Background of the issue:
I am building an English/German site using WPML. I know how to translate the English strings of my theme to German. I want to change an English theme string from 'Price' to 'Minimum Price' by translating English to English using an English po file.
Symptoms:
I am unsure if changing an English theme string to another English string can be done with WPML.
Questions:
Can I change an English theme string from 'Price' to 'Minimum Price' using WPML?
Is it possible to translate English to English with an English po file in WPML?
I will try to answer the question before assigning the ticket to one of my colleagues.
1. Go to WPML >> String Translation page.
2. Select the strings that you want to change/translate in the default language.
3. Assign a dummy language from the “Change the language of selected strings” dropdown, so that you can also translate/change those strings in the default language.
Hmm... I tried it but it didn't work. I set Albanian as the language for that string and translated it to English, but it doesn't show up in the front end.
Please check the attached image. What did I do wrong?
Thank you.
Certain strings may require a specific procedure to be located and translated.
Moreover, the proper method for translating strings greatly depends on how they have been incorporated into the theme/plugin.
IMPORTANT: Sometimes, there are even duplicates of the same string, and only one of them is the correct one that needs to be translated. This might be the case here: a different string might be the one that we are looking for and no the one that we focused on until now.
Also, sometimes, simply removing the string (checking the box and removing it) and then re-registering it again by scanning for it (one of the methods below) and re-translating it resolves the issue.
Please attempt both methods and check if either of them resolves the issue.
Method 1:
Navigate to WPML > String Translation, and at the bottom of the page, you will find a checkbox labeled "Look for strings while pages are rendered." You can enable (check) that option, then go to the front end to a page where the string is displayed, and afterward return to WPML > String Translation to search for that string and see if it now appears.
Method 2:
They might be included as admin text strings if you can't locate them within WPML > String Translation.
PS: There is also something important to mention; if the strings come from outside of WordPress, it would be impossible for WPML to see or translate them.
