No matter if you use human translators or automatic translation, setting up a glossary can help you greatly improve translation quality. Plus, it’s easy to do and comes at no additional cost.
Why You Really Should Use the Glossary
When translating content, both human and machine translators rely on regular language. However, even simple words like “apple” and “orange” can have different meanings depending on the context. For example, “Apple” could refer to the company, while “orange” might be a fruit or a color.
And this is where the glossary comes in. It allows you to tell your translators – whether they’re human or machine – how to translate specific words.
Here are the top benefits you’ll gain by using a glossary:
More Accurate Translations: By specifying how key terms should be translated, you reduce the risk of errors and misunderstandings. Using the glossary helped us to increase the quality of translations on WPML.org by 61%!
Improved SEO: Consistent and accurate translations help maintain the integrity of your SEO strategy across different languages. Search engines favor content that is precise and clear, which can lead to better rankings.
Protect Important Terms: The glossary lets you lock in translations for brand names, technical terms, or any other phrases you want to keep consistent. This ensures your brand identity and messaging remain intact, no matter the language.
How to Start Using the WPML Glossary
Using the Glossary is super simple. Go to WPML → Translation Management, click the Tools tab, and then click the Glossary tab.
Once you’re in the Glossary, click the Add glossary entry button and follow the popup wizard. You’ll be able to enter the term, describe it, and select its type.
Adding a term to the WPML Glossary
And that’s it! Once you’ve added your terms, human translators will see your preferred translations in the Advanced Translation Editor. If you use automatic translation, WPML will apply the same rules to them.
Retranslating Content After Updating Your Glossary
When you update your glossary, it’s important to ensure that the affected content reflects these changes. Currently, the only way to do this is by manually resending the content for translation.
However, with the upcoming WPML 4.7 version, we’re introducing a new Glossary Retranslation feature that automates this process. This feature will automatically identify and retranslate the affected segments using automatic translation, ensuring your content stays consistent with your updated glossary. Note that this will only apply to content that was originally translated automatically.
We’ll provide more details about this feature when WPML 4.7 is released. Stay tuned!
Explore the Glossary Feature – Tell Us How It Works for You
Ready to try out the WPML Glossary? Or maybe you’re already using it? We’d love to hear about your experience.
Leave a comment below and let us know how the Glossary has made a difference in your translations. If you have any tips or suggestions, feel free to share those as well!
20 Responses to “How to Get Better Translations Using WPML Glossary”
Okay great. But most of my website is already translated. So this is only usefull for new items or new customers. Is there a way to ask it to update the already made translations?
Hi, Amber and thanks, that’s actually an excellent question! Right now, you need to resend the affected content to translation. However, very soon, in the WPML 4.7 release, there will be a completely new feature called Glossary Retranslation. It will do exactly what its name suggests – it will automatically retranslate all content where the new/edited glossary terms are. So, it’ll be a great timesaver. We’ll write about this more once WPML 4.7 is ready.
Hi Dario,
Oh that is so much needed. But if I retranslate now. Will it cost me full credits for the entire page or only the change?
Hi again, Amber! Right now, yes, for retranslating affected content you would need to pay for the full cost. This is because currently, WPML cannot know which segments contain the new/edited glossary terms. However, this will change in WPML 4.7 and WPML will know this. In other words, it will be able to target and retranslate only affected segments/sentences. Because of this, the said Glossary Retranslate feature will be free of charge and fully automated.
I have heard about the option coming before. This was I think about 6 months back. That was why I originally placed the question. I am so looking forward to it. Is there an estimate when the new version will be released?
Yes, the Glossary Retranslation feature has been in development for some time. Originally, we were hoping to release it sooner but it required some fine-tuning before it’s ready for production. It’s a complex mechanism impacting a lot of things so we want to make absolutely sure it works perfectly from the go. I obviously cannot provide you with an official release date, but from what I’m seeing, I would say in October. 🙂
Hello,
I use the glossary a lot. I have a lot of words and terms for car spare parts, very specific ones which are not always translated by automatic translation in the way I like.
What I miss is an import functionality. You have to enter everything term by term. Will you implement an import function for the glossary?
Best regards,
Thomas
Hi, Thomas! Yes, importing function for a glossary is a known request and it’s already on our list of things to do. I don’t have an ETA at the moment but I know we want to do it as soon as possible.
Useful, but deadly, of you have to fill in 300-500 names in there without the possibility to import…
It is a very good idea to use it. Hopefully, it will prove to be reliable.
Hi, I cannot find the Tools tab under Translation Management which is now included in WPML CMS 4.6.13
Need another plugin?
Thanks in advance
Hi! The Tools tab in Translation Management has been there for a long time, it’s not about the latest WPML version. Please make sure that your site has the Advanced Translation Editor turned on. You can check this setting by going to the WPML > Settings page. If it is turned on and you still cannot see it, please create a ticket in our support forum so our supporters can take a look at what’s going on.
Hi Dario,
I selected the Advanced Editor and now works fine.
Thanks a lot!!
Great, glad to hear it helped!
I would love to see an import feature that allows me to import a glossary. It’s much easier and quicker to make a list of terms in Excel then entering them one by one.
Also, I’d like to see an option to indicate if the term(s) is website specific or company wide. At the moment the glossary (and translation memory) is shared across all connected sites. I have all sites connected to share all credits, have a single place with credit card details and a single translation credit invoice, but would really like to keep the glossary and tm separated.
thanks
JP
Hi, John-Pierre! Thanks for your suggestions and feedback. Yes, I created a request for the developers about the glossary import feature. As I use it on our sites, I’m completely with you on this one. 🙂
I’ll also raise the thing about the glossary and across multiple sites to developers.
Hello Dario,
It would be great if terms could be added to the glossary directly from the ATE, instead of having to go to WPML → Translation Management, click the Tools tab, and then click the Glossary tab. This would save time for translators. We suggested this some time ago and would love to see it happening.
The glossary import feature would also be very useful.
Regards
JR
Hi, Jorge! Thanks for your comment and good suggestion! I’ll discuss it with the whole team at our weekly call tomorrow.
hi, Is there an estimated update time?
Hi! After the initial release, we found that some languages, like German, are harder to get right using LLMs like ChatGPT. We’ve already found a great solution and our developers are working on implementing it into our WPML AI translation engine. I don’t have a specific date now but as soon as it’ll be ready we’ll announce it officially.
Okay great. But most of my website is already translated. So this is only usefull for new items or new customers. Is there a way to ask it to update the already made translations?
Hi, Amber and thanks, that’s actually an excellent question! Right now, you need to resend the affected content to translation. However, very soon, in the WPML 4.7 release, there will be a completely new feature called Glossary Retranslation. It will do exactly what its name suggests – it will automatically retranslate all content where the new/edited glossary terms are. So, it’ll be a great timesaver. We’ll write about this more once WPML 4.7 is ready.
Hi Dario,
Oh that is so much needed. But if I retranslate now. Will it cost me full credits for the entire page or only the change?
Hi again, Amber! Right now, yes, for retranslating affected content you would need to pay for the full cost. This is because currently, WPML cannot know which segments contain the new/edited glossary terms. However, this will change in WPML 4.7 and WPML will know this. In other words, it will be able to target and retranslate only affected segments/sentences. Because of this, the said Glossary Retranslate feature will be free of charge and fully automated.
I have heard about the option coming before. This was I think about 6 months back. That was why I originally placed the question. I am so looking forward to it. Is there an estimate when the new version will be released?
Yes, the Glossary Retranslation feature has been in development for some time. Originally, we were hoping to release it sooner but it required some fine-tuning before it’s ready for production. It’s a complex mechanism impacting a lot of things so we want to make absolutely sure it works perfectly from the go. I obviously cannot provide you with an official release date, but from what I’m seeing, I would say in October. 🙂
Hello,
I use the glossary a lot. I have a lot of words and terms for car spare parts, very specific ones which are not always translated by automatic translation in the way I like.
What I miss is an import functionality. You have to enter everything term by term. Will you implement an import function for the glossary?
Best regards,
Thomas
Hi, Thomas! Yes, importing function for a glossary is a known request and it’s already on our list of things to do. I don’t have an ETA at the moment but I know we want to do it as soon as possible.
Useful, but deadly, of you have to fill in 300-500 names in there without the possibility to import…
It is a very good idea to use it. Hopefully, it will prove to be reliable.
Hi, I cannot find the Tools tab under Translation Management which is now included in WPML CMS 4.6.13
Need another plugin?
Thanks in advance
Hi! The Tools tab in Translation Management has been there for a long time, it’s not about the latest WPML version. Please make sure that your site has the Advanced Translation Editor turned on. You can check this setting by going to the WPML > Settings page. If it is turned on and you still cannot see it, please create a ticket in our support forum so our supporters can take a look at what’s going on.
Hi Dario,
I selected the Advanced Editor and now works fine.
Thanks a lot!!
Great, glad to hear it helped!
I would love to see an import feature that allows me to import a glossary. It’s much easier and quicker to make a list of terms in Excel then entering them one by one.
Also, I’d like to see an option to indicate if the term(s) is website specific or company wide. At the moment the glossary (and translation memory) is shared across all connected sites. I have all sites connected to share all credits, have a single place with credit card details and a single translation credit invoice, but would really like to keep the glossary and tm separated.
thanks
JP
Hi, John-Pierre! Thanks for your suggestions and feedback. Yes, I created a request for the developers about the glossary import feature. As I use it on our sites, I’m completely with you on this one. 🙂
I’ll also raise the thing about the glossary and across multiple sites to developers.
Hello Dario,
It would be great if terms could be added to the glossary directly from the ATE, instead of having to go to WPML → Translation Management, click the Tools tab, and then click the Glossary tab. This would save time for translators. We suggested this some time ago and would love to see it happening.
The glossary import feature would also be very useful.
Regards
JR
Hi, Jorge! Thanks for your comment and good suggestion! I’ll discuss it with the whole team at our weekly call tomorrow.
hi, Is there an estimated update time?
Hi! After the initial release, we found that some languages, like German, are harder to get right using LLMs like ChatGPT. We’ve already found a great solution and our developers are working on implementing it into our WPML AI translation engine. I don’t have a specific date now but as soon as it’ll be ready we’ll announce it officially.