{"id":943,"date":"2016-11-16T00:48:25","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T00:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wplook.com\/docs\/?p=943"},"modified":"2026-03-14T13:55:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T13:55:31","slug":"translating-the-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wplook.com\/docs\/wordpress-basics\/multilingual\/translating-the-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"Translating The Theme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If the language you want to use for your site is not available, you can create the translation yourself. To do this, download the Poedit software for free from the Poedit website<\/a>. They also offer a paid version specifically for WordPress, but you only need to download the free version from their homepage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you translated the theme in your language and want to share the translation with the community, just\u00a0submit a ticket<\/a>\u00a0and we will include it in\u00a0the next update. Thank you so much for your contribution!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Translation Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  1. Once you’ve downloaded and installed PoEdit, launch it and click Create new translation<\/strong>.\n<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"The<\/a>
    The main screen in Poedit, with the Create new translation<\/strong> button highlighted.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
    1. Open the .pot<\/code> file found in your theme’s languages\/<\/code> directory. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \"Opening<\/a>
      Opening a file in Poedit.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
      1. Select the language of your translation. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        \"Selecting<\/a>
        Selecting the translation language in PoEdit.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
        1. Go to File<\/strong> \u2192 Save As…<\/strong> and save the file in the theme’s languages\/<\/code> directory using a filename taken from the WP Locale<\/em> column of the Translate WordPress page<\/a>. For example, if your site is set to French<\/em>, use fr_FR.po<\/code> as your filename, or if your site is set to a more specific language, like English (UK)<\/em>, use en_GB.po<\/code>.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
          1. Translate each of the strings in the top window by typing it’s translation into the text area at the bottom of the window. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
            \"Poedit,<\/a>
            Poedit, with some of the strings translated. The status bar at the bottom shows how much of the file has been translated.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n