dashboard, enter your username, email, and password in the login fields. Click the login button to open the main WordPress control panel. The dashboard lets you manage site settings, plugins, themes, and more, all from one place. This step helps you begin creating a multilingual website in WordPress.
Adding a New Plugin in WordPress
In the WordPress Dashboard, go to Plugins on the left menu. Please scroll down to find the Add New Plugin option and click on it. This step lets you explore and install plugins that update your WordPress site with new enhanced features. The right plugins will help you quickly create and manage a multilingual website.
Searching and Installing the Polylang Plugin
In the WordPress Dashboard, go to Plugins and select Add New. In the search bar, type Polylang to find the plugin. Next to Polylang in Available Plugins, click on the Install Now button. This plugin has been installed more than 700,000 times and has a high rating. It is perfect for enabling multilingual functionality on your WordPress-based website.
Activating the Polylang Plugin in WordPress
After installing the Polylang plugin, the Install Now button changes to Activate. Click on the Activate button to enable Polylang on your WordPress site. Activating the plugin allows you to create a multilingual WordPress site, add languages, and customize content in different languages for your audience.
Accessing Languages in Polylang Plugin
In the WordPress Dashboard, find the Languages option under the Polylang plugin. Hover over Languages and click to open the settings. This section allows you to add and manage languages for your multilingual WordPress site, reaching users in different languages.
Selecting a Language in Polylang for WordPress
In the easy-to-reach settings within the WordPress Dashboard, use the Choose a language dropdown to pick any language you want to add to your site. Choose which language you’d use to build the multilingual WordPress website. This allows users to communicate with each other in their language of choice.
Adding a New Language in Polylang
In the Polylang settings, under Languages, Scroll down until you click the Add New Language. This option allows you to add multiple languages to your WordPress site, making it accessible to a broader audience. Each new language enables users to view your content in their preferred language.
Choosing Additional Languages in Polylang
In the Polylang settings on your WordPress Dashboard, use the Choose a Language dropdown to select more languages. Click on your preferred language to add it to your multilingual website. You can add additional languages, allowing visitors to read your content in their preferred language.
Adding Multiple Languages in Polylang
When in the WordPress Dashboard, under the Polylang settings, scroll down and click ‘add new language.’ This action helps you to extend the localization of your WordPress site, and it helps you to turn to audiences who have other languages quickly. Having more than two languages is beneficial to the flow or the Web site’s multilingual aspect to the visitors.d new language, click on it. This action allows you to add additional languages to your WordPress site. Adding multiple languages improves the multilingual WordPress site for your visitors.
Confirming Added Languages in Polylang
In the Polylang settings on your WordPress Dashboard, you can see a list of successfully added languages. This list confirms that each selected language is available on your multilingual site. These languages permit users to browse your material in their preferred language, improving the user experience on your WordPress site.
Setting Default Language in Polylang
In the Polylang of Your WordPress Dashboard settings, you may see a notice for categories, posts, pages, or tags without a language assigned. Click on the option to set these to the default language. This step helps organize all content on your multilingual site, ensuring each item has a language setting for a consistent user experience.
Setting the Main Language in Polylang
In the Polylang settings on your WordPress Dashboard, You’ll see that the system automatically sets the first language added as the main language by default. Unless changed, this primary language will be the default for all site content. Setting a primary language is essential for organizing content on your multilingual WordPress site.
Accessing All Posts in WordPress
In the WordPress Dashboard, hover over Posts on the left menu, then click on All Posts. This section shows all blog posts and articles on your site. From here, you can manage, edit, or translate posts into different languages for your multilingual website.
Editing a Post in WordPress
In the All Posts section of your WordPress Dashboard, find the post you want to change and click on Edit. This option opens the post editor, where you can update content, add translations, or adjust your multilingual website. Editing posts allows you to customize each article for different languages on your site.
Setting Default Language for a Post in WordPress
Locate the Languages section on the right on the Edit Post page using WordPress Dashboard. Here, you can set the default language for the post. Selecting a language ensures that this content appears in the chosen language by default on your multilingual website. This setting helps organize content for different audiences.
Adding Arabic Translation for a Post in WordPress
When you look at the Edit Post on your WordPress Dashboard, go down to the page’s footer, where the Translations tab is placed on the right side. Click on the plus (+) icon next to Arabic to add an Arabic version of this post. This action helps create multilingual content by providing a language-specific version for Arabic-speaking visitors on your site.
Creating an Arabic Version of a Post in WordPress
In the Arabic translation editor of your WordPress Dashboard, you can type the Arabic content for the post. The Languages section will display Arabic as the chosen language. This step allows you to provide localized content, improving the multilingual experience of Arabic-speaking users.
Changing Post Language in WordPress
In your WordPress Dashboard’s post section, you can translate a post by clicking on the plus (+) sign near the language flags. This option lets you create translations for your posts, making it easy to offer content in multiple languages on your multilingual website.
Installing Google Language Translator Plugin in WordPress
In the WordPress Dashboard, go to Plugins and click on Add New. In the search bar, type Google Language Translator and locate the plugin. Click on Install and then Activate. This plugin offers the fastest way to add multiple languages to your WordPress site using the Google translation tool, making your site accessible to a broader audience without manual translations.
Accessing Google Language Translator Settings in WordPress
Go to the Installed Plugins section in the WordPress Dashboard and find Google Language Translator. Click on Settings to configure the plugin. This step lets you customize how the Google Language Translator works on your multilingual site, allowing visitors to translate your content into different languages quickly.
Selecting Multiple Languages in Google Language Translator
In your WordPress dashboard’s Google Language Translator settings, you can choose multiple languages to activate on your site. Use the Select All option to enable all available languages or pick specific ones to suit your audience. This setup helps make your WordPress site accessible to any content translated into various languages for every global user by translating options in different languages.
Configuring Language Switcher in Google Language Translator
Browse the Google Language Translator settings on your WordPress Dashboard and enable its Language Switcher section, saving. From there, you can reveal or hide it while changing its layout options to display horizontally or vertically to allow visitors to switch languages on the site. Visitors to your multilingual site will appreciate being able to quickly switch languages without leaving it, ultimately increasing multilingual functionality.
Saving Changes in Google Language Translator Settings
After adjusting the Google Language Translator settings on your WordPress Dashboard, scroll down and click Save Changes. This step is essential when applying your configuration and ensuring all language options and settings are active on your multilingual site. Permanently save changes to keep your updates.
Visiting Your Multilingual WordPress Site
In the WordPress Dashboard, click on Visit Site to view your multilingual site live. This step lets you check how the Google Language Translator and other language settings appear on your website, ensuring visitors can easily switch languages and access translated content.
Translation Option Visible on WordPress Site
If you are on your live WordPress website, you’ll now view the Translate option, which allows visitors to choose the language they prefer. Google’s Google Translation Translator plugin activates this option. Accessibility in multiple languages has never been more straightforward, and this easy solution allows visitors to browse material in several different languages on one website, Enhancing the Accessibility of multilingualism.
Conclusion
Building a multilingual WordPress site opens opportunities to reach new visitors and cater to a diverse audience. Following this guide, you’ve learned to install and configure powerful tools like Polylang and Google Language Translator to add languages to your site, manage translations, and set the default language for posts. These features make it easy for users to switch languages and view content in their preferred language. Now, your WordPress site is ready to connect with people across the globe, offering an easy and accessible multilingual experience.
About Author
This article was written by Haider Aftab Abbasi. If you want more insightful content or professional collaborations, connect with Haider on LinkedIn using the provided link.
