- Released
- September 29, 2026
- Channel
- Stable
- Tested with WordPress
- 7.1
- Product
- WPML String Translation
Changelog
What’s new in String Translation 5.0
String Translation 5.0.0 focuses on a faster, more reliable Strings screen and translation queue, fixes taxonomy and slug translation, and makes string handling consistent on sites whose default language is a regional English variant.
Faster, more reliable string screen and queue
- The String Translation screen now loads faster because it uses an indexed lookup instead of scanning every string.
- Adding a new language no longer times out and only loads the translations you actually need for that language.
- Sites with a large number of auto-registered frontend strings no longer run into timeout errors while the queue is processed.
- String registration and the pending-strings queue are now more fault-tolerant, so a single bad file or database write no longer blocks every later string.
- The cache behind your site’s translated language files now stays within a safe memory budget instead of growing without limit.
Taxonomy and slug translation fixes
- Translating a taxonomy’s slug now actually takes effect on the front end.
- Taxonomy labels are now registered and shown under the correct source language, fixing labels that incorrectly appeared as translated.
Consistent behavior on English-variant sites
- String Translation now behaves consistently when your site’s default language is a regional English variant such as en-US or en-GB.
Also in this release
- Searching strings by language name or text now returns results again.
- Uploading a .po file and adding the selected strings works again on the Strings tab.
- Changing a string’s language now works correctly for non-admin Translation Managers, without a JavaScript error.
- String Translation now correctly scans themes and plugins when WPML is installed through a symbolic link.
- WPML now respects a custom REST API prefix instead of assuming the default one.
Security
- This release includes security hardening.
Fixed in String Translation 5.0.2
This release fixes a fatal error on hosts that disable a PHP function WPML relied on.
- Sites on hosts that disable PHP’s
getmypid()function no longer get a fatal error in wp-admin and on the front end after updating to WPML 5.0. String Translation writes its translation files again, so translated strings show as before. - The download no longer includes
.potranslation source files. Your translations are unaffected.
Fixed in String Translation 5.1.0
This release fixes removing strings by domain, the string filters and the status of string packages, and speeds up two checks that ran on every request.
Removing strings
- “Remove strings by domain” clears the whole domain: a lost batch is retried in smaller pieces, the screen says when the removal stopped, and strings whose automatic translation is in progress are left alone.
- Closing the “Remove strings by domain” dialog no longer forgets the domains you ticked.
String packages and word counts
- A string package’s translation status reflects strings translated in String Translation or written by code.
- Packages synced from an automatic translation job no longer land in a “Manual Translations” batch.
- Package and string translations made without a job count as translated in the word quote and in the string lists.
- Word counts for strings match what the bill counts.
Also in this release
- “Check for string issues” filters the list again.
- Taxonomy labels are looked up with one query for all taxonomies instead of two per taxonomy on every admin page, and registering an unchanged string no longer looks up its language.
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.