WPML

WPML Multilingual CMS 5.0.0

Released
September 13, 2026
Channel
Stable
Product
WPML Multilingual CMS

Changelog

A redesigned WPML admin

  • WPML now has one menu: Translations, Settings, Support, Activate & Update, and AI Translation Billing when automatic translation is set up.
  • All settings live on one Settings page, with a search box that jumps to the section holding a setting.
  • Links and bookmarks to the old WPML admin pages redirect to their new places.
  • String Translation and Media Translation are tabs under Translations; Sticky Links, CMS Navigation and Export and Import sit under an Add-ons group.

Languages are now language and country pairs

  • Languages are set up as language and country pairs, with regional variants such as Spanish (Mexico).
  • You can add custom languages, upload your own SVG flags, and edit language labels in one place.
  • When you add a language that shares a name with one already active, WPML adds the country to the new language’s name, so you see Spanish and Spanish (Mexico).
  • A regional language you add is ready for automatic translation without any mapping step; where the engine has no regional variant, WPML translates it as the base language.
  • Custom languages that cannot be translated automatically are labelled “Manual translation only”.
  • Existing sites are updated automatically; your languages, URLs and settings carry over.

Translate Everything Automatically runs in the background

  • Once Translate Everything Automatically is on, WPML keeps sending and receiving translations with no browser tab open.
  • Background translation needs a site the translation service can reach from the internet; on a private or password-protected site, WPML tells you to keep the page open, as before.
  • Content written in any of the site’s languages is translated into all the others, not only content in the default language.
  • You can set a cut-off date per post type so content published or edited before it is left untranslated, and adjust it later without turning Translate Everything Automatically off.
  • The setup wizard and the Translation Dashboard show what will be translated per content type, the word count, and the total cost before you turn Translate Everything Automatically on.
  • You can turn Translate Everything Automatically on from the Translation Dashboard without sending a test translation first.
  • Adding a language picks up background translation for that language. Making a post type translatable opens the cost table so you choose what to include before anything is translated.

Pay once per page and language

  • With Translate Everything Automatically on PTC, each page translated after you turn it on is billed once per language, and later edits are free until the content grows past what you already paid for.
  • Content that was translated before you switched Translate Everything Automatically on counts as done and is not billed again.
  • Translation credits are now called words across WPML, and WPML shows the words it will charge before you send.

Taxonomies are translated like posts

  • The Translation Dashboard has a Taxonomies section for sending categories, tags and custom taxonomy terms for translation.
  • Taxonomy labels can be translated from the Translation Dashboard alongside the terms themselves.
  • Under Translate Everything Automatically, new and edited terms are queued automatically and re-translated when they change.
  • Term descriptions and SEO fields from Yoast SEO and Rank Math are included in term translation jobs.

Translation engines

  • PTC, WPML’s own AI translation engine, is the recommended engine. DeepL, Google and Microsoft remain available and are labelled “Legacy”.
  • Translate Everything Automatically needs PTC and a site description. If your site uses a legacy engine, switch to PTC from the Translation Dashboard in one dialog before turning it on.
  • After switching to PTC, new translations are published without review by default; with a legacy engine they wait for your review by default.
  • The Improve Translations tab under Translations suggests fixes based on the edits you keep making and applies the ones you accept to future translations, with a badge when new suggestions are waiting. Available with PTC only.

Also in 5.0

  • WPML 5.0 is tested on PHP 8.5, including its bundled libraries.
  • Translators can open any translation in a language pair assigned to them, without being assigned the job first.
  • The Translation Dashboard now flags categories and tags that changed after they were translated, alongside posts.

Security

  • This release includes a number of security hardenings, including one reported by Wordfence, whose collaboration we are grateful for.

Update or download

The update is available to all WPML clients with an active subscription — it appears on the Plugins page in your WordPress admin within 24 hours of release. You can also check for it right away under Plugins → Add New Plugin → Commercial. To download and install manually, go to Downloads in your wpml.org account (see the installation instructions) and remember to update all components together without mixing versions.

Need help or want to give feedback? Please use our technical support forum.

See all WPML Multilingual CMS versions →