Skip Navigation
Updated
February 7, 2024

The ACF Multilingual plugin lets you choose translation options for your field groups. See which translation preferences field types use in the pre-set translation options and how to use them in Expert mode.

Setting the Translation Preferences in Expert Mode 

In the Expert translation option, you need to set the translation preference for each field in the field group by yourself. WPML lets you choose from four translation preferences:

  • Translate – This option makes your custom field values available for translation. It is recommended for text fields (e.g. Text, Text Area, WYSIWYG, Message). 
  • Copy –  This option copies the field value from the default language into the secondary language(s), which keeps your custom field value in sync across all languages. It is recommended for fields like Number, Range, True/False, and similar. Please note that with this option, the value of the field will not be available in WPML’s Advanced Translation Editor.
  • Copy Once – This option copies the value of the field from the default language, but the value of the field can be changed later in the WordPress native editor. After the first copy, it will not be kept in synchronization with the default language. Please note that when you use this option, the value of the field will not be available in WPML’s Advanced Translation Editor. You need to translate your content manually.
  • Don’t translate – The field is not available for translation. This is the default setting for fields which you have not yet set a translation preference for. However, if you have any custom fields you don’t want to translate, you should change them to use the Copy option.

Pre-Set Translation Preferences 

In the Same fields across languages or Different fields across languages translation options, the translation preferences of your custom fields are pre-set for you.

Below, we show you the translation preference different field types use in these translation options. Here’s a brief explanation of the information you can find below each column header:

  • Type: The ACF field type.
  • Same fields across languages: The pre-set translation preference of each field type for this translation option. With this option, you can use the same custom fields and have the same number of field instances in all your site’s languages. You can then translate your custom field content in WPML’s Advanced Translation Editor.
  • Different fields across languages: The pre-set translation preference for each field type for this translation option. You can use different custom fields and/or have a different number of field instances across languages. This is especially useful if you are using Repeater or Flexible Content fields. Please note that you can only translate the custom field content using the native WordPress editor.

It is worth noting that field types set to Copy in Same fields across languages are set to Copy Once in Different fields across languages.

Basic Fields

TypeSame fields across languagesDifferent fields across languages
TextTranslateTranslate
Text AreaTranslateTranslate
NumberCopyCopy Once
RangeCopyCopy Once
EmailCopyCopy Once
URLCopyCopy Once
PasswordCopyCopy Once

Content Fields

TypeSame fields across languagesDifferent fields across languages
ImageCopyCopy Once
FileCopyCopy Once
Wysiwyg EditorTranslateTranslate
oEmbedCopyCopy Once
GalleryCopyCopy Once

Choice Fields

TypeSame fields across languagesDifferent fields across languages
SelectCopyCopy Once
CheckboxCopyCopy Once
Radio ButtonCopyCopy Once
Button GroupCopyCopy Once
True / FalseCopyCopy Once

jQuery Fields

TypeSame fields across languagesDifferent fields across languages
Google MapCopyCopy Once
Date PickerCopyCopy Once
Date Time PickerCopyCopy Once
Time PickerCopyCopy Once
Color PickerCopyCopy Once

Layout Fields

TypeSame fields across languagesDifferent fields across languages
MessageTranslateTranslate
AccordionCopyCopy Once
TabCopyCopy Once
GroupCopyCopy Once
RepeaterCopyCopy Once
Flexible ContentCopyCopy Once
CloneCopyCopy Once

Relational Fields

TypeSame fields across languagesDifferent fields across languages
LinkCopyCopy Once
Post ObjectCopyCopy Once
Page LinkCopyCopy Once
RelationshipCopyCopy Once
TaxonomyCopyCopy Once
UserCopyCopy Once