I’m pretty sure that you already know that you can run multilingual sites with WPML. Still, many of your sites need just one language, and often, not English. So, how do you get the localized WordPress builds for these sites?
We’ve just released WPML’s kid brother, called WordPress Language. You can download it for free from the WordPress Repository download page.
WordPress Language lets you switch the admin language and will download translations for WordPress core. This means that you can download WordPress from the standard (and always up-to-date) English download and get the translations from WordPress Language.
If you run many sites for many clients, some in that language and some in another, you no longer need to bother with the (too many) localized WordPress builds. Use the standard WordPress install for all these sites. Between us, I think that this should have been in WordPress core a long time ago, but at least, not you can get it as a plugin. It’s a start.
WordPress Language Features
Just like the new stuff in WPML 2.6.0, our new WordPress Language will let you select languages and locales.
Then, it looks up the best available translation and downloads it. But, it doesn’t even save that translation locally. Instead, it writes it into the database and uses from there.
Downloading a new translation takes no time. In a couple of seconds, you’ll have a newly localized site. When WordPress updates, the plugin will look for the updated translation and offer you to update that too.
Translations for plugins and themes
WordPress Language only gets you translation for WordPress core itself. We hope that in the future, translations for themes and plugins will be available from a central repository. When that happens, we’ll add the support for them as well.
For now, you’ll get the translation for WordPress core. Usually, translated themes and plugins already ship with their translations (like WPML does).
Do I need to run it if I use WPML?
WordPress Language is intended for single-language sites. It cannot run together with WPML (which includes that functionality). If you activate it and WPML together, WordPress Language will auto-disable itself.
Download
In case you missed the link at the top of this post, here it is again:
Download WordPress LanguageQuestions? Suggestions? Ideas?
Let us know what you think? Do you find this useful? Anything else you’d like to see WordPress Language do?
Leave your comments here!
I would love to see the WPML – string translation as addon to this, or as a stand-alone plugin.
It is awesome to tranlate plugins and themes, also if you only have one language on your site.
/mikaelhm
I hope to see the WordPress Localization project opening to all themes and plugins. Then, we should be able to import the translations from there. It would make more sense to do all translations centrally (there) than everyone on his own site. We’ll see how this goes.
This is a old post but the idea you present here is still the best way to go.
Anyone know if there is progress in this direction. Or if it is possible wpml in the future can have a central database where translations can be added to and fetched from?
Translation even where just one language is needed is one of wordpress weak points.
So, I can have the front end in French and the Dashboard in English? If so this is something a lot of developers have been waiting for.
There is a plugin called admin in english, but having the ability to do this with multiple languages is awesome.
I love the WPML plugin, and have used it on several websites.
Actually, this is not implemented, but is a good idea. We can easily do that. I’ll add to our todo list for the next release.
Next to core translations .. will this include translations for WP core default themes as well ? ( twenty ten, eleven and soon twelve ) ?
Right now, it’s downloading only the WordPress translations. We’ll try to add other translations, which are available from the WP Localization project soon.
Great. I have already purchased your multilingual one. Now i Try this one but still nothing happend with The theme or am i wrong? It does translate only wordpress?
The WordPress Translation plugin only downloads translations for WordPress core. We’ll try to add support for themes and plugins a bit later.
Please keep me posted, I know some clients that are very eager to have this (extra) feature.
What’s the correct/ideal way to go about this if we already have a WPML licence? Most stuff needs to be translated from English (since it’s the default lang) – would you advise using this plug or does WPML have any documentation on single-language non-english sites?
Thanks!