To translate a WordPress page, use a multilingual plugin or an equivalent translation workflow, define the source and target languages, create a linked version of the page, translate the content and supporting strings, then check links, media, metadata, layout, and language navigation before publishing. WPML, TranslatePress, and Polylang use different interfaces: WPML starts from a target-language plus icon or its Translations dashboard, TranslatePress works in an in-context editor opened with Translate Site in the admin bar, and Polylang assigns a language to each page and creates a linked translation with a plus link.
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What “translate a page” means in WordPress
A multilingual page is more than a second copy of the body text. The translation has to be associated with a target language so WordPress and the multilingual plugin can expose the correct version, connect language links, and keep the source and translated pages related. You can translate one page without duplicating the entire site, but the site still needs a language-management method.
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- WPML: create a translation from the language controls beside the content or from the Translations dashboard. Its documentation also describes automatic translation for pages and for new or edited content.
- TranslatePress: open the rendered page in an in-context editor and translate visible text while viewing the design.
- Polylang: assign a language to existing content, then use the plus link in the page editor to create the linked target-language page.
Whichever workflow you select, treat the first publication as a complete language release: review the page itself, navigation, interface strings, forms, images, search metadata, and the links that move visitors between languages.
Choose a translation workflow
| Workflow | How you start a page translation | Editing experience | Automation and related content | SEO and maintenance considerations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WPML | Open the screen containing the content (such as Pages) and click the plus icon below the target-language flag, or use the Translations dashboard. | Language controls and a translation dashboard; you can create the target page from scratch or choose Copy content from English as a starting point. | WPML documents an automatic mode that can translate pages and pick up new posts and edits. You can also manually translate native WordPress content, including pages, posts, and custom post types. | Check target-language text, links, images, metadata, and layout. Decide how source edits should be propagated and how you will identify translations that need updating. |
| TranslatePress | From the WordPress Admin Bar, choose Translate Site. | Visual, in-context editing: the rendered page remains visible while you replace text. | Useful when the editor needs to see where visible strings appear. Other content types and strings still need to be checked separately. | Its SEO Pack add-on extends sitemap functionality to translated content, so sitemap and metadata behavior must be checked independently from the visual translation. |
| Polylang | Give existing pages a language in the page editor, then click the plus link in the target-language column to create a new translation. | Language fields in the editor with linked source and target pages. | Translated categories, tags, and parent pages can be associated when those translations are available. | Keep the linked pages and their language assignments correct, and verify language links and translated metadata in your site configuration. |
The choice is mainly about editing style and the scope of your multilingual project. A visual editor can make short, design-sensitive pages easier to translate. A dashboard and language-column workflow can be more suitable when you manage many pages, posts, custom post types, or coordinated editorial updates.
Translate a page with WPML
WPML provides two documented entry points. Use the plus icon when you are working directly in the Pages or Posts screen, or use the Translations dashboard when you are processing a queue of content.
Method 1: create a translation from the content list
- Open the WordPress screen that contains the source content, such as Pages.
- Locate the source page and the target-language flag or language column.
- Click the plus icon under the target-language flag. This starts the target-language version while keeping it associated with the source page.
- Choose whether to create the translated page from scratch or use Copy content from English as a starting point. The latter copies the source structure so you can replace the language-specific text rather than rebuild the page layout.
- Translate every content field presented by the editor. Do not stop at the headline and paragraphs: check buttons, captions, links, image text, and any custom fields used by the page.
- Review the target-language page in its final layout. Confirm that links point to the correct language, images are appropriate, metadata is translated, and the design has not changed unexpectedly.
- Publish the translated page only after the review is complete.
WPML’s January 12, 2026 guide describes this plus-icon workflow and the “Copy content from English” option. Its documentation also states: “WPML lets me manually translate any type of native WordPress content, like pages, posts, and custom posts.” (WPML, “Translate Your Website with WPML’s Blog Version,” updated January 12, 2026.)
Method 2: work from the Translations dashboard
- Open WPML’s Translations dashboard.
- Select the page or group of content that needs a target-language version.
- Choose the target language and assign the translation work according to your site’s configured workflow.
- Translate the page fields and any associated content exposed by the dashboard.
- Check the completed translation against the source page, including links, images, metadata, and layout.
- Publish when the target-language page is complete.
The dashboard approach is useful when a site has a continuing stream of edits. WPML documents an automatic mode that can translate pages and pick up new posts and edits. Automation changes the amount of manual entry, not the need for editorial checking: verify meaning, formatting, links, and local conventions before a translated page goes live.
Translate a page with TranslatePress
TranslatePress starts with the page as visitors see it. The documentation calls its interface the Translation Editor, opened from the WordPress Admin Bar through Translate Site (TranslatePress, “Translation Editor”).
Open the in-context editor
- Sign in to WordPress and open the page you want to translate.
- Use the WordPress Admin Bar and select Translate Site.
- Choose the target-language text you want to edit in the rendered page. Because the page remains visible, you can identify headings, buttons, labels, and other strings by their position in the design.
- Enter the translation for each visible string, preserving the intended meaning and the page’s hierarchy.
- Move through the whole page, including navigation elements, call-to-action buttons, captions, form labels, and text supplied by the theme or a plugin.
- Preview the translated page at its normal front-end URL and check that text fits the design, links work, and the language switcher identifies the page correctly.
- Save and publish the translation when the visual and editorial checks pass.
The in-context method is particularly helpful when a translator needs to see where a short label appears. It also makes omissions easier to spot: a button or widget that is outside the main editor content is still visible on the page and can be reviewed.
Check SEO separately
TranslatePress documents an SEO Pack add-on that extends sitemap functionality to translated content. Visual translation alone does not establish that translated URLs, metadata, language links, and multilingual sitemaps are configured as you intend. Review those items separately after translating the visible page.
Translate a page with Polylang
Polylang’s workflow begins with language assignment. Its documentation explains that existing pages need a language, and that a target-language translation can then be created with a plus link in the page editor (Polylang, “Translating posts or pages”).
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Assign the source page and create the target page
- Open the existing page in the WordPress page editor.
- Assign the page’s current language if it does not already have one.
- In the language controls, find the target language. If a translation already exists, select it to open the linked page. If it does not, click the plus link to create a new translation.
- Translate the page content in the new target-language editor. Recreate or adapt blocks, fields, links, and media as required by the design.
- Associate translated categories, tags, and parent pages when those translations are available. This keeps the page’s hierarchy and taxonomy relationships meaningful in the target language.
- Review the language links and front-end layout, then publish the translated page.
The source and target pages remain linked. That relationship matters when editors return to the language controls later: it identifies which page is the translation rather than an unrelated duplicate.
Translate more than the page body
A page can look translated while still exposing the source language in important places. Build a review list that covers every layer a visitor can see or search engines can read.
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- Navigation: menus, breadcrumbs, language-switcher labels, footer links, and links to parent or child pages.
- Interactive elements: button labels, form fields, validation messages, confirmation text, search controls, and consent notices.
- Theme and plugin strings: labels or messages supplied outside the page editor. These may require the theme or plugin’s own translation settings.
- Media: text embedded in images, image titles, captions, and alternative text. Replacing visible image text may require a separate localized image asset.
- SEO fields: the translated title and description, social sharing text, and any language-specific URL or metadata fields supported by your setup.
- Taxonomies and hierarchy: categories, tags, parent pages, and archive labels associated with the page.
WordPress distinguishes localization (often abbreviated l10n) from the act of translating one page. Its Developer Resources describe localization as adapting the text on the page and other settings to another language and culture: “The second step is the actual localization (l10n), the process by which the text on the page and other settings are translated and adapted to another language and culture.” (WordPress.org Developer Resources, “Localization – Common APIs Handbook,” updated November 17, 2022.)
When theme and plugin text is not in the page editor
WordPress software strings are separate from the prose you type into a page. Themes and plugins can expose their labels and messages through translation files. WordPress documents the POT, PO, and MO file formats used in this software-string workflow.
- POT: a template containing translatable strings extracted from the software.
- PO: a human-editable catalogue in which a language’s translations are written.
- MO: the compiled format WordPress loads for translated strings.
If a checkout label, widget heading, form message, or theme control remains in the source language after you translate the page, identify whether it comes from the theme or a plugin rather than from the page content. Then use the appropriate string-translation workflow and test the result on the front end. Do not assume that translating the page editor will translate every software string used around it.
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Most translations can retain the source page’s structure, but translated text often has different length, punctuation, and line breaks. Check headings, buttons, cards, navigation, tables, and mobile layouts after the target text is inserted.
If every language should use essentially the same design, starting from the source content is efficient. WPML’s Copy content from English option is explicitly intended as a starting point, and a visual editor such as TranslatePress keeps the source layout visible while you replace text.
If a language needs a materially different layout, content order, imagery, or call-to-action, use the native page editor workflow and build or duplicate the design deliberately for that language. A translation editor that preserves the source layout is not a substitute for a separate design when the audience or offer requires one.
SEO checks for translated pages
Before publication, verify the complete language version rather than only the prose:
- Translated URL: confirm that the target-language page has the intended address and that internal links lead to the corresponding language where one exists.
- Metadata: translate the SEO title and description and check any social or structured fields your site uses.
- Language navigation: test the language switcher from both the source and target pages. Each link should lead to the matching translation, not to a generic home page or an unrelated article.
- Sitemaps: confirm that translated URLs are included as intended. TranslatePress specifically documents that its SEO Pack add-on extends sitemap functionality to translated content; check your configuration rather than assuming the basic visual editor handles this.
- Indexable content: view the published target URL as a visitor and make sure no source-language placeholders, hidden duplicate sections, or unfinished fields remain.
Review automatic translations safely
Automatic translation can reduce typing, but it does not remove editorial responsibility. WPML documents an automatic mode that can translate pages and pick up new posts and edits; the amount of automation and review control depends on configuration.
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- Compare the translation with the source for omissions, changed emphasis, and mistranslated technical or game-specific terms.
- Check names, numbers, dates, links, button destinations, and formatting. A translated sentence can be grammatically correct while pointing to the wrong page.
- Review local conventions, including capitalization, punctuation, units, and calls to action appropriate to the target audience.
- Ask a fluent editor to check high-visibility or legally important pages before publication.
The cited plugin documentation describes the available tools; it does not provide a universal accuracy guarantee. Human review remains the control that catches context, tone, formatting, and link errors.
Maintain translations after the source page changes
Translation is an ongoing content relationship. Establish a simple maintenance rule before publishing the first page:
- Record which language is the source and which pages are its translations.
- When the source heading, paragraph, image, link, or metadata changes, mark the corresponding translation for review.
- Recheck layout when a source block is added, removed, or reordered; translated text can overflow even when the source design still fits.
- Update menus, parent pages, categories, tags, forms, and widgets when their source-language versions change.
- After updates, open the target-language URL as a visitor and test the language switcher and important calls to action.
WPML’s Translations dashboard and automatic mode are designed for sites that process ongoing content, while Polylang’s linked pages and TranslatePress’s front-end editor provide different ways to return to existing translations. Choose the review habit that matches your publishing volume instead of assuming that a source edit has been fully translated automatically.
A practical pre-publication checklist
- The source and target languages are assigned correctly.
- The target page is linked to the source page in the selected multilingual workflow.
- Headings, body text, lists, tables, captions, buttons, and custom fields are translated.
- Images, image text, captions, and alternative text are appropriate for the target language.
- Menus, breadcrumbs, widgets, forms, validation messages, and theme or plugin strings do not expose unfinished source-language text.
- Internal links lead to the correct language version where one exists.
- SEO titles, descriptions, social fields, URLs, language links, and sitemap behavior have been checked.
- The page has been viewed on the front end at its target-language URL, including the mobile layout.
- Automatic output, if used, has received a human meaning and formatting review.
- The source page and translation have a maintenance owner or process for future edits.
Which method should you use?
Choose WPML when you want language controls plus a translation dashboard, need to handle pages, posts, or custom post types, or want the documented option of automatic translation and updates. Choose TranslatePress when seeing the rendered page while editing visible strings is the priority; remember to verify SEO and sitemap behavior separately, including the documented SEO Pack option. Choose Polylang when you prefer explicit language assignment in the editor and linked pages created through a target-language plus link, with translated taxonomies and parent pages associated when available.
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In every case, the reliable process is the same at the decision level: create a language-linked page, translate all visitor-facing and search-facing elements, test the finished URL, and maintain the translation as the source evolves.
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