ACFML – Multilingual ACF and ACF Pro Custom Fields in WordPress

Every ACF Field Type Is Multilingual

If you build sites on ACF, ACFML covers every field type in the ACF and ACF Pro catalogue:

• Text and Wysiwyg fields translate per language.
• Repeater and Flexible Content rows stay aligned across languages.
• Image, File, and Gallery fields can swap to localized assets per language.
• Link, Relationship, and Post Object fields stay correctly wired between languages.
• Date Picker, Color Picker, Map, and the other interactive fields behave correctly per language.

Custom Post Types, Taxonomies, and Options Pages that you register through ACF translate too – including their labels. The site you build with ACF is the site that becomes multilingual with ACFML, not a subset.

Choose What’s Same and What’s Different per Language

ACF Field Groups don’t have one-size-fits-all translation behavior. The Our Team page on your site shows the same team members in every language: translate their names and bios, keep their structure intact. The Events page shows different events for different audiences: show different events per language entirely. The Product Specs page shows a mix: translate the description, keep the SKU and price the same.

ACFML handles all three on a per-Field-Group basis: Same fields across languages, Different fields across languages, and Expert Mode for mixed setups. Pick the mode that matches each Field Group’s purpose; ACFML wires up the translation behavior automatically.

Per-Field Translation Control

Inside a Field Group, every field gets its own translation preference:

• Translate. The field’s value translates per language.
• Copy. The field’s value stays in sync across languages; edit it once and it propagates.
• Copy once. The field’s value seeds new translations, then each language version can be edited independently.
• Don’t translate. The field is ignored entirely (e.g., an internal admin-only field).

Sensible defaults per field type ship out of the box: Text and Wysiwyg fields default to Translate, structured fields like Image, Link, and Number default to Copy. The full preset reference lives on How to translate ACF custom fields.

Repeater and Flexible Content Rows Stay Aligned Across Languages

Repeater and Flexible Content fields are where multilingual ACF setups often break in other tools: rows fall out of sync, layouts diverge, and translators see content they don’t recognize. ACFML keeps the row structure aligned across languages by default. Translators see the same rows in the same order, with each translatable subfield in place. If you need diverging structures per language (e.g., a different event list in each language), the Copy Once preference unlocks that.

Local Fields (PHP-Registered) Get the Same Translation Behavior

Many production sites register ACF fields in PHP rather than the ACF admin UI (for portability, version control, or theme-bundled configurations). ACFML 2.2.0 (Feb 2026) brings full Local Fields support. You set each field’s translation preference with the wpml_cf_preferences key in the field-group definition, sync it into WPML from ACF > Tools, and the admin screens mirror what the field group declares. ACF’s Local JSON files carry the preferences with them when you export and import between sites. The step-by-step procedure is on the how-to page under Setting Preferences for Fields Registered in PHP or JSON.

Developer Hooks for Edge Cases

For sites with custom field-translation logic (opt specific fields out, override the default preference for a field type globally, hide annotations from translators), ACFML exposes two filters (acfml_should_translate_acf_entity, acfml_field_group_mode_field_translation_preference) and four constants (ACFML_EXCLUDE_FIELD_GROUP_STRINGS_IN_POST_JOBS, ACFML_HIDE_FIELD_ANNOTATIONS, ACFML_REPEATER_SYNC_DEFAULT, ACFML_SCAN_LOCAL_FIELDS). The full reference with code examples lives at ACFML hooks and constants reference.

Built and Maintained Together With the ACF Team

WPML and the ACF team work closely on continuous compatibility – confirmed on the joint ACF compatibility page. When ACF or ACF Pro ships a release, ACFML keeps up; when ACFML needs ACF-side support for a new translation behavior, the integration is built together rather than reverse-engineered.