{"id":29005,"date":"2021-08-28T17:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T15:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/?p=29005"},"modified":"2021-08-27T00:38:22","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T22:38:22","slug":"how-to-set-your-wordpress-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-set-your-wordpress-language\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Set Your WordPress Language"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Language is everywhere on the internet (except possibly in cat videos), and <a href=\"https:\/\/kinsta.com\/wordpress-market-share\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WordPress powers about 40% of all websites<\/a>. It shouldn\u2019t surprise you, then, that <strong>WordPress has language settings<\/strong> with effects both on the front and on the back end of your website. Using these settings, you can affect how your website is parsed both by your visitors and by your staff: admins, editors, and other contributors.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]In this tutorial, we will show you how to make the best possible use of the WordPress language settings. Whether you want to cater to a particular audience or the needs of your staff or contributors, you\u2019ll find out everything you need in this article. Here\u2019s what we will be talking about:<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#how-to-set-your-wordpress-language\">How to Set Your WordPress Language<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#set-preferred-language-for-wordpress-dashboard\">How to Set a Preferred Language for Your WordPress Dashboard<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#create-multilingual-wordpress-website\">How to Create a Multilingual WordPress Website<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=&#8221;new-top-picks-banner&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"how-to-set-your-wordpress-language\"><\/a>How to Set Your WordPress Language<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Language settings are WordPress\u2019s in-built features. They allow you to <strong>change the language of WordPress\u2019s interface<\/strong> to any of the languages supported by WordPress. They will not translate your content, though: you need either a human translator or a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/best-translation-plugins-wordpress\/\">translation plugin<\/a> for that. To change the language setting for your entire website, navigate to its general settings by selecting <strong>Settings\/General<\/strong> from your WordPress dashboard.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"518\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Settings-General.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Settings General\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Settings-General.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Settings-General-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Settings-General-768x411.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Settings-General-620x331.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]There you will find the <strong>Site Language<\/strong> drop-down menu. The menu is also marked by the language icon, so you know where it is in case you accidentally switch your site language to a language you don\u2018t understand. Its default setting is <em>English (United States)<\/em>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"536\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Site-Language.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Site Language\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Site-Language.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Site-Language-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Site-Language-768x425.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Site-Language-620x343.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Clicking on the menu will reveal dozens of supported languages. The installed languages will be at the top, while the ones needing installation will be at the bottom. Clicking any one of those will automatically install the necessary files and change your language settings.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"623\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Supported-Languages.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Supported Languages\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Supported-Languages.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Supported-Languages-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Supported-Languages-768x494.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Supported-Languages-620x399.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Scroll to the bottom of the page and click <strong>Save Changes<\/strong> for your selection to take effect.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"518\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Save-Changes-2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Save Changes\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Save-Changes-2.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Save-Changes-2-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Save-Changes-2-768x411.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Save-Changes-2-620x331.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]This will not only change your dashboard settings, but also some of your front end features.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"692\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Langue-Du-Site.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Langue Du Site\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Langue-Du-Site.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Langue-Du-Site-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Langue-Du-Site-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Langue-Du-Site-620x443.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]As for the front end, WordPress will attempt to change the language there, too, but the extent of its success will depend on whether the theme and the plugins you are using have multi-language support. Since a lot of independent developers produce software for WordPress, your results may vary. Perhaps a calendar plugin you are using wasn\u2019t translated into a language you wish you use, for instance. In this case, your website might not be displayed properly.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]In our case, after switching to French, our posts remained in their original language, of course, but you can see that the dates are in French.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"467\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/French-Preview.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"French Preview\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/French-Preview.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/French-Preview-300x145.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/French-Preview-768x370.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/French-Preview-620x299.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;78px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"set-preferred-language-for-wordpress-dashboard\"><\/a>How to Set a Preferred Language for Your WordPress Dashboard<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]But suppose you have a regular contributor or even a large proportion of staff who don\u2019t speak the language the site is meant to be viewed in? Various technical and admin roles could be performed by people who don\u2019t have anything to do with the main body of your website\u2019s content, after all. You can remedy that by having said user <strong>change their own individual settings.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]In order to do that, they need to be logged on, and then navigate to their profile. It is located at <strong>User\/Profile<\/strong> on their WordPress dashboard.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"518\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Users-Profile.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Users Profile\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Users-Profile.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Users-Profile-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Users-Profile-768x411.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Users-Profile-620x331.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Once there, they should have no trouble finding the <strong>Language<\/strong> menu. Even if they don\u2018t understand the website language, it is very clearly marked with the language icon. Clicking on the drop-down menu will reveal installed languages. Once a language is selected, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click<strong> Update Profile<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"518\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/User-Language.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"User Language\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/User-Language.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/User-Language-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/User-Language-768x411.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/User-Language-620x331.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Your contributor will be able to select from all the installed languages. You can install any supported language simply by selecting it from the general settings panel as described above. If your contributor doesn\u2018t have permission to access the settings panel, a user with admin or super admin credentials ought to be able to help.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Note that this will only change the dashboard for that particular user, without affecting the website for any other users or visitors.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"create-multilingual-wordpress-website\"><\/a>How to Create a Multilingual WordPress Website<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]So far, we have covered the language settings for the whole website and for a single user. But what if you cater to visitors who speak various languages? What if, in short, you want to <strong>create a multilingual website<\/strong>?[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Well, the most straightforward way to do it is to manually create multiple versions of your website from the ground up, and then have your visitors branch off to their chosen versions. But while this may be the most straightforward way, it is far from the easiest. As you probably expect, you can <strong>use a plugin to do a lot of the work for you.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Of course, saving yourself that amount of time will set you back some: our preferred solution is <a href=\"https:\/\/weglot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Weglot<\/a>, a premium WordPress plugin.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Weglot <strong>works by detecting all the language content<\/strong> on your website, including plugin content, and translates it using <strong>machine translators<\/strong>. It then installs a language switcher available for your visitors, so they can select their preferred language as soon as they arrive to your website. Best of all? It takes minutes to install and does everything automatically.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Now, we won\u2018t go into the details of Weglot\u2018s features \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wordpress-multilingual-site\/\">we have covered Weglot in detail<\/a> in another article. We will use this space to draw your attention to some of the features we think are worth highlighting.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]First of all, while you get an automatic machine translation right from the off, you can still <strong>refine the results<\/strong> to iron out the kinks, which are a normal occurrence even when not using an automatic translator. The plugin is also <strong>optimized for SEO<\/strong>, automatically adding <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/hreflang-tags-in-wordpress\/\"><em>hreflang tags<\/em><\/a> and generating separate URLs for each page. Finally, you can also use Weglot to <strong>switch images between different language versions of your website<\/strong> to cater to different audiences with relative ease.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]While that is the gist of it, we have only scratched the surface of Weglot here. We stand by our recommendation and strongly urge you to try it out.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\">In Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]As you can see, WordPress\u2019s language settings are no great bugbear. There are either software licence fees or a lot of grunt work to consider if you are trying to create a multilingual website, but that will always be a challenge. Switching between WordPress-supported languages, on the other hand, requires just a couple of clicks within WordPress\u2019s built-in features, and your website and dashboard will be set to whichever language you like \u2013 provided it\u2018s one of the dozens of supported languages and dialects.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether catering to a multilingual crowd or accomodating multilingual contributors, our guide to WordPress language settings has you covered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16990,"featured_media":29022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[14,4,13],"class_list":["post-29005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-core","tag-tips","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16990"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}