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Getting Started with a Multilingual Blog Account Type

Allison Rivers
Updated
January 5, 2022

A WPML Multilingual Blog account allows you to translate your site’s posts, pages, and more yourself. This guide walks you through how to set up your new WPML account and translate your content.

This guide is for clients with the Multilingual Blog account type. If you have a Multilingual CMS or Multilingual Agency account, please see our main Getting Started Guide.

A Multilingual Blog account allows you to translate the following types of content on your site:

  • Posts
  • Pages
  • Taxonomy
  • Menus
  • Media

Please note that translating other types of content requires an upgrade to our Multilingual CMS account. This includes texts coming from the theme and plugins, page builder content, WooCommerce stores, and custom fields. See more about what our different account types offer.

Installing & Configuring WPML

Start by making sure your site meets WPML’s minimum requirements. Then, install the WPML plugin. This is available from your WPML account’s Downloads page.

Read more about how to download and activate your WPML plugins on your site.

Follow the wizard to:

After setting up your site, you can also customize your site’s language switcher, which is added to the footer by default.

How to Translate Posts, Pages, and Custom Post Types

With a Multilingual Blog account, only you can translate your site’s content. To add a translation, click the plus icon. This icon is available in two places:

  • On your list of pages or posts
  • When editing your post or page content

Translation Icons on the List of Pages

Translation Icons When Editing a Page

This opens a new page or post where you can create your translated content in the secondary language. You can see in the sidebar which language the new page is in and which page it is a translation of.

Creating the page in your site’s secondary language

If you want to translate any custom post types, you first need to set them as Translatable in WPML → Settings. You can choose to show only translated posts or have your site fall back to the default language if there is no translation available.

Setting a custom post type to a translatable option

Once your custom post type is set to a translatable option, you can translate any custom posts using the same workflow as standard pages and posts.

How to Edit or Update a Translation

You can edit any existing translation by clicking the pencil icon.

Anytime you update a page or post in your site’s default language, WPML will let you know that the translation needs to be updated as well. This is signified by a refresh icon instead of a plus or pencil icon.

You can see the status of any page or post according to the icon displayed:

Icon Current status Action
The content is not yet translated Create a new translation and start editing it
The content is already translated, and the translation is up-to-date Edit the existing translation
The content is translated, but the translation needs updating Edit the existing translation
The content is translated, but the translation needs updating, and a new translation is already in progress Further action is not possible because a translation is already in progress

How to Translate Taxonomy

With WordPress, you can organize your site’s content using taxonomy such as categories and tags. WPML allows you to translate taxonomy terms in two ways:

  1. From a central menu by going to WPML → Taxonomy Translation
  2. From the taxonomy edit screens by going to Posts → Categories or Posts → Tags

You can also synchronize taxonomies that use a hierarchy.

Similar to custom posts, you can also translate custom taxonomy after setting it to a translatable option. To do this, go to WPML → Settings, and scroll down to Taxonomies Translation.

Setting a custom taxonomy to a translatable option

How to Translate Menus

WPML makes it easy to translate your menus and keep your menus in sync across all your site’s languages.

How to Translate Media

Included with your WPML Blog account is the Media Translation add-on. With this add-on, you can upload different images for different languages.

Working with Widgets

Widgets are blocks you can add to pages, posts, sidebars, headers, or footers. Basic widgets often display things like page titles, recent posts, or other dynamic content from other places on your site. If you have translated this content, the widget will display the translated version.

For example, if you use a Recent Posts widget on a page, any post you have translated will show in the secondary language.

A Recent Posts widget showing the translated version of a post

With a Multilingual Blog license, it is not possible to translate custom text in widgets that you add to sidebars, headers, or footers. To do this, you need the String Translation add-on, which is only included in the Multilingual CMS or Multilingual Agency accounts. Instead, you can create different widgets for each language.

Upgrade for More Options

Upgrading to a Multilingual CMS account allows you to:

  • Translate more types of content
  • Add other translators to your site
  • Use automatic translation
  • Connect with a professional translation service
  • Use WPML on more sites

…and so much more. You can upgrade anytime by logging into your account on WPML.org and clicking the Upgrade options link.

Upgrading a Multilingual Blog account

This takes you to the purchase page, which shows the price to upgrade your account. You only need to pay the difference between your Multilingual Blog license and the new account type.