WPML lets you add more languages to your website at any moment. Learn how to add pre-configured languages or your own custom language.
By default, WPML comes with 65 pre-configured languages. This includes popular languages like Spanish, French, and German, as well as more unique languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic.
If you want to add a language not available in WPML by default, you can create a custom language.
Add Pre Configured Languages
To add pre-configured languages in WPML:
- Go to WPML → Settings → Languages.
- In the Manage and Hide Site Languages section, click Search and add a language… and choose the language you want.
- Repeat for any other languages, then click Save.
Add Custom Languages
To add custom languages in WPML:
- Go to WPML → Settings → Languages.
- Under the language list, click add a custom language.
- Fill in the variant name, default locale, code and hreflang, choose a flag, and set Map to a supported language.
- Click Add language.
Automatic Translation for Custom Languages
While translation engines support many languages and dialects, some custom languages might not be available. In these cases, you have two options:
- Translate manually by yourself
- Translate automatically to a similar language
For example, let’s say you created a custom language called Swiss-German. Since it’s similar to German, you can first automatically translate your content to German, and then edit translations to reflect local Swiss nuances.
You can specify which language WPML should automatically translate to with the Map to a supported language field — in the Add a custom language dialog, or later by clicking Edit on the language’s row.