WPML is a popular plugin that translates your website to reach global audiences. Sydney and Sydney Pro are compatible with WPML, so you can translate elements of your theme along with your site’s content.
How to install and set up WPML
If you haven’t already bought WPML, you can do so from WPML’s pricing page. Then, go to Downloads in your WPML account to install and activate it.
Once you activate WPML, click on WPML > Setup and follow the wizard. Here, you have a variety of configuration options such as which languages to translate your site to, how to format URLs, and more.
Once you’re done with the setup, the next step is to specify which content on your site should be translatable.
Enable content for translation
Your site may have custom post types, fields, and taxonomies that aren’t provided by default in WordPress. To translate these custom types, enable them for translation from WPML > Settings.
How to translate your site with WPML
With WPML all set up, you can start translating the content and other elements of your site.
Translate content
WPML gives you the choice to translate everything automatically or send content manually for translation:
- Go to WPML > Translation Management to select the content you want to translate.
- Choose the translation method (e.g. automatic or manual).
- Send for translation.
To review and finalize translations, go to WPML > Translations and click Review to see what the translated page looks like.
Then, you can click on Edit Translation to open WPML’s Advanced Translation Editor (ATE) where you can make changes to translations. For example, in the screenshot below, we’re using the ATE to edit automatic translations of footer widgets added with Sydney.
Translate menus
WPML can automatically create translated menus in all languages you’ve set up, as long as they don’t have custom links or labels. This is the easiest way to have fully localized and translated menus.
If you have custom menus and want the flexibility to translate them manually, you can check out more in WPML’s guide on translating menus.
Translate media
With WPML’s Media Translation add-on, you can display different images for different languages. This allows you to localize the media of each page to show what can most resonate with local audiences.
You can download and activate Media Translation from the Add New Plugin > Commercial tab. Find out more about how to use this add-on in WPML’s guide on translating media with WPML.
Translate other texts
With WPML, you can translate any texts (called strings) that aren’t in pages and posts. This can include texts from the Sydney theme like footers and headers, widget texts, and more.
To translate strings, go to WPML > Translation Management and expand the Other Texts (Strings) section.
If you can’t find a string in Translation Management, check WPML’s guide on finding strings.
