Any Text on the Site, Regardless of Where It Came From
String Translation handles anything that uses WordPress’s standard translation functions. There’s no list of “supported sources”. String Translation hooks into the same translation pipeline themes, plugins, and WordPress core use, so any translatable text in the codebase becomes translatable in WPML.
String Translation Finds the Strings That Actually Show on the Front-End
A typical WordPress site has thousands of registered strings, most of which never appear on the front-end. Hunting through that list for the eight strings your theme actually uses is busywork.
String Translation watches the front-end as visitors browse: when it spots a translatable string in display, it flags the string for translation. You translate what your visitors see, not what’s registered.
Works With Hundreds of Themes and Plugins Out of the Box
WPML reads each theme’s and plugin’s wpml-config.xml file on activation, learning where the theme or plugin stores its translatable settings. Hundreds of popular themes and plugins ship with a wpml-config.xml already. For the ones that don’t, you can override or extend the configuration at WPMLSettingsCustom XML Configuration. See Compatibility with themes and plugins for the developer reference.
Works Inside the Translations Dashboard
Strings appear alongside posts, pages, taxonomies, and media in WPML’s Translations dashboard. The same translation methods apply: automatic via PTC, manual via your translators, or Translate Everything Automatically picks them up alongside the rest of your content. No separate workflow, no separate tool.
