Skip Navigation
Home » WPML Documentation » Translation Management » How to Use Translation Services in WPML

How to Use Translation Services in WPML

Dario
Updated
January 23, 2025

Learn how to connect your website to leading translation services and send content for translation using WPML.

Why use a Translation Service?

Translation services are a reliable way to translate your website. Unlike individual contractors and part-time freelancers, translation services employ professional translators with hands-on experience. This guarantees a number of benefits: 

High-Quality Translations

Get translations that match your content’s voice and sound natural to native speakers

Industry Specialization

Work with translation services that specialize in your website’s niche and industry

Save Time & Effort

Attend to other important tasks while professionals translate your website

At WPML, we work with over 70+ leading professional translation services from around the world.

Whether you run a small company page or a big corporate website, our partners specialize in dozens of industries, ensuring accurate translations for your specific niche.

How to Use Translation Services in WPML

Using translation services in WPML is easy and secure. You can send content for translation directly from your WordPress admin, and external translators never have access to your website.

Here’s how the process works. 

1. Connect Your Website to a Translation Service

WPML offers two ways to connect your website to a translation service: during the setup wizard, or in the Translation Management → Translators tab. 

Connecting to a translation service in the setup wizard
Connecting to a translation service in the setup wizard
Connecting to a translation service in Translation Management
Connecting to a translation service in Translation Management

Once you select your preferred translation service, you need to authenticate it with an API token. For instructions on obtaining a token, check the documentation for your specific translation service in our translation service directory.

2. Hide Languages in Progress (Optional) 

WPML lets you temporarily hide all content in a specific language from your website. This ensures users don’t see translations in progress or partially translated areas of your website. 

To hide languages on your website, go to WPML → Languages and scroll to the Hide languages section. Select the languages you want to hide and save your preferences. 

Hiding content in specific languages
Hiding content in specific languages

3. Send Content for Translation

To send content to a translation service: 

  1. Go to WPML → Translation Management. 
  2. Select the content you want to translate and add it to the Translation Basket.
selecting content for translation
Selecting content in Translation Management
  1. Next, switch to the Translation Basket tab and select your translation service. Click Send all items for translation to confirm. 
Sending content to a translation service

Remember that WPML doesn’t handle payments, so you need to pay your translation service directly. 

4. Receive Completed Translations

Once translations are ready, WPML automatically fetches them and publishes them to your website. Completed translations appear in the Translation Management dashboard with a green icon.

Completed translations in Translation Management
Completed translations in Translation Management

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do some texts appear untranslated?

If you send content for translation, and some texts still appear untranslated, these texts are likely strings. To translate strings with translation services:

1. Go to WPML → String Translation.
2. Search for your untranslated texts and select them.
3. Choose your languages and click the Add to translation basket button.

From here, follow the same steps previously covered to send these strings to your translation service.

How can I cancel translations?

To cancel translations, you need to contact your translation service directly.

Get Started with WPML

To get started with translation services, you need WPML’s Multilingual CMS or Multilingual Agency account. 

Visit our pricing page to learn more.