WPML Review: WordPress Multilingual Plugin

WPML is a plugin for the translation of WordPress sites that allows us to have a multilingual website. SEO friendly, highly compatible with Themes and other components, WordPress Multilingual Plugin is recommended by many WordPress developers. In this note we examine its advantages and tell you why we include it for free in our service. WordPress Plus and Managed WordPress.

Introduction

WordPress Multilingual Plugin, or simply WPML, is a component that is responsible for transforming a single language website into a multilingual platform. WPML is widely chosen because it supports more than 40 languages and has the advantage that the SEO of our site is not harmed.

While translations can be manual, WPML also allows automatic content translation. For this, it uses systems such as the translations of Google Y microsoft, but also employs the effective DeepL.

WPML is not free. To use it we must buy a license through their site. After the purchase we can download it and install it in our WordPress. Its standard price is USD39, and the license must be renewed every year. We remind you that Duplika offers it for free with its plans Plus and Managed WordPress.

Strengths

SEO

WPML is intended for search engine optimized sites. After the translations, our website will maintain the technical work carried out in terms of SEO. At the same time, we will have complete control of the translated content so that we can carry out any fine tuning that we deem appropriate.

Compatibility with Themes and Plugins

WordPress is characterized by its huge community of developers, both Themes and Plugins. For this reason, it is essential that a translation plugin be able to read and translate all the texts incorporated into Themes and Plugins alike. WPML is prepared to adapt to the vast majority of existing products. Among them, aster, Elementor, divide, Yoast, WooCommerce, Math Rank, Contact Form 7, Slider Revolution and thousands of others.

Versatility in translation management

The administration of content in other languages is a very strong point: the plugin offers machine translations but, if we do not want to pay this additional cost, we have the tools to do it all manually. In other words, copy and paste from our favorite translator. The sweet spot is perhaps achieved by taking advantage of automatic translations, especially on large sites, and then a manual review to fine-tune details.

It is worth noting that automatic translation is a simple process that takes a couple of clicks and a couple of minutes.

However, if we know the additional languages of our website, it is probably best to address the manual labor to ensure a higher quality of work. This is obvious if we have specialized translators.

It is time to clarify that, having translators working on the site, they may have a limited access To the place; for example, exclusively of the content to be translated by a particular partner.

Access to a network of professional translators

Don't we know of any translator who speaks Mandarin? It is no problem. WPML provides access to a community where we will find suitable professionals who will do the translations for us. Nothing less if we love our site and do not want its quality to be threatened by amateur work.

Having at our disposal translators that the same tool offers us guarantees not only the quality of the work, but also that the professionals will be familiar with the plugin in question.

plans

They are three: Multilingual Blog, Multilingual CMS Y Multilingual Agency. After purchasing any of these licenses we can log in to our WPML account and access the download page.

If we have chosen a CMS or agency license, we will have three additional plugins to improve the multi-language of our site.

• String Translation (String Translation): allows us to translate interface strings directly from WordPress without having to rely on .mo files.
• Translation Management (Translation Management): enables the administrator to manage the translation work, also convert wordpress users into translators.
• Media Translation (Media Translation): Allows you to define which images are displayed for each language.

Facility

WPML has its installation “wizard”, that is, a step-by-step guide that favors set-up. The first thing is to tell you what the main language of our site is.

Then we will check the alternative languages that our website will present.

Next, we can decide the order of the languages (will change the order of the flags in the language selection menu). Note: the language selection menu will not show the flags that do not yet have their corresponding translation.

This page shows additional steps for menu language, widgets, footer, and post menu translations.

The fourth step allows us to enable the reporting feature for developers. This is positive since, if we run into any obstacle or problem, the technicians will have an x-ray of our website (Active Components and Theme).

Finally we will be asked to enter our license key. They can be created from our WPML account and just enter the URL of our website. When finished, we will be recommended to activate Toolset Types and, if we have a CMS or Agency plan, the String Translation, Translation Management and Media Translation plugins (already mentioned in this note).

Translating Content with WPML

In the Posts and Pages lists we will see a new column for languages. In this screenshot we can check what content has a translation (pencil icon to edit) or click on the + symbol to add a missing one.

When we are editing a Post or Page, we can see the Multilingual Content Settings socket at the end of the content area. This allows us to set that particular post type as non-translatable, translatable, or translated.

On the right side of the page, a Language box tells us the current language of the post. There we are allowed duplicate content, images and featured image in another language.

If we click to add a new translation, the WordPress Block Editor loads a blank template that is automatically associated with the original post, page, or post type we were editing earlier. We can define the language of the translation, copy the content of the original article and overwrite the content of the original article. Graphic media can also be duplicated.

WPML gives us full control: we can do whatever we want with Posts and Pages, be it changing images, changing the Page template, or editing the URL slug. We are not restricted to the mere translation of a text.

Another advantage is being able to change the language to define the one we want to see in particular, hiding the other languages, or choosing to see them all.

Widgets can also be restricted to a particular language if desired.

Of course, we can create translations of the navigation menus. For this we must click to add a translation for a specific language. We give the menu a name (for example, “main menu in German”), and then we can add the translated menu items. Note: the destination links must already be translated in the chosen language of the menu (eg in German).

automatic translations

While we have no cost for any translation done by us (of course not), the machine translations are another song. Its cost depends on the translation engine we choose, and the number of translated words for each engine. For example, if we choose as the translation engine Microsoft Azure, we will spend one credit per word, while the systems of Google Y deepl they cost 2.

WPML offers the possibility that let's pay as long as we use machine translation. The plan "pay as you go” charges us at the end of the month spolo if we have used the system, and renews us 2000 free credits per month. If we use the automatic system every month, the price per word becomes cheaper. The alternative is to pre-purchase credits, and they do not expire. The credits can be used in the site that we want.

We recommend reading the official documentation for more details.

Conclusions

WPML is a plugin to create multilingual sites with a great versatility and number of alternatives. All sites are different, which is why it is controversial to call a plugin the best solution for everyone. Nevertheless, we consider WPML to be the most practical and affordable translation solution. It maintains SEO, lets us customize each copy of our content in another language, and can even handle translations for us.

Among its benefits, we can take advantage of the function of translation management to assign work to colleagues, translators and third-party companies.

While we will be expanding our database with copies of alternate languages, the developers are constantly working on optimizing the system to reduce any impact on the speed of our site. It should be noted that, when working with our own database, the information always belongs to us and will be on our server.

We hope this review and brief guide has helped you make up your mind and try this plugin for yourself. If they host in Duplika with the addon WordPress plus or Managed WordPress, they will have this plugin totally free.

Doubts, queries, experiences? Write below in the comments section. We read and reply to all messages. Good luck, and thanks for reading.