Tutorial on Using Weglot to Translate a Website into Multiple Languages

How can you make your website multilingual? Naibabiji previously introducedthe usage of Polylang. Today, we'll introduce how to use Weglot to create a multilingual website. If your business targets audiences worldwide, building a website in different languages is essential. Typically, translating a website into more than two languages is a daunting task for most people. Therefore, we can utilize some translation plugins for assistance. The Weglot plugin introduced in this article can help translate your WordPress website into other languages, thereby attracting potential customers who speak those languages.

Weglot: Introduction

Weglot is an all-in-one multilingual platform that can automatically translate your website or blog into over 100 languages. The automatic translation feature uses Microsoft, DeepL, Google, and Yandex translation services (depending on the language to be translated). Weglot supports self-service editing of translation results to avoid inaccuracies from automatic translation. Other features of Weglot include...

• Easy to Use –You can seamlessly integrate this multilingual service with your website using the Weglot WordPress plugin. Weglot's features are accessible through your WordPress Admin Dashboard and the intuitive Weglot dashboard. Automatically translating your website and configuring settings is very quick and simple, allowing you to have a multilingual website up and running within minutes.

• SEO – Weglot creates subdomains for new languages, so Google can index each page. It also converts all metadata and adds Hreflang tags to all pages.

• Supported – The Weglot knowledge base provides extensive support documentation, including in-depth „Getting Started“ guides and tutorials, as well as email support.

Weglot offers both free and premium services. However, in this article, Naiba will demonstrate using the free version of Weglot. The free version only provides translation for 20,000 words. So, if you find the results meet your requirements, you will need to upgrade to a premium plan to fully translate your website.

Step 1: Install the Weglot Plugin

First, let's install the Weglot plugin. You can directly search for Weglot in the WordPress Dashboard to install it. You can alsoclick here to download itand then upload it for installation.After installation, activate it, and you will find the corresponding item in the WordPress admin menu. If you have questions about installing WordPress plugins, please refer to:WordPress Plugin Installation Tutorial: Comprehensive Guide to Popular Essential Plugins

Step 2: Register a Weglot Account

After installing Weglot on your WordPress website, the next step is to register a Weglot account. To do this, open theWeglot websitein the left menu bar, then clickStart Free Trial。 and register an account on the newly opened page.After submitting the registration application, a verification email will be sent to you. Once verified, an API key will be displayed for you.

Step 3: Connect Your Weglot Account and Select Your Website's Target Languages

Copy the API key value above, then selectWeglotfrom the WP Dashboard menu, and then in theUnder Main Configuration, pasteAPI Key。 Under the API key, you need to select the website'sOriginal Language(the language currently in use), and then select theTarget Language(the language you want to translate the website into). After selecting the correct languages for the website, click the „Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page. Please note that if you are using the free version of Weglot, you can only choose to translate the website into one additional language.

Step 4: View Your Multilingual Website

Next, a pop-up window will appear, informing you that your website is now multilingual. Click the buttonGo to my homepageto view your site.Visit the website frontend to check. In the lower right corner of the screen, you will find a language switcher. Click the switcher to select your new language.After clicking, it will automatically switch to the website in the translated language, including the menu, post content, sidebar, and other elements, all of which have been translated.

Step 5: Customize the Language Switcher

Switch back to the WordPress Dashboard, then scroll down theWeglot > Main Configurationpage to find theLanguage Button Designsection.Here, you can choose the appearance of the language switcher. These options include...

• Display country flags.
• Change the shape of the flags.
• Use the full name of the language.

You can also choose to override settings by adding CSS to give the buttons a specific style. Continue scrolling down the page for more information on how to change the language switcher's position. Options include...

• Menu –Add the switcher to your site's menu bar.

• Sidebar– Display the language switcher in the sidebar or any other widget area.

• Shortcode– Use Weglot's pre-generated shortcode[weglot_switcher]Add the switcher to your website's content.

• Source code – Add
  to the HTML page's source code to display language buttons anywhere on the site.

If you make any changes to the language switcher, be sure to click „Save Changes" button.

Step 6: Configure Other Settings

Weglot also has advanced settings features. Under „Translation Exclusion", you can choose to exclude certain pages or specific sections of pages from translation. (By default, Weglot translates all content on every page of the website). To exclude content, simply type the URL of the page or the CSS selector of the section you do not want translated.Other useful settings include…

• Auto Redirect – Select this option to allow users to be redirected to the appropriate translation of your website based on their browser language.

• Translate AMP – Select to automatically translate Accelerated Mobile Pages.

• Search Function – Although only in Beta, this feature will allow your users to search your website in the translated language.

Step 7: Manually Edit Translations

While automatic translation is convenient, the results are not 100% accurate. Weglot also provides an option to manually adjust the automatic translations; this work can be done within the Weglot interface. Open the Weglot Dashboard, then select from the left menuVisual Editor > START EDITING。 In the editing interface that appears, you can manually edit content where the automatic translation is inaccurate.Any changes you make in the editor will be automatically pushed to your live site.

Summary

Weglot is simple, fast, and user-friendly. However, the free version comes with a word limit. If you are satisfied, you can consider purchasing the premium version to remove the restrictions.Further Reading:

1. WordPress Multilingual Plugin Polylang Usage Tutorial_Foreign Trade Multilingual Website Building
2. Scientific Methods for Building a Multilingual WordPress Website_Plugins Are Not the Best Choice