How To Translate WordPress Into Other Languages

Have you ever wondered if WordPress can be configured to display your content in different languages?

The answer is … yes, absolutely! You can set up WordPress to display your content in almost any language available and reach new international markets.

Although WordPress displays content in U.S. English by default, the software has the built-in capability to be used in other languages. WordPress makes available themes and translation files for other languages and provides language support for over 70 languages.

In this tutorial, you will learn about the international language capabilities of WordPress and how to configure your WordPress site’s default language.

To learn how to easily create a multilingual site using WordPress plugins, see the tutorial below:

• How To Translate Your WordPress Site Into 100+ Languages

How Many Languages Can Your WordPress Site Translate?

The WordPress community has already translated WordPress into over 70 languages and they are currently working on translating many more.

You can set up a WordPress site or blog to display your content in any of the languages below as your site’s default language:

Afrikaans	Greek	Persian
Albanian	Hebrew	Polish
Arabic	Hindi	Portuguese
Azeri	Icelandic	Romanian
Basque	Indonesian	Russian
Belarusian	Italian	Sakha
Bengali	Japanese	Serbian
Bosnian	Javanese	Sinhala
Bulgarian	Kazakh	Slovak
Chinese	Khmer	Slovenian
Croatian	Korean	Spanish
Czech	Kurdish	Sundanese
Danish	Kyrgyz	Swedish
Dutch	Latvian	Tajik
Esperanto	Lithuanian	Tamil
Estonian	Macedonian	Thai
Faroese	Magyar	Turkish
Finnish	Malagasy	Uighur
French	Malay	Ukrainian
Gaelic	Mongolian	Urdu
Galician	Myanmar	Uzbek
Georgian	Nias	Vietnamese
German	Norwegian	Welsh

Using WordPress In Other Languages

To use WordPress in a language other than English, do the following first:

• Check the above table, or go here to see if WordPress is available in your language of choice: http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_in_Your_Language
• If the language you want is not listed, read the “Introduction” section in the above page for alternative options. These options include links to the WordPress Language File Repository and access to translation teams where you can check to see if a translation is currently in progress.

How To Publish Your WordPress Site In Other Languages

Installing WordPress Language Files Automatically

To set up another language as the default WordPress language version automatically, do the following:

Choose Settings > General in your dashboard navigation menu …

(Settings – General Settings)

This brings up the ‘General Settings’ screen. Scroll down to the bottom section and select a language from the ‘Site Language’ drop-down menu …

(Select your language)

Click ‘Save Changes’ to update your settings …

(General Settings – Save changes)

Your WordPress dashboard and all of the default WordPress terms in your installation files will be translated to the language you have selected …

(Your WordPress site has been automatically translated!)

Translating your default WordPress installation files into another language does not automatically translate your site content into that language. You will need to create content into the language of your choice, or use a WordPress translation plugin

To learn more about translating content in WordPress using plugins, see the tutorial below:

WordPress Multilingual Plugins

To learn more about configuring your WordPress General Settings section, see the tutorial below:

WordPress General Settings

How To Install WordPress Language Files Manually

If you can’t translate your WordPress site automatically using the method described in the previous section, you will need to manually install and configure your WordPress site to use translated language files. To manually install an international language version of WordPress, you have two choices:

• You can follow the instructions provided for your language listed here: WordPress in Your Language. These will show you how to install WordPress in another language.
• If instructions are not available, follow the tutorial below to install language files into your WordPress site. This will translate key terms on your site into the language of your choice.

Here are the steps you need to follow to manually install and configure an international language version of WordPress on your site. This will convert the key terms used throughout your WordPress site, but not your actual content. For help translating your actual content, see this tutorial where we explore language translation plugins.

Note: If you make an error in the steps or you do not specify the correct language, WordPress will default back to English. If you need help with these steps please contact a professional developer.

First, download the .mo language file (Machine Object file) for your language (see WordPress in Your Language for help on this). This file is typically included in the translated versions of WordPress …

Note: Do not try to edit .mo files directly (you need special software editors to do this).

The naming convention of the .mo files is based on the ISO-639 language code (e.g. pt for Portuguese) followed by the ISO-3166 country code (e.g. _PT for Portugal or _BR for Brazil). So, for example, the Brazilian Portuguese file would be called pt_BR.mo, and a non-specific Portuguese file would be called pt.mo.

Note: For a complete list of country codes and language codes see the bottom of this page.

After downloading the language files to your computer, extract the contents and locate the .mo file (typically, this will be located inside the “wordpress > wp-content > languages” directory) …

Important: Always backup your WordPress files and database before making changes to your WordPress application! If you need help with this step, contact us or refer to our tutorials on how to backup your WordPress files and database.

Open up your FTP software and create a new folder in your /wp-content or /wp-includes server directory called /languages. Next, upload the .mo file to the languages folder you have just created in your server …

Next, download your wp-config.php to a location on your computer that you will be able to easily find. Note: It’s always a good idea to download an additional copy of files you plan to modify to a “backup” folder …

Open your wp-config.php file in a text editor (remember to always back up your files before making any changes to your WordPress site) and change the following line to add the filename of your language translation file …

Edit this line according to the .mo file you’ve just downloaded. For example, to change your WordPress site to use Brazilian Portuguese, you would change the above line to the following:

You can also use the above method to change your WordPress default language from en_US to some other variant of English. For example …

Below is an actual example of a wp-config.php file that has just been modified as shown above …

Once you have added your language code, save your wp-config.php file.

Upload the modified wp-config.php file to your WordPress installation root directory, replacing the existing wp-config.php file …

You will be asked to confirm whether you want to overwrite the existing file on your server. Click the “Overwrite” button to proceed …

Once again, ensure that you have a full backup of your WordPress files and data before making any changes to your site. This way, if anything goes wrong, or you just want to restore WordPress to its previous configuration, you can easily reverse any damage by simply re-uploading a copy of the unmodified wp-config.php file you have just backed up to your server, overwriting the newly modified file.

Open your Internet browser and bring up your WordPress site. Your site or blog should now display many of the key terms in the newly-installed language …

Note: If you are dealing with multiple WordPress site installations (e.g. WordPress MultiSite), then you can either set the language on a per-blog basis through the “Site language” option in the Settings >General subpanel or set the default language for the entire network under the Network Admin > Settings panel (“Default Language”).

Once you have converted the core WordPress terms on your site to the new language, the next step to having your site published in a different language is to translate the content of the site itself. This can be partly achieved through the help of translation or multilingual plugins.

To learn more about translating your content into other languages, see the tutorial below:

How To Translate WordPress Into Different Languages Using Plugins

Using WordPress In Other Languages – Additional Information

Below are some additional information tables you may find useful regarding using WordPress in other languages:

Country Codes

The ISO 3166 standard defines the following two character codes for many countries and territories:

AD - Andorra	KZ - Kazakhstan
AE - United Arab Emirates	LA - Laos
AF - Afghanistan	LB - Lebanon
AG - Antigua and Barbuda	LC - St Lucia
AI - Anguilla	LI - Liechtenstein
AL - Albania	LK - Sri Lanka
AM - Armenia	LR - Liberia
AN - Netherlands Antilles	LS - Lesotho
AO - Angola	LT - Lithuania
AQ - Antarctica	LU - Luxembourg
AR - Argentina	LV - Latvia
AS - Samoa (American)	LY - Libya
AT - Austria	MA - Morocco
AU - Australia	MC - Monaco
AW - Aruba	MD - Moldova
AX - Aaland Islands	ME - Montenegro
AZ - Azerbaijan	MG - Madagascar
BA - Bosnia and Herzegovina	MH - Marshall Islands
BB - Barbados	MK - Macedonia
BD - Bangladesh	ML - Mali
BE - Belgium	MM - Myanmar (Burma)
BF - Burkina Faso	MN - Mongolia
BG - Bulgaria	MO - Macao
BH - Bahrain	MP - Northern Mariana Islands
BI - Burundi	MQ - Martinique
BJ - Benin	MR - Mauritania
BM - Bermuda	MS - Montserrat
BN - Brunei	MT - Malta
BO - Bolivia	MU - Mauritius
BR - Brazil	MV - Maldives
BS - Bahamas	MW - Malawi
BT - Bhutan	MX - Mexico
BV - Bouvet Island	MY - Malaysia
BW - Botswana	MZ - Mozambique
BY - Belarus	NA - Namibia
BZ - Belize	NC - New Caledonia
CA - Canada	NE - Niger
CC - Cocos (Keeling) Islands	NF - Norfolk Island
CD - Congo (Dem Rep)	NG - Nigeria
CF - Central African Republic	NI - Nicaragua
CG - Congo (Rep)	NL - Netherlands
CH - Switzerland	NO - Norway
CI - Côte dIvoire	NP - Nepal
CK - Cook Islands	NR - Nauru
CL - Chile	NU - Niue
CM - Cameroon	NZ - New Zealand
CN - China	OM - Oman
CO - Colombia	PA - Panama
CR - Costa Rica	PE - Peru
CU - Cuba	PF - French Polynesia
CV - Cape Verde	PG - Papua New Guinea
CX - Christmas Island	PH - Philippines
CY - Cyprus	PK - Pakistan
CZ - Czech Republic	PL - Poland
DE - Germany	PM - St Pierre and Miquelon
DJ - Djibouti	PN - Pitcairn
DK - Denmark	PR - Puerto Rico
DM - Dominica	PS - Palestine
DO - Dominican Republic	PT - Portugal
DZ - Algeria	PW - Palau
EC - Ecuador	PY - Paraguay
EE - Estonia	QA - Qatar
EG - Egypt	RE - Reunion
EH - Western Sahara	RO - Romania
ER - Eritrea	RS - Serbia
ES - Spain	RU - Russia
ET - Ethiopia	RW - Rwanda
FI - Finland	SA - Saudi Arabia
FJ - Fiji	SB - Solomon Islands
FK - Falkland Islands	SC - Seychelles
FM - Micronesia	SD - Sudan
FO - Faeroe Islands	SE - Sweden
FR - France	SG - Singapore
GA - Gabon	SH - St Helena
GB - Britain (United Kingdom)	SI - Slovenia
GD - Grenada	SJ - Svalbard and Jan Mayen
GE - Georgia	SK - Slovakia
GF - French Guiana	SL - Sierra Leone
GG - Guernsey	SM - San Marino
GH - Ghana	SN - Senegal
GI - Gibraltar	SO - Somalia
GL - Greenland	SR - Suriname
GM - Gambia	ST - Sao Tome and Principe
GN - Guinea	SV - El Salvador
GP - Guadeloupe	SY - Syria
GQ - Equatorial Guinea	SZ - Swaziland
GR - Greece	TC - Turks and Caicos Islands
GS - South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	TD - Chad
GT - Guatemala	TF - French Southern and Antarctic Lands
GU - Guam	TG - Togo
GW - Guinea-Bissau	TH - Thailand
GY - Guyana	TJ - Tajikistan
HK - Hong Kong	TK - Tokelau
HM - Heard Island and McDonald Islands	TL - Timor-Leste
HN - Honduras	TM - Turkmenistan
HR - Croatia	TN - Tunisia
HT - Haiti	TO - Tonga
HU - Hungary	TR - Turkey
ID - Indonesia	TT - Trinidad and Tobago
IE - Ireland	TV - Tuvalu
IL - Israel	TW - Taiwan
IM - Isle of Man	TZ - Tanzania
IN - India	UA - Ukraine
IO - British Indian Ocean Territory	UG - Uganda
IQ - Iraq	UM - US minor outlying islands
IR - Iran	US - United States
IS - Iceland	UY - Uruguay
IT - Italy	UZ - Uzbekistan
JE - Jersey	VA - Vatican City
JM - Jamaica	VC - St Vincent and the Grenadines
JO - Jordan	VE - Venezuela
JP - Japan	VG - Virgin Islands (UK)
KE - Kenya	VI - Virgin Islands (US)
KG - Kyrgyzstan	VN - Vietnam
KH - Cambodia	VU - Vanuatu
KI - Kiribati	WF - Wallis and Futuna
KM - Comoros	WS - Samoa (Western)
KN - St Kitts and Nevis	YE - Yemen
KP - Korea (North)	YT - Mayotte
KR - Korea (South)	ZA - South Africa
KW - Kuwait	ZM - Zambia
KY - Cayman Islands	ZW - Zimbabwe

Language Codes

The ISO 639 standard defines two-letter codes for many languages, and three-letter codes for more rarely used languages:

Usual Language Codes

aa - Afar	lg - Ganda
ab - Abkhazian	li - Limburgish; Limburger; Limburgan
ae - Avestan	ln - Lingala
af - Afrikaans	lo - Lao; Laotian
ak - Akan	lt - Lithuanian
am - Amharic	lu - Luba-Katanga
an - Aragonese	lv - Latvian; Lettish
ar - Arabic	mg - Malagasy
as - Assamese	mh - Marshallese
av - Avaric	mi - Maori
ay - Aymara	mk - Macedonian
az - Azerbaijani	ml - Malayalam
ba - Bashkir	mn - Mongolian
be - Belarusian	mo - Moldavian
bg - Bulgarian	mr - Marathi
bh - Bihari	ms - Malay
bi - Bislama	mt - Maltese
bm - Bambara	my - Burmese
bn - Bengali; Bangla	na - Nauru
bo - Tibetan	nb - Norwegian Bokmål
br - Breton	nd - Ndebele, North
bs - Bosnian	ne - Nepali
ca - Catalan	ng - Ndonga
ce - Chechen	nl - Dutch
ch - Chamorro	nn - Norwegian Nynorsk
co - Corsican	no - Norwegian
cr - Cree	nr - Ndebele, South
cs - Czech	nv - Navajo; Navaho
cu - Church Slavic	ny - Chichewa; Nyanja
cv - Chuvash	oc - Occitan; Provençal
cy - Welsh	oj - Ojibwa
da - Danish	om - (Afan) Oromo
de - German	or - Oriya
dv - Divehi; Maldivian	os - Ossetian; Ossetic
dz - Dzongkha; Bhutani	pa - Panjabi; Punjabi
ee - Éwé	pi - Pali
el - Greek	pl - Polish
en - English	ps - Pashto; Pushto
eo - Esperanto	pt - Portuguese
es - Spanish	qu - Quechua
et - Estonian	rm - Romansh
eu - Basque	rn - Rundi; Kirundi
fa - Persian	ro - Romanian
ff - Fulah	ru - Russian
fi - Finnish	rw - Kinyarwanda
fj - Fijian; Fiji	sa - Sanskrit
fo - Faroese	sc - Sardinian
fr - French	sd - Sindhi
fy - Western Frisian	se - Northern Sami
ga - Irish	sg - Sango; Sangro
gd - Scottish Gaelic	si - Sinhala; Sinhalese
gl - Galician	sk - Slovak
gn - Guarani	sl - Slovenian
gu - Gujarati	sm - Samoan
gv - Manx	sn - Shona
ha - Hausa	so - Somali
he - Hebrew (formerly iw)	sq - Albanian
hi - Hindi	sr - Serbian
ho - Hiri Motu	ss - Swati; Siswati
hr - Croatian	st - Sesotho; Sotho, Southern
ht - Haitian; Haitian Creole	su - Sundanese
hu - Hungarian	sv - Swedish
hy - Armenian	sw - Swahili
hz - Herero	ta - Tamil
ia - Interlingua	te - Telugu
id - Indonesian (formerly in)	tg - Tajik
ie - Interlingue; Occidental	th - Thai
ig - Igbo	ti - Tigrinya
ii - Sichuan Yi; Nuosu	tk - Turkmen
ik - Inupiak; Inupiaq	tl - Tagalog
io - Ido	tn - Tswana; Setswana
is - Icelandic	to - Tonga
it - Italian	tr - Turkish
iu - Inuktitut	ts - Tsonga
ja - Japanese	tt - Tatar
jv - Javanese	tw - Twi
ka - Georgian	ty - Tahitian
kg - Kongo	ug - Uighur
ki - Kikuyu; Gikuyu	uk - Ukrainian
kj - Kuanyama; Kwanyama	ur - Urdu
kk - Kazakh	uz - Uzbek
kl - Kalaallisut; Greenlandic	ve - Venda
km - Central Khmer; Cambodian	vi - Vietnamese
kn - Kannada	vo - Volapük; Volapuk
ko - Korean	wa - Walloon
kr - Kanuri	wo - Wolof
ks - Kashmiri	xh - Xhosa
ku - Kurdish	yi - Yiddish (formerly ji)
kv - Komi	yo - Yoruba
kw - Cornish	za - Zhuang
ky - Kirghiz	zh - Chinese
la - Latin	zu - Zulu
lb - Letzeburgesch; Luxembourgish

Rare Language Codes

ace - Achinese	mai - Maithili
awa - Awadhi	mak - Makasar
bal - Baluchi	man - Mandingo
ban - Balinese	men - Mende
bej - Beja; Bedawiyet	min - Minangkabau
bem - Bemba	mni - Manipuri
bho - Bhojpuri	mos - Mossi
bik - Bikol	mwr - Marwari
bin - Bini; Edo	nap - Neapolitan
bug - Buginese	nso - Pedi; Sepedi; Northern Sotho
ceb - Cebuano	nym - Nyamwezi
din - Dinka	nyn - Nyankole
doi - Dogri	pag - Pangasinan
fil - Filipino; Pilipino	pam - Pampanga; Kapampangan
fon - Fon	raj - Rajasthani
gon - Gondi	sas - Sasak
gsw - Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian	sat - Santali
hil - Hiligaynon	scn - Sicilian
hmn - Hmong	shn - Shan
ilo - Iloko	sid - Sidamo
kab - Kabyle	srr - Serer
kam - Kamba	suk - Sukuma
kbd - Kabardian	sus - Susu
kmb - Kimbundu	tem - Timne
kok - Konkani	tiv - Tiv
kru - Kurukh	tum - Tumbuka
lua - Luba-Lulua	umb - Umbundu
luo - Luo (Kenya and Tanzania)	wal - Walamo
mad - Madurese	war - Waray
mag - Magahi	yao - Yao

Congratulations … now you know how to translate WordPress into other languages.

(Source: Pixabay)

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