Getting Started with Multilingual Websites on WordPress

Launching a multilingual website might sound ambitious, but it’s well within your grasp, especially with WordPress. Implementing a multilingual WordPress website can expand your reach exponentially if you implement it correctly.

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1. GETTING STARTED WITH MULTILINGUAL WEBSITES ON WORDPRESS WordCamp Asheville ~ June 2017 Karl Hudson Phillips // @khudsonphillips
2. Who Am I? Hybrid Designer/Developer Charleston, SC
3. Who Am I? I’m from the country of Trinidad and Tobago
4. Who Am I?
5. Who Am I? Founded Charleston’s WordPress User Group in 2011 and led until 2015
6. Who Am I? Co-Organizer of Refresh Charleston refreshcharleston.com
7. Who Am I? Program Chair for Syntax Conference syntaxcon.com
8. Who Am I? Program Chair for Revolve Conference revolveconf.com
9. GETTING STARTED WITH MULTILINGUAL WEBSITES ON WORDPRESS
10. What is a Multilingual Website? A multilingual website is one that offers content in more than one language.
11. Reasons Against Multilingual Sites 1. It won’t necessarily increase your profits
12. Reasons Against Multilingual Sites 1. It won’t necessarily increase your profits 2. It won’t be adequate if you can’t offer services in the other language(s)
13. Reasons Against Multilingual Sites 1. It won’t necessarily increase your profits 2. It won’t be adequate if you can’t offer services in the other language(s) 3. It requires more effort, maintenance, and may cost more money
14. Reasons For Multilingual Sites 1. Reach a wider audience by making content more accessible
15. Reasons For Multilingual Sites 1. Reach a wider audience by making content more accessible 2. Removing barriers to non-native English speakers shows your intent to serve other audiences
16. Options: Making a Site Multilingual 1. Using Automatic Machine Translations
17. Options: Making a Site Multilingual 1. Using Automatic Machine Translations - Cheapest option - Almost no work at all - Translations often don’t make much sense
18. Options: Making a Site Multilingual 1. Using Automatic Machine Translations - GTranslate (plugin) - JetPack (plugin) - Google Translate Widget
19. Options: Making a Site Multilingual 1. Using Automatic Machine Translations 2. Manually Creating Content
20. Options: Making a Site Multilingual 1. Using Automatic Machine Translations 2. Manually Creating Content - No browser detection - No string translations - Requires more work to keep things linked
21. Options: Making a Site Multilingual 1. Using Automatic Machine Translations 2. Manually Creating Content 3. Using a WordPress Plugin
22. Options: Making a Site Multilingual 1. Using Automatic Machine Translations 2. Manually Creating Content 3. Using a WordPress Plugin - WPML - Polylang
23. WPML VS. POLYLANG for Multilingual WordPress Websites
24. WPML - A Premium Plugin • Most well-supported multilingual plugin
25. WPML - A Premium Plugin • Most well-supported multilingual plugin • Allows translation of pages, posts, custom types, taxonomy, menus & more
26. WPML - A Premium Plugin • Most well supported multilingual plugin • Allows translation of pages, posts, custom types, taxonomy, menus & more • Every theme or plugin that uses the WordPress API runs multilingual with WPML
27. WPML - A Premium Plugin • Multilingual Blog - $29 ($15 renewal) - Translation of posts, pages, custom types, tags, categories, and custom taxonomy - Translates menus - Browser language detection
28. WPML - A Premium Plugin • Multilingual CMS - $79 ($39 renewal) - Translation of custom fields - E-Commerce Support - Translate Widgets, - CMS Navigation, sticky links
29. WPML - A Premium Plugin • Multilingual CMS Lifetime - $195 (no renewal needed)
30. WPML - A Premium Plugin More information at WPML.org
31. Polylang - A Freemium Plugin • The basic version is free
32. Polylang - A Freemium Plugin • The basic version is free • Allows translation of posts, pages, media, categories, post tags, menus, widgets.
33. Polylang - A Freemium Plugin • The basic version is free • Allows translation of posts, pages, media, categories, post tags, menus, widgets. • Includes a customizable language switcher is provided as a widget or in the nav menu
34. Polylang - A Freemium Plugin • Custom post types, custom taxonomies, sticky posts and post formats, RSS feeds and all default WordPress widgets are supported.
35. Polylang - A Freemium Plugin • Not as well-supported as WPML
36. Polylang - A Freemium Plugin • Not as well-supported as WPML • In most many cases, this is all you may need
37. Polylang - A Freemium Plugin • Basic version - $0
38. Polylang - A Freemium Plugin • Basic version - $0 • Polylang Pro (1 site) - 99.00€ • Polylang Pro (3 sites) - 198.00€ • Polylang Pro (25 sites) - 495.00€
39. Polylang - A Freemium Plugin More information at Polylang.pro
40. A Quick demonstration w/ POLYLANG
41. Additional Considerations • Plugin planning is necessary (compatibility)
42. Additional Considerations • Plugin planning is necessary (compatibility) • Is the site small or large (affects level of effort)
43. Additional Considerations • Plugin planning is necessary (compatibility) • The amount of content on the website (affects level of effort) • Assess your Current vs Potential audience
44. Contact Information • karl@harbormark.net • twitter.com/khudsonphillips • linkedin.com/in/karlhudsonphillips
45. Questions & Answers