Adding or connecting translated content in Polylang

The Polylang plugin is our go-to for creating multilingual WordPress websites in the age of the WordPress block editor (aka Gutenberg).

For the most part Polylang just works, but there is one little boobytrap in the workflow.

This little panel is more powerful than it looks and can be quite confusing. We’ve had clients disable entire sections of their site by misunderstanding it, so here’s a breakdown of what it does.

The language section

The dropdown refers to the language of the current content – the stuff you’ve just been editing. Changing this will change where this content is displayed.

The translations section

The Translations section is where you can either

1. create a connected post in another language OR
2. connect this content to its translated equivalent if it already exists

1. Create a new translation

To create a translation of the post you’re working on, click the + icon next to the language you’d like to work in next. Setting aside that flags are not languages grrr.

2. Connecting to existing content

To connect to existing content, start typing the title of the post you’d like to connect to in the input. The field will search as you’re typing and display a list of matches. When you see the one you want, click on it to select it.

You’ll need to save the post to retain the connection, but that’s it – your posts will now be connected allowing you to switch seamlessly between them using the language switcher.