Language Setup

The languages section allows you to turn a WordPress site multilingual.

To manage languages, go to WPML->Languages.

Site Languages

Choosing languages for the site

When you configure WPML for the first time, you need to choose the language of existing content. Then, add more languages to the site. You can always go back to add / remove languages.

If you need to use a language that doesn’t appear on the list, click on “Edit languages” and create it.

Language switcher

To let visitors select their language, you can add a language switcher to your theme.

WPML’s standard language switchers include a drop-down languages list and a list of languages for the site’s footer.

Enabling the language switcher widget

WPML can enable the language switcher widget automatically for you as a widget in one of the sidebars.

Alternatively, you can add with via the Widgets screen or manually to your theme using the following PHP code:

<?php do_action('icl_language_selector'); ?>

Choosing what to display in the language switcher

You can choose what to include in the language switcher. WPML can display a country flag, the native language name and the language name in the page’s language.

You can also choose colors for all parts of the language switcher.

Language switcher options

Customizing language switchers

Of course, you can style WPML’s language switcher so that it matches your site’s design. You can also create custom language switchers and add them to the site’s theme.

To change the flags that appear next to languages, click on “edit languages”. You can choose a different flag from WPML’s install directory or upload your own.

Language URL format

WPML lets you choose how to organize contents in different languages. You can select between:

• Language directories (like wpml.org/es/ for Spanish and wpml.org/de/ for German).
• Different domains per language
• A language parameter added to the URL

For language directories to work, your site’s permalink structure needs to be different than the default one. We recommend choosing Year/Month/Name.

Different domains per language requires configuration in your server’s DNS and Apache configuration. Read the
Server setting for languages in different domains FAQ for a complete tutorial.

Admin language

The default language is normally also the admin language. To see the WordPress admin in a different language, use the Admin language setting.

Websites that have several authors, each writing in a different language may need to have a different admin language per user. Individual users can select their admin language in their profile page.