How to use WordPress in other languages

It’s useful if you have a multi-lingual group at your centre or contributing to your site to know that WordPress comes in many different languages.

The user interface can be translated by going to your settings page in WordPress. All the layout will be the same and a few of the words will not translate, so it’s still easy for an experienced WordPress user to use the Dashboard once translated, or it can be changed back again on the Settings page.

And if you want to type in a different language but don’t have easy access to the right keyboard you can use this virtual keyboard to type and copy text in and Google’s powerful translation tools can be used to translate back and forth. These translations won’t be perfect, but are improving through the efforts of volunteers worldwide. They are really useful for quickly gaining an understanding of what someone has written or overcoming language barriers by email.

So instead of just Hello World you can now have Helo byd, Tere maailm or مرحبا العالم! in seconds!

Update: see also this useful guide to transliteration, from WordPress.

I work part-time for Talk About Local, mainly trying to develop resources that will help make new bloggers’ journey smoother and widen awareness of the range of free tools at our fingertips and the clever ways people use them. I also help out with unconferences, webinars and workshops. I’m passionate about the communities that are sometimes left voiceless and love discovering the small, the hidden and the new.
clare white
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One comment

  1. John Heaven says:

    It’s interesting to see other people tackling the language barrier in a different setting!

    The Pan-European eParticipation Network blog (http://www.pep-net.eu) blog has flags for different European languages that you can click to read articles only in a certain language. My colleague (Bengt) sorted out the details, but I know you can tag articles with the language they’re written in (e.g inenglish, initalian etc.).

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