OceanWP is a free lightweight multi-purpose WordPress theme. Because it is compatible with well-known page builders such as WPBakery Page Builder, Elementor, and Beaver Builder, you can create beautifully designed websites. OceanWP’s integration with WPML allows you to build multilingual websites effortlessly.
In this tutorial, we demonstrate how to translate every part of the OceanWP theme using WPML.
Content
- Getting started
- WPML translation tools
- Translating pages
- Translating portfolio pages and categoties
- Translating texts from OceanWP theme, plugins and other places
- Translating menus
- Translating WooCommerce elements using WCML
- OceanWP extensions compatibility
- Getting help
- Get help with building and maintaining your site
Getting started
Make sure that the OceanWP theme is activated, by going to the Appearance → Themes page.
Make sure that the WPML Multilingual CMS, WPML String Translation, WPML Translation Management, and WPML Media Translation plugins are activated.
WPML translation tools
WPML offers two translation editors you can use for translating your site’s content:
- WPML classic translation editor (CTE).
- WPML advanced translation editor (ATE) offers automatic translation, a glossary, spell checker, and more! The automatic machine translation service starts at $4.98/month for 5,000 words and provides enough word quota for most sites.
Besides translating your site content yourself, you can also:
- Send your content for translation to a professional translation service.
- Create your own team of local translators from the Translation Roles tab in Translation Management and assign translation jobs to them.
Translating pages
With WPML, you can translate any type of content in your site, including pages and posts. For an easy start, read our Getting Started Guide.
Translating portfolio pages and categoties
To translate Portfolio items or any custom post type items, you need to follow the same steps as for translating any other types of pages. Visit our documentation page for exact steps on translating the contents yourself. It is worth mentioning that the Ocean Portfolio plugin is a part of the OceanWP core extension bundle.
Portfolio Categories can be translated while translating your pages, on the Translation Editor screen. There, you can translate the Portfolio elements as well as your Portfolio Categories.
Additionally, you can translate your Portfolio Categories on the WPML → Taxonomy Translation page. Select the Portfolio Categories from the drop-down menu and a list of your categories will appear. Click the plus icon to translate a category for the respective language and use the dialog box that appears to add your translation.
Keep in mind that the translations of categories are universal: if you make a change, they will be updated everywhere.
Translating texts from the OceanWP theme, plugins, and other places
Besides contents coming from posts and pages in your site, there are usually some texts coming from other places. Most common examples are themes and plugins. To learn how to translate these texts, read our documentation page about translating strings.
In this example, we will translate the footer copyright text. You can follow these same steps to translate any text listed in the theme options.
- To edit the footer copyright text in the default language, navigate to Appearance → Customize → Footer Bottom, and then edit the text in the Copyright field. Click on the Save & Publish button.
- Navigate to WPML → Theme and plugins localization, and then choose OceanWP from the Strings in themes section. Click on the Scan selected themes for strings button.
- Navigate to WPML → String Translation and search for the copyright text. Click on the translations link and add your translated text. Then check the Translation is complete box and click the Save button.
Translating menus
With WPML, you can easily synchronize your language menus. For more information, please review our complete menus translation tutorial.
Translating WooCommerce elements using WCML
To translate everything that WooCommerce offers, download the WooCommerce Multilingual plugin (WCML) from your WPML account. Visit our dedicated WCML documentation to learn how to setup a multilingual store and translate your products, categories, variations, shipping classes, and more.
OceanWP extensions compatibility
OceanWP theme offers a bundle of extensions that allows you to extend the functionality of the theme even further. We have created a detailed guide on translating the textual elements that come from the different OceanWP extensions.
Getting help
In case you need help translating your site built using OceanWP and WPML, visit WPML’s support forum.
Need help with building and maintaining your site?
If you need help with building or maintaining your site, take a look at our list of WPML Contractors. They are experienced developers specialized in developing multilingual sites.