It’s not as straightforward as it could be to show a different logo (header image) on a multilingual site. Here’s a way to make it easier.
For creating a bilingual, or even a multilingual site on WordPress, the best option to go with is the fabulous plugin by OnTheGo Systems, [bl id=”663″]WPML[/bl].
I’ve tried various multilanguage wordpress plugins and WPML came out on top by a long way.
WPML makes it a lot easier to make your website bilingual. You can easily post new content in more than one language, and manage the different versions with ease.
More than that, the plugin lets you edit the various bits of text that make up the infrastructure of your site. The search bar, breadcrumb trails, menus and sidebar widgets. Custom content in footers, and even within other plugins. Everything, basically!
What you’ll end up with is a completely seamless bilingual site, where all the content has been thoughtfully translated.
Don’t insult your readers by using automatic Google translation for your site. Sure, it’s a great service when you need to read something in a foreign language. It does a pretty good job of helping you to understand the basic meaning, but machine translated text will never be as natural and relevant as human translated content. Your readers deserve quality content, not clunky automated translations.
A different logo header image for each language.
I’m developing a new bilingual site and they’ve just had a designer create their new logo. But it’s not just one logo, they have one in English and one in Welsh. They figured there would be too many words to have just one, bilingual logo.
So, how do I make the correct logo header image appear, according to whichever language is being viewed?
The String Translations part of [bl id=”663″]WPML[/bl] is going to help us out.
Within the WPML string translation section, you can simply tick which plugins you want to scan for strings. It then provides you with a list of them, and you just pop in the translations.
Sometimes though, finding the exact piece you need can be a little tricky to track down.
If you find yourself in that situation, look for the little option near the bottom of the string translation page, in relation to the “admin texts”.
After you choose this option, you’ll see lots of different collapsible areas relating to different parts of your theme, for example. You need to find the bit that corresponds with your header image. In the example below, I was using the [bl id=”589″]Executive Pro Genesis theme from StudioPress[/bl], and you can see that there is a section called nav_menu_lcoations which contains the header_image item.
Once you have found your header image item, make sure you tick it, then save at the bottom.
Now go back to the main string translation page and select the appropriate section from the “Select string within domain:” list. It will begin with admin_texts and then include a reference to your theme, probably. (Stage (1) in the image below).
With any luck, you’ll see the string, which is essentially the URL to your logo.
Click the Translations button, and then add the appropriate URL for the alternative language version of the logo. (Stage (2) in the image.)
Remember to tick the box for “Translation is complete” (3), then save (4).
The end result?
When you switch between languages, the logo changes along with all of the other text on the page.
It’s a totally seamless bilingual experience, and all made easy with WPML.
Visit the WPML website now
Other WPML posts:
How to display a domain per language in a bilingual site
Best WordPress multilingual plugin for a bilingual (Welsh) site.
Thanks Alan, you helped me on this 🙂
THANK YOU! You managed to explain in few concise words and images, what I was unable to find after several fruitless searches on the WPML forums! Well done!!!