The URL format determines how translated page addresses appear to visitors and to search engines. This is one of the most important decisions you will make during setup because changing the format later can break links that other websites, social media posts, and search engines have already indexed. Taking the time to understand your options now saves you from a painful migration later.
Available URL formats
Lang Forge supports four different URL formats for translated content. Each has its own advantages and requirements.
| Format | Example URL | Server requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Directory (recommended) | yoursite.com/es/about/ | None — works on any standard WordPress hosting |
| Parameter | yoursite.com/about/?lang=es | None — works everywhere, including basic shared hosting |
| Subdomain | es.yoursite.com/about/ | DNS configuration: you must create a wildcard subdomain or individual subdomains for each language |
| Domain mapping | yoursite.es/about/ | You must purchase and configure separate domain names for each language |
Step-by-step: Setting up your URL format
- Go to Lang Forge → Settings in your WordPress admin
- Scroll down to the URL Settings section
- Review the four options and select the one that best fits your site (see the guidance below for help choosing)
- If you select Directory or Parameter, no additional fields appear — the format works immediately
- If you select Subdomain, a new field appears for each active language where you enter the subdomain prefix (for example,
enforen.yoursite.com). You will also need to configure these subdomains in your hosting control panel - If you select Domain mapping, a Per-language Domains block appears with one text input per active language. Enter the full host for each language (for example,
yoursite.comfor English andyoursite.esfor Spanish — nohttps://, no trailing slash). You must own these domains and point them at the same hosting account. Leave a row empty to disable that language in Domain mode. The mapping is saved into thelf_domain_mapoption; without it Lang Forge cannot resolve the language from the request host, so the feature stays dormant until you fill it in. - Click Save Changes
- After saving, go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes (without changing anything) to refresh WordPress URL rewrite rules
- Open an incognito browser window and visit a translated page to confirm the URL format is working correctly
- If you use a caching plugin, clear the cache after changing the URL format
How to choose the right format
For the vast majority of websites, Directory is the best and safest choice. Here is why: it works out of the box without any server or DNS configuration, search engines treat each language directory as part of the same domain authority (which is great for SEO), visitors can clearly see which language they are viewing from the URL, and it is easy to share links to specific language versions. Roughly 80% of multilingual WordPress sites use this format.
Use Parameter if you are on very basic shared hosting that does not support URL rewriting, or if you want the absolute simplest setup with zero risk of server-side issues. The downside is that URLs with ?lang=es look less professional and some SEO experts consider them slightly weaker for rankings.
Use Subdomain if your organization treats each language version as a semi-independent property with its own content strategy, or if you plan to host different language versions on different servers in the future.
Use Domain mapping only if you have country-specific domains (like .es, .fr, .de, .jp) and want each language version to feel like a completely local website to visitors in that country. This is the most complex option and is typically used by large international brands.
Real-world example: Choosing a format for a hotel chain
Imagine you manage a website for a boutique hotel chain with locations in the US, Spain, and Japan. Your current site is grandhotels.com in English. If you choose the Directory format, your Spanish pages will be at grandhotels.com/es/ and Japanese at grandhotels.com/ja/ — simple, clean, and easy to manage. If the chain later decides to buy grandhotels.es and grandhotels.jp to feel more local in those markets, you could switch to Domain mapping at that point (with proper 301 redirects from the old URLs).
Common mistakes to avoid
- Do not switch formats after your site has been live for months. Previously indexed URLs will return 404 errors. If you absolutely must switch, use a redirection plugin to set up 301 redirects from every old URL to its new equivalent
- Do not forget the permalink refresh. After changing the URL format, you must visit Settings > Permalinks and click Save Changes. Without this step, translated pages may return 404 errors
- Do not use Subdomain or Domain mapping without confirming your hosting supports it. Contact your hosting provider first if you are unsure
> Good to know: Lang Forge does not create automatic redirects between URL formats. If you switch from Directory to Subdomain, for example, the old /es/about/ URL will stop working. Plan your format carefully before going live.
> Tip: Test your chosen URL format on a staging site before deploying to production. Open translated pages in an incognito window, check that the URLs look correct, and verify that the right content appears for each language.
[Screenshot: The URL Format selection panel showing the four options with example URLs for each]
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