Multilingual Site with TranslatePress

Incorporating our content in multiple languages is not only generating a larger and more diverse audience, but also a way of showing that we love our audience. For this reason, automatically serving you information, services or products in your native language is conveying that we care. Today we are going to explain TranslatePress, a plugin to create multilingual WordPress sites. It's so powerful and easy that trying it out is a one way.

A plugin that anyone can use

Perhaps the strongest premise is that: you can translate your site by browsing it, from the front-end (logged into your WordPress, of course). This might be enough to pay close attention to the component, but we also tell you that TranslatePress includes 100% support for popular WooCommerce, Themes and Builders.

It's an easy plugin to use, seriously.

After setting our main language (for example, Spanish from Argentina) and the alternative ones, we can start translating, as needed, from the comfort of the visible part of our site (commonly known as front end).

Main Features

• Allows you to translate a whole page with all its elements. This includes images, sliders, forms, popup windows, etc.
• Supports dynamic strings (gettext) typical of WordPress, plugins and Themes.
• Integrates with Google Translate in order to obtain automatic translations.
• The Extended Language Switcher includes a floating menu, a shortcode and individual menu items that you can add to any WordPress menu.
• It works without the need for additional configurations with: WooCommerce, Custom Posts, Complex Themes and Site Builders (Elementor, Divi, etc.).
• SEO support for him slug of Page, Title, Description and the graphic information of Facebook and Twitter. The HTML lang attribute is automatically set correctly.
• There is no limit to the number of languages. Also, we can enable a language only when its translation is complete.
• supports instant translations via his own free tool.

Facility

The installation of TranslatePress is the same as for any other component. In the WordPress Dashboard we must go to Plugins → Add New, and, in the search bar, write TranslatePress.

After having installed and activated the plugin, we can see its addition to the WordPress toolbar.

The options are divided by tabs.

In the screenshot above we have already added alternative languages: Spanish for Mexico, Spanish for Spain, English. To add more languages, just select the highlighted field in the orange box.

Note that adding languages like Spanish Mexico or Spanish Spain is often necessary to be able to specify prices in the correct currency of the country in question.

Language Switcher

The language switcher (language switcher) is an optional feature that allows visitors to our site to view content in their preferred language.

The first option “shortcode” will allow us to insert a code in any Page/Post/Widget to call the language menu. The options are:

• Full name of the language (eg: “French”, “Mexico”).
• Abbreviated name (eg: “fr”, “mx”).
• Flags next to the full name.
• Flags next to the abbreviated name.
• Just the flags.

Put the language selector in my navigation menu

When we enter to edit our Menu, we will see the following box:

All the languages that we have chosen in the TranslatePress configuration will be automatically displayed in the new Language Switcher menu option. By checking we can assign the menu to any area we need within our Theme. Example:

Translate a contact form

To test TranslatePress a little more, we will see how it behaves with a contact form, essential in any commercial site. For the example we will use WPForms, but it will work the same with any other forms plugin.

Editing, via the blue pencil icon, each of the WPForms fields, we can translate all of them. TranslatePress accommodates the translation of plugin text and Theme text.

Regardless of the plugin for contact forms that we use, we can be sure that TranslatePress will be able to translate it without problems.

Translate WooCommerce Products

Product translation expands opportunities for sell our items to a wider audience by speaking to them in their native language. We installed WooCommerce and ran a test to see how TranslatePress behaves:

Again, the mechanics that we have been seeing apply to the product pages and others. TranslatePress offers the ability to change “add to cart” text, breadcrumb text, default WooCommerce tabs, and more.

How do I translate my entire site automatically?

Indeed, manual translation takes time. Is it possible to translate my entire site into multiple languages automatically? yes even free. The free version of TranslatePress allows us to use Google Translate translations through an API key.

If, on the contrary, we prefer to use DeepL, we must hire the premium plan.

TranslatePress offers us a step by step guide so we can configure automatic translations in any of your alternatives.

How do I translate SEO elements like titles and metas?

For those of us who understand SEO, we know that It is also important to translate slugs, Titles and Meta Descriptions. However, the free version of TranslatePress does not offer this possibility. Instead, we will have to hire one of the paid plans.

Any paid plan includes the “SEO pack” addon. The mechanics of translating META content are explained in detail in this step by step guide.

Conclusions

The free version of TranslatePress is very comprehensive, easy to set up, and packed with features. The non-inclusion of SEO is regretted, but it is logical that developers reserve this section in order to generate income for their efforts. Beyond this, TranslatePress and its visual editor is as intuitive as it is satisfying.

The premium version is worth considering because, among other things, it allows automatic language detection, offers the role of translator for site contributors, and includes the ability to translate the meta information of our content.

If we have a blog and we are tempted to translate its content for other audiences, or if our website is an online store, TranslatePress will allow us to expand very easily. Front-end editing is a delicacy, and nothing prevents us from trying the free version with just a few clicks.

Hoping that this note and guide have been to your liking, we invite you to leave your impressions in the comments section. Good luck, and thanks for reading.