Setting up a Multilingual Website with the Polylang Plugin
Setting up a Multilingual Website with the Polylang Plugin
Updated on November 14, 2017
A Multilingual website is a website that provides content in more than one language. Lots of international company websites provide their content in different languages for their international audience. It is possible to set up a multilingual website with a simple free plugin called Polylang.
There are three main steps to set up a multilingual website. The first one is installing the Polylang plugin, second configuring the Polylang plugin and third is translating your current content into the target language.
Note: PolyLang is compatible with Jupiter since version 5.3. If you have an older version of the theme, update it by following this article.
Installing the Polylang Plugin
To install the Polylang plugin:
1From the WordPress left menu, go to Plugins > Add New.
2In the top right corner of the page, search for Polylang.
3Click on the Install button.
4Click on the Activate button.
Creating Languages
To create a language:
1From the WordPress left menu, go to Languages.
2Choose a language in the select dropdown list.
Note: Polylang will prefill all fields.
3Click on the Add New Language button.
Note: You can redo the operation and add as many languages as you want.
Translating the Content
After creating a language, you will need to add the content in the target language. In other words, you’ll need to translate each of the pages and posts that you want to display in other languages.
To translate your pages and posts:
1Edit the page or post.
2From the Languages section, select your language.
3Write your content in the target language.
4Publish or update the page or post.
Note: You should also translate the theme to your other languages. You can find a guide for that in this article. Please note that .po/.mo files should be created manually for each language.
String Translations
Polylang plugin allows you to translate user-defined strings such as the site title, tagline, or widget titles.
1From the WordPress left menu, go to Languages > Strings translations.
2Translate the source string from the input field in the Translations column.
3Click on the Save Changes button.
Adding a Language Switcher
You can include the Polylang language switcher in your menu.
To add the language switcher:
1From the WordPress left menu, go to Appearance > Menus.
2Click on Language Switcher, and then click on the Add to Menu button.
3Click on the Save Menu button.
Configuring the Theme Options as Unified or Separate
In the Jupiter theme, there are two methods to configuring the theme options. The first method lets you set the theme options from the single options page as unified for all languages. The second method lets you have separate theme options for each language.
Unified Theme Options Method
To set your theme options from the unified theme options panel:
1From the WordPress left menu, go to Settings > General.
2Check the Unify Theme Options in all languages for WPML/Polylang plugin option in the Unify Theme Options field.
3Click on the Save Changes button.
Note: Now you are ready to fine-tune your theme options for all languages by going Jupiter > Theme Options.
Separate Theme Options Method
To set your theme options separately for each language:
1From the WordPress left menu, go to Jupiter > Theme Options.
2From the language switcher, select your target language.
3Configure the theme options and click on the Save Settings button.
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