multilingual | The Blog Pros

January 11, 2023

How to Easily Create a Multilingual Sitemap in WordPress

Are you looking to improve the search engine rankings of your site’s multilingual pages?

Creating a multilingual sitemap helps Google, Bing, and other search engines easily find your content and index it. You can get more international search traffic simply by giving search engines an easy way to find multilingual content on your WordPress site.

In this article, we’ll show you how to create a multilingual sitemap for WordPress.

How to create a multilingual sitemap in WordPress

Why Create a Multilingual Sitemap in WordPress?

A sitemap is a file that contains all the important content on your WordPress website. It is in the XML format and is targeted toward search engines instead of people.

Creating an XML sitemap for your multilingual website helps search engines find and index your content faster. For instance, if you have different domains or subdomains translated into multiple languages, then you’ll need to create a sitemap for each website.

Note: If you’re looking for an easy way to set up a website in different languages, then follow our step-by-step guide on how to easily create a multilingual WordPress site.

A sitemap is extremely important for your WordPress SEO. Let’s say you just created a new multilingual website. Your new site won’t have many backlinks, and it can be hard for search engines to discover your new articles and pages.

The sitemap provides a way for search engines to learn about your new content in another language. This way, your multilingual pages will start to get indexed and appear in search results.

That being said, let’s take a look at how you can create a multilingual sitemap in WordPress.

Creating a Multilingual Sitemap in WordPress

By default, WordPress automatically creates an XML sitemap for new websites. You can add wp-sitemap.xml at the end of the domain, and WordPress will display the default XML sitemap.

However, this feature is fairly limited and not very flexible. You can’t control which content to add or remove from the sitemap.

The best way to create an XML sitemap in WordPress is by using the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plugin. It is the best WordPress SEO plugin and helps you optimize your site for search engines.

It also automatically creates a sitemap for a multilingual site and gives you more control over which pages and website sections you want to show in the sitemap.

The sitemap feature is available in the AIOSEO Lite version for free. However, if you’re looking for more features like video sitemaps, news sitemaps, redirections manager, and link assistant, then we recommend using the AIOSEO Pro version.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the AIOSEO plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Click let's get started AIOSEO setup wizard

Upon activation, you’ll see the AIOSEO setup wizard. Simply click the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button and follow the onscreen instructions. For more details, you can visit our guide on how to set up All in One SEO plugin for WordPress.

After that, you’ll need to go to All in One SEO » Sitemaps from your WordPress dashboard and ensure that the ‘Enable Sitemap’ option is enabled.

AIOSEO will automatically create a sitemap for your multilingual website.

You can click the ‘Open Sitemap’ button to preview it or simply add ‘sitemap.xml’ to your website URL.

Please note that if you’re using WPML to create multilingual sites, then AIOSEO will automatically serve sitemaps across different languages.

For instance, your sitemap URL will be something like /nl/sitemap.xml, /de/sitemap.xml, or /fr/sitemap.xml.

If you’re using TranslatePress to create your WordPress multilingual site, then you will need to install their SEO pack addon which is fully compatible with AIOSEO.

Configuring Additional Multilingual Sitemap Settings

To further customize your multilingual sitemaps, you can scroll down in AIOSEO Sitemaps settings to view more options.

By default, the plugin lets you include all post types and taxonomies in the sitemap. It also gives the option to include date archives and author sitemaps.

However, you can uncheck the ‘Post Types’ and ‘Taxonomies’ options and view more options.

For example, let’s say you have translated content as a custom post type. You can simply check that option to include in the sitemap and exclude other post types.

Besides that, you can also add more pages from your multilingual website to the sitemap.

For example, let’s say you’ve translated a pillar article or an evergreen content into another language. You can add the page URL to the sitemap using AIOSEO and help search engines easily find your content.

Simply scroll down and click the ‘Additional Page’ toggle to enable the option. After that, you can add the page URL, and choose the priority and the frequency.

AIOSEO lets you exclude posts, pages, and specific terms from your WordPress sitemaps.

For instance, you can add different multilingual posts and pages that you don’t to include in the sitemap. These can be contact us page, or terms of service pages translated in another language.

First, you’ll need to enable the ‘Advanced Settings’ option. Then enter the URLs in the ‘Exclude Posts / Posts’ field and the terms in the ‘Exclude Terms’ field.

Submitting Your Multilingual Sitemap to Search Engines

Now that you’ve created a multilingual sitemap, the next step is to submit it to different search engines. This way, Google, Bing, and other search engines can easily find new content.

Submit Multilingual Sitemap to Google

Google Search Console is a free tool by Google that you can use to monitor your site’s performance on search results. It helps you see which keywords people use to find your website and resolve any errors that might prevent you from appearing on Google.

Submitting your multilingual sitemap to the Search Console helps Google quickly discover new content.

You can simply log in to your account and head to the ‘Sitemaps’ option from the menu on your left. Next, enter your multilingual sitemap URL under the ‘Add a new sitemap’ option and click the ‘Submit’ button.

For more details, please see our guide on how to submit your website to search engines.

Submit Multilingual Sitemap to Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo

Similarly, you can submit the sitemap to Bing using the Webmaster Tools. The best part is that, when you submit your site to Bing, it’s also automatically submitted to the Yahoo and DuckDuckGo search engines.

You can see our step-by-step tutorial on how to add your website to Bing Webmaster Tools for more details.

We hope that this article helped you learn how to create a multilingual sitemap in WordPress. You may also want to see our expert SEO tips to optimize your blog posts, and our expert pick of the best keyword research tools to improve your SEO rankings.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Easily Create a Multilingual Sitemap in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

June 9, 2022

WordPress 6.1 to Focus On Refining Full-Site Editing, Next Phase Collaboration and Multilingual Features Anticipated in 2023-2025

Gutenberg lead architect Matías Ventura has identified refinements to experiences introduced in 5.9 and 6.0 as the main goal for the upcoming 6.1 release. He published the roadmap for 6.1 ahead of the closing session at WordCamp Europe in Porto, where he was scheduled to join Matt Mullenweg and Josepha Haden Chomphosy for a demo. Ventura wasn’t able to make it but he tweeted a thread with video demos of some exciting interface updates that Gutenberg contributors are working on.

One of the main thrusts is making site navigation a smoother experience through a new “browse mode” that will allow site editors to zoom in and out while working.

Patterns are another major focus that Ventura has identified as “a central piece of the creative experience.” Contributors are working on making it easier to build with patterns, with plans to improve the discovery and insertion process. WordPress 6.1 will bring better support for pattern usage in custom post types, block types, and a more intuitive experience locking patterns and managing saved patterns.

Contributors are also exploring a new aerial view and other ideas for making it easier to interact with patterns as sections of a page, as Ventura demonstrated in his thread.

Patterns were a big focus at the conference in Porto and with 6.1 we'll be trying ti elevate them further. A new aerial view is being explored to allow focusing on the top level sections of a page or template. pic.twitter.com/7JSeQQANt7
— Matías Ventura (@matias_ventura) June 8, 2022

Ventura said another goal for WordPress 6.1 is to improve the global styles interface with better support for restrictions, privileges, and curated presets. Design tools will also be updated to support responsive typography and allow managing webfonts.

“The tune of the release will be to refine the experiences introduced in 5.9 and 6.0, weave the various flows into more coherent and fulfilling experiences for users, maintainers, and extenders, and close some gaps in functionality as we start to look towards Phase 3 of the Gutenberg roadmap,” Ventura said.

Beyond WordPress 6.1: Collaboration Phase 3 Will Precede Multilingual Phase 4 to Establish Core Architecture

Matt Mullenweg and Josepha Haden Chomphosy addressed several questions regarding WordPress’ long term roadmap during their Q&A session at WordCamp Europe. (The video from the livestream is embedded below.)

WordPress core contributors plan to close out the Customization phase before beginning on the Collaboration phase in 2023. During the Q&A session, one of the polyglot contributors asked why WordPress is waiting until Phase 4 to begin working on multilingual features in core.

“Part of the reason we don’t want to set data now and then work on the feature later is that we have learned every time that it’s hard to create the architecture for something without creating the user experience,” Mullwenweg said. “When we try to do one without the other, for example with the REST API we got into the REST API before we were fully using it ourselves. As we started to do first-party usage of the REST API with Gutenberg, we found a bunch of gaps. I would feel particularly bad if those gaps meant plugins had been building on the wrong architecture for a few years.”

Mullenweg also explained why he believes it’s important to prioritize Phase 3, which he referred to as “workflow,” before the multilingual features:

Phase 3 is Workflow. This is basically where we’re going to take real-time co-editing into WordPress, much like Google docs or something else. When you log in to edit a page or your sites or a template or something, if someone else is in there at the same time, you’ll be able to see them moving around. Of course, we want to make sure we have version control built in like we do for posts and pages, into as many parts of WP as possible, so if someone makes a mistake or an edit to the site, you will be able to roll it back easily, which I think is really key for giving people confidence.

He emphasized the importance of establishing the collaboration architecture before introducing multilingual support into core.

“I think that the workflows around multilingual are important,” Mullenweg said. “So where is the content being canonically created, how do changes flow from one language to another, maybe even bi-directionally, depending on the people editing the site, and how that affects the rest of the templates – things that are outside the post and page content.”

He also noted the many third-party multilingual solutions that already exist will have a transition period as core integrates these features.

“I expect that much like has happened with page builders, once there’s something in core, they will either have a data migration path or integrate with whatever foundation we put into core,” Mullenweg said. “But I would like to set expectations that it’s probably more of a 2024 or 2025 initiative for WordPress. And we want to get these other phases done really well first. Why do we have to go in order? We can only do so much at once.”

When the person who had asked the question pressed for a reason why a contingency work group could not begin now, Mullenweg encouraged any eager contributors to put their work into a plugin. He referenced Gutenberg, which began as a plugin and was tested for years before bringing it into core.

I would say when we look at phase 4, the first thing we’re going to look at is how all the plugins are doing it. Perhaps one of those plugins could even become the basis for what comes into core. It’s OK if the plugins take different architectural approaches, because we want to see pluses and minuses of those. Remember people use WordPress with millions and millions of posts and pages, sometimes tens of millions. We want this to scale, we want this to be performant, we want it to be accessible. Take all the things people know and trust about WordPress. and bring it to this functionality.

Mullenweg said he thinks multilingual is “probably going to be one of the most complex things we bring into core, even more so than blocks.” The reason behind this is because blocks took what WordPress did before and gave it a new interface on top of HTML.

“Multilingual is taking every single thing inside of WordPress – tags, categories, pages, templates, and making it multi-factorial so it’s like a factorial amount of complexity on top of what right now is more of a one-to-one relationship,” he said. “If you have some ideas for how to do it, get involved with one of the existing plugins or start your own.”

February 27, 2020

How to Easily Create a Multilingual WordPress Site

Do you want to translate your WordPress site in multiple languages?

WordPress powers more than 35% of all websites on the internet. Many of them serve non-English or multilingual audiences.

In this article, we will show you how to easily create a multilingual WordPress site. We will cover three different solutions, so you can choose the one that works best for you.

With each solution, you’ll be able to easily translate your WordPress posts, pages, tags, categories, and themes into as many languages as you like.

What is a Multilingual WordPress Website?

A multilingual WordPress website serves the same content in multiple languages. It can automatically redirect users to a language based on their region, or users can select their preferred language using a dropdown link.

There are few different approaches used to create a multilingual website.

The first approach allows you to manually translate all the content into languages of your choice with the help of human translators.

The second method does not actually create a multilingual site but uses machine translations of your existing content by using auto-translate services.

However, Google Translate has stopped supporting new accounts for website translation. The other options are either not-free or not very good in quality.

It goes without saying that manually translating your content is a much better approach. This allows you to maintain quality throughout your website. You can translate the content yourself or hire professionals to do that.

Choosing a WordPress Multilingual Plugin

There are several WordPress plugins that you can use to translate your website into multiple languages. You need to choose a plugin that helps you easily manage translations without making things unnecessarily difficult for your users.

In this guide, we will show you three of the top WordPress multilingual plugins with step by step instructions on how to set them up.

If you know which plugin you are going with, then you can directly jump to the instructions.

TranslatePress
WPML
Polylang

All three of them comes with the necessary features you’ll need to make a robust multilingual website.

They allow you to translate posts, pages, products, and other post types
You can easily translate your categories, tags, plugins, and themes
They allow you to set up SEO friendly URLs for each language

With that said, let’s get started.

1. Create Multilingual WordPress Website Using TranslatePress

TranslatePress is one of the best WordPress translation plugins on the market. It is a bit different than other solutions mentioned in this guide.

Normally, multilingual plugins ask you to create multiple versions of the same article in order to translate it. TranslatePress allows you to create translations at the same time.

It also allows you to use a live editor to translate all the visual aspects of your website.

Most importantly, you can combine machine and human translations. This means you can use Google Translate or similar AI-powered tools to generate machine translations and only improve the parts that artificial intelligence missed.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the TranslatePress plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

If you want to translate your website to more than one language, then you will also need to install ‘Extra Languages’ add-on. You can do this from the download addons button under your account on the TranslatePress website.

After downloading the add-on, you can install and activate it like any other WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Settings » TranslatePress page to configure plugin settings.

First, you need to switch to the license tab and enter your license key. You can find this information under your account on the TranslatePress website.

After that, you need to switch to the General settings tab to set up other settings.

The first option on the page is to choose the default language of your website, and the languages you want to translate your website into.

Next, you need to choose whether you want to display language names in the native language. The default option is ‘No’ which means language names will be shown in the default language.

After that you need to choose whether you want to display the default language name in the URL as a subdirectory. For example, http://example.com/en/.

The default choice is no which means only the other languages will have the language name in URL as a subdirectory. We recommend leaving this setting as-is for best SEO.

This brings you to the next setting, ‘Force language in custom links’. The default option is ‘Yes’, because that will change custom links for translated languages making the URLs more SEO friendly.

Next, you need to choose whether you want to use Google Translate for automatic translations. The default choice is ‘No’, but you can change that if you would like to use Google Translate.

You will need to provide a Google Translate API key in the next option. You will find a link under the option which will show you instructions on how to get one.

Finally, you will come to the options on how you want to display the language switcher on your website. TranslatePress provides you with three choices.

You can use a shortcode, add switcher to your navigation menu, or display a floating menu. We will show you how to add the language switcher to your website later in this article.

Go ahead and click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

Translating Your Website Content

To translate your website, you can simply click on the ‘Translate Site’ tab on plugin’s settings page or the button in your WordPress admin bar.

This will open the live translation editor in a new browser tab.

In this live editor, you can click on any text on your website in the right pane and TranslatePress will load it in the left column to translate.

Now click on the language you want to translate the string into and then provide your translation.

After entering the translation, click on the ‘Save Translation’ button on the top and then click on the next button. TranslatePress will automatically load the next string on the page for you to translate.

You can also just click on the drop-down menu below your default language, and it will show you the list of translatable text strings on the page. You can select a string and then provide its translation.

You can translate all content on any page. This includes navigation menus, buttons, sidebar widgets, meta text, and more.

You can also visit any page by clicking on the links on the screen and start translating that page.

TranslatePress allows you to instantly start translating any page or post on your site when logged in. Simply click on the ‘Translate Page’ button on the top to enter the live editor.

Once you have translated a string, the plugin will automatically translate it for you on other places. For example, if you translated a post title, then the post title in your sidebar widgets will be automatically translated.

Adding Language Switcher to Your Website

Language switcher allows your website visitors to select a language when they visit your website. It usually displays the flag of each country to indicate languages available on your site.

TranslatePress allows you to add language switcher by using a shortcode, as a navigation menu item, or as a floating banner. The language switcher can be displayed as flags, language names, or both.

Adding language switcher in WordPress using shortcode

You just need to add [language-switcher] shortcode to posts, pages, or a sidebar widget where you want to display the language switcher.

Adding language switcher to your WordPress navigation menu

Simply go to Appearance » Menus page and click on the ‘Language Switcher’ tab in the left column. Now select the languages you want to display and then click on add to menu button.

You will now see languages added to your WordPress navigation menu. Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Menu’ button to store your changes.

This is how it looked on our test site:

Adding a floating language switcher

Go to plugin’s settings page and scroll down to language switcher section. From here make sure the box next to the ‘Floating language selection’ option is checked.

Don’t forget to click on the save changes button to store your settings.

You can now visit your website to see the floating language switcher at the bottom of every page on your website.

2. Create Multilingual WordPress Website Using WPML

WPML (short for WordPress Multi-lingual) is one of the oldest and most popular WordPress multilingual plugin.

First thing you need to do is install and activate the WPML (WordPress Multi-language) plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, the plugin will add a new menu item labeled ‘WPML’ in your WordPress menu. Clicking on it for the first time will take you to plugin’s settings wizard.

WPML will automatically detect your WordPress site’s language. You can change it here now if you want.

After that click on the next button to continue.

On the next screen, you will be asked to select the languages you want to enable on your site. Simply select the languages from the list that you want to add to your site.

You can always add or remove languages later if you need them. Once you have selected the languages, click on the Next button.

Now you will be asked to add a language switcher to your site. This language switcher will allow your users to choose a language to view content in their preferred language.

WPML allows you to automatically add content switcher as a sidebar widget, in your navigation menu, a plain list, or in the footer area.

Next, you will be asked if you like to send a compatibility report to WPML regarding the plugin and themes you are using.

It is up to you to decide whether or not you want to send this data to WPML.

As the final step, you will be asked to enter your site key. If you have not generated one yet, then you can click on ‘Generate a key for this site’ button.

This will take you to the WPML website, where you will be asked to add the site you are coming from to your WPML account.

Once your site is added, you can click on it to get to your site key. Copy and paste this key into your WordPress site.

That’s all you have successfully finished the WPML setup wizard. You can now click on the Finish button to exit the setup.

Adding Multilingual Content into WordPress with WPML

WPML makes it really easy to translate every area of your WordPress site into multiple languages.

You will be able to easily translate your WordPress posts, pages, tags, categories, and themes into as many languages as you like.

Adding Multilingual Posts and Pages

Simply click on the posts menu to view your existing posts. You will notice the language column next to your post titles.

WPML assumes that your existing content is in your site’s primary language. It will show Add buttons for each language next to your posts. Click on the add button under a language to translate a post.

You can also manage translations by editing a post.

On the post edit screen, you will notice the new ‘Language’ meta box to manage translations.

WPML also offers a better way to manage users who work as translators on your website. If you purchase their Multilingual CMS Plan, then you can use their translation management module.

The translation management module allows you to add users as translators regardless of what role they have on your WordPress site. You can even add subscribers as translators.

Instead of editing posts, these translators will be able to add translations directly in WPML.

Adding Translations for Categories and Tags

WPML allows you to easily translate categories and tags, or any other custom taxonomies that you may be using.

Visit WPML » Taxonomy Translation and load the custom taxonomies you want to translate.

For example: in this screenshot we selected categories, and it displayed all categories from our example site.

Click on the add button next to the taxonomy term to add the translation.

Translating Navigation Menus

WordPress comes with a robust navigation menu system. WPML allows you to translate it just like you would translate posts or taxonomies.

Visit Appearance » Menus page on your site. If you have more than one menus, then select the menu you want to translate.

In the right-hand column, you will see your menu with links to translate into other languages enabled on your site.

Clicking on a language will create a new menu for that language. You will need to add the same menu items as in your primary language menu.

If you have your posts and pages in navigation menus, then you will first need to translate them. After that, you can add them from the tabs on the left in edit menu screens.

Don’t forget to click on the Save button to save your menu.

Translating Themes, Plugins, & Other Text with WPML

WPML multilingual CMS allows you to choose between official translations of themes and plugins or use its own string translator.

Go to WPML » Themes and plugins localization page.

By default, WPML will look for your plugin’s translation files if they are available, and use them.

However, if your WordPress theme or WordPress plugins are not translated into the languages you are using, then you can translate them using the WPML string translation feature.

Simply scan your theme or plugin to load the strings and then start translating those strings.

This module will also allow you to translate custom fields, widgets, and other translatable strings generated by WordPress.

3. Create Multilingual WordPress Website Using Polylang

Polylang is a free WordPress multilingual plugin with more than 500,000 active installs. It allows you to easily create a multilingual website without purchasing the premium version.

Note: If you are running WooCommerce or need support, then you may want to upgrade to the Polylang Pro or purchase their WooCommerce addon.

For this tutorial, we’ll be using the free version of the plugin.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Polylang plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Languages » Languages page to configure the plugin.

The language settings page is divided into three tabs. The first tab is labeled ‘Languages’. This is where you add the languages you want to use on your site.

You will need to add the default language, as well as select all other languages that users can choose on your site.

After adding the languages, switch to the ‘Strings Translations’ tab. Here you need to translate site title, description, and then choose the date and time format.

Next, you need to visit Languages » Settings page. From here you can set the URL settings for languages and set up SEO friendly URLs.

Once you are done, click on the save changes button to store your settings.

Translating Content in WordPress with Polylang

Polylang makes it super easy to add content in different languages. Simply create a new post/page or edit an existing one. On the post edit screen, you will notice the language meta box.

Your default language will automatically be selected, so you can first add content in your default language, and then translate it into others.

To translate, you need to click on the + button next to a language and then add content for that language.

Repeat the process for all languages. Once you are done, you can publish your posts and pages.

Translating Categories, Tags, and Custom Taxonomies

You can also translate categories and tags, or any custom taxonomies you may be using.

If you want to translate categories, then go to Posts » Categories.

Add a category in your default language and then click on the plus icon for each language to start adding translations.

Displaying Language Switcher on Your WordPress Site

Adding a language switcher allows users to select a language when viewing your site. Polylang makes it super simple. Just go to Appearance » Widgets and add the language switcher widget to your sidebar or another widget-ready area.

You can choose a drop-down, or use language names with flags. Once you are done, click the save button to store your widget settings.

You can now preview your site to see the language switcher in action.

FAQs About Creating a Multilingual WordPress Site

Having helped thousands of beginners start their websites, we know a thing or two about making a multilingual website. Following are some of the top questions we have been asked about multilingual WordPress websites.

1. Which WordPress multilingual plugin is the best?

All three plugins mentioned in this guide are the best. However, they are slightly different in some aspects.

If you are a beginner looking for an easier solution then we recommend using TranslatePress. Its live editor makes translations easier.

Advanced users and eCommerce websites may find WPML more comprehensive for their needs. Lastly, if you are looking for a free solution, then Polylang is the best option for you.

2. How to translate my WordPress admin area for users?

WordPress allows each user on your website to select the admin interface language. They simply need to edit their user profile and there they will find the option to select language.

3. How do I translate my WordPress theme?

All three plugins will allow you to automatically fetch theme translations. You can also find and translate a WordPress theme by yourself and then upload translation files to your website.

4. How do I translate a WordPress plugin

Many of the top WordPress plugins are translation ready. However, they may not be translated into all languages. TranslatePress and WPML allow you to easily translate strings within the plugin interface.

You can also translate WordPress plugins on your own and upload the translations to your website manually.

We hope this article helped you learn how to make a multilingual WordPress site like a pro. You may also want to see our guide on how to easily get more traffic to your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Easily Create a Multilingual WordPress Site appeared first on WPBeginner.