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Build Multilingual WordPress Sites Using OceanWP Theme and WPML

Dario
Updated
May 2, 2022

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 use it to create beautifully designed websites. You can translate every part of the OceanWP theme using WPML.

On This Page

Getting Started

Start by installing and activating the following:

If you’re new to WPML, check out our Getting Started Guide. It quickly walks you through different translation options you can use.

Translating Pages

Translating pages built with OceanWP is the same as translating regular WordPress pages. You can choose from two different methods:

You can choose to translate content yourself, or send content for translation using a professional translation service or your own translators.

Translating Texts from the OceanWP Theme

There are usually some texts that come from other places on your site besides posts and pages. Common examples are texts from themes (including child 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.

  1. To edit the footer copyright text in the default language, go to Appearance → Customize → Footer Bottom, and then edit the text in the Copyright field. Click on the Save & Publish button.
Edit the footer copyright text in the default language
  1. 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.
Scan OceanWP for strings
  1. Go to WPML → String Translation and search for the copyright text. Click the Plus icon to add a translation for each language. The translations save automatically when you click out of the window.
Translating the footer text in String Translation

For more details, see our documentation about finding the strings you’re looking to translate.

Translating Menus

With WPML, you can easily synchronize your language menus. For more information, please review our complete menus translation tutorial.

Translating Widgets

WPML allows you to translate your site’s widgets using String Translation. Please see our documentation on how to translate widgets.

Translating Custom Templates

In most cases, templates are handled by the page builder you are using on your site. To translate them, please see the documentation for the specific page builder you are using. For instance, if you use Elementor, see our documentation about translating Elementor templates.

If you use Ocean Extra and have created custom OceanWP templates by going to Theme Panel → My Library, you can use these templates in the Customizer to replace existing features. To translate these custom templates, you need to also translate the post ID.

To translate a custom template from OceanWP:

  1. Go to WPML → Settings. In the Post Types Translation section, mark My Library (oceanwp_library) as Translatable.
Setting My Library as translatable
  1. Go to Theme Panel → My Library, and click the Plus icon to translate your custom template using the Advanced Translation Editor.
Click the Plus icon to translate your template
  1. Once your template has been translated, use the admin language switcher to switch to your secondary language. Note the post ID of the translated template.
Getting the post ID of the translated template
  1. Go to WPML → String Translation, and search for the domain [theme_mods_oceanwp]ocean_footer_widgets_template or the post ID of the default language template.
  2. Click the Plus icon to add the post ID of the translated template.
Translating the template ID using String Translation

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 set up 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 content that comes from the different OceanWP extensions.

Known Issues

Right now, there are no unresolved compatibility issues between this theme and WPML. Search all known issues.

Getting Help

In case you need help translating your site built using OceanWP and WPML, visit WPML’s support forum.

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.