When utilizing the WPML multilingual translation plugin for WordPress, it's possible to set language preferences for each widget. However, depending on the theme, this feature might not function as intended. If assigning a language to a widget doesn't work effectively, creating language-specific sidebars is a viable option.
Configuring Different Sidebars Based on Language with the WPML Plugin
If you're looking to transform your WordPress site into a multilingual platform with versions in English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, and more, you can utilize WPML. After converting your site into a multilingual format and translating pages and posts into various languages, plugins like Auto Spinner allow you to make translations using ChatGPT into those languages.
By using the Auto Spinner plugin, you can move posts from a Blogger blog or other WordPress blogs to your site, allowing for rephrasing or translation into different languages.
Alternatively, you can add multilingual versions with WPML and consider translating text using ChatGPT via a copy & paste method. Using Auto Spinner can offer quicker translations into multiple languages at a lower cost (API fees), making it a more efficient option.
When utilizing WPML for your multilingual site, you can designate whether specific widgets should only display on the Korean or English version of the site, or if they should be visible across all languages.
As illustrated in the image above, you can specify a particular language (e.g., English, Japanese, Korean) under the Display on language option for each individual widget or select all languages (All).
While this feature ideally works well, it may not function properly depending on your theme. For example, I have experienced issues assigning languages to multiple widgets on the popular Salient theme, though it works fine for a single widget.
Additionally, as a member pointed out in the Naver Cafe, the GeneratePress theme may also have similar limitations.
Fortunately, by utilizing the Content Aware Sidebars plugin, which will be introduced in the following section, you can designate different sidebars for each language.
Setting Up Language-Based Sidebars Using the Content Aware Sidebars Plugin
Let's explore how to configure language-specific sidebars using the Content Aware Sidebars plugin while operating a multilingual site with WPML. This plugin is lightweight and recommended by the developers of GeneratePress, ensuring minimal impact on site speed.
1 First, navigate to WordPress Dashboard » Plugins » Add New, search for Content Aware Sidebars, and install and activate the plugin.
2 Upon activation, a message will prompt you to share some basic WordPress environment information to improve the plugin. Click on the Skip button to bypass this step.
3 Go to Content Aware » Multiple Sidebars and click the Add New button to create a new sidebar.
4 Enter a name for your sidebar, and in the Where to display section, click on New Condition Group and select Language.
Specify the Language (e.g., Korean, English, Japanese).
For instance, if Korean is the default language, you can create sidebars for the English and Japanese versions. In my case, since the default language for my test site is English, I created a sidebar for the Korean version.
5 Click on the Actions tab.
In the Display method, configure the settings as follows:
- Action: Replace
- Target Sidebar: Name of the sidebar to replace (e.g., Right Sidebar)
For example, if you're replacing the right sidebar for each language in the GP theme, you'd select Right Sidebar as the target. (Clicking it will reveal the widget areas in a dropdown format.)
Click the Create button to generate the sidebar for the desired language version.
6 Now, navigate to Appearance » Widgets to see the newly created sidebar. Add the widgets you wish to display in the sidebar for that language.
At this point, ensure that the Display on language setting for the right panel remains set to All.
Follow the above steps to create additional sidebars for other languages and configure the widgets accordingly.
Conclusion
This guide has provided insights into creating language-specific sidebars using WPML. Although WPML offers options for defining widget languages, this functionality may not work properly with all themes. In such cases, the methods discussed here can be quite helpful.
While it may not be perfect, the era of using AI tools like ChatGPT for natural translations into foreign languages is here. As a result, it has become possible to run a multilingual site at an affordable cost.
