Lang Forge comes in two parts:
- Lang Forge (Free core). Download it for free, no account needed, from the public download page at https://avakode.com/download/ (it will also be listed on the WordPress.org plugin directory). Install it via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, or by uploading the ZIP. The Free core updates automatically through Avakode’s secure update channel.
- Lang Forge Pro (add-on). After buying a license at https://avakode.com, sign in and open Dashboard → Downloads to download the Pro add-on ZIP. Upload it via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, activate it, then connect your license. The Pro add-on requires the Free core to be installed and active. It updates automatically through Avakode once your license is connected.
Your Free features keep working even if a Pro license lapses — only the Pro add-on’s premium features pause.
Free vs Pro at a glance
Free includes:- Unlimited active languages, with 4 URL formats (directory, parameter, subdomain, domain)
- Translation of posts and pages, plus a language switcher (widget, shortcode, admin bar)
- String translation (auto-registered via gettext) and basic hreflang tags
- Glossary — “do not translate” terms with automatic enforcement across translations
- WooCommerce translation — products, categories, attributes, core store pages and strings
- REST API (12 endpoints), WP-CLI (11 commands), and WPML compatibility
- AI Translation (ChatGPT 4o mini) — single-post, bulk, and string translation
- Visual Editor and Frontend (click-to-translate) Editor with Live Preview
- Translation Memory, Content Diff, and AI Quality Check + Fix
- Translation Analytics, Translator Roles, and per-language site duplication
- XLIFF / CSV import-export, plus Media and Comment translation
Step-by-step: Installing and configuring Lang Forge
- Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New
- Search for “Lang Forge” in the plugin directory. When the result appears, click Install Now and then Activate. If you purchased PRO and received a ZIP file, click Upload Plugin instead, choose the ZIP file from your computer, and click Install Now, then Activate
- After activation, a new Lang Forge menu appears in the left sidebar of your WordPress admin. Click on it to open the main settings page
- On the Languages settings page, you will see that your site’s current language has already been detected and set as the default. If the detection is wrong (for example, if WordPress says English but your content is actually in German), click the star icon next to the correct language to change the default
- Use the Add a language… search field below the Active Languages table to add the first language you want to translate your site into — start typing a language name like “Spanish” or “French” and select it from the dropdown that appears
- Add any additional languages you need. Both Free and PRO support an unlimited number of active languages, so add as many as your site requires
- Open Lang Forge > Settings and scroll to the URL Settings section. Select how translated page addresses should look. For most sites, Directory is the best choice because it works without any server configuration and is great for search engines. Your translated pages will have addresses like
yoursite.com/es/about/oryoursite.com/fr/contact/ - Continue to the Translatable Content section on the same Settings page. Check the boxes for each content type that should support translation. At minimum, check Posts and Pages. If you use custom post types (like WooCommerce Products, Portfolio items, or Events), check those too
- Click Save Settings at the bottom of the page
- After saving, go to Settings > Permalinks in the WordPress menu. Do not change anything — just click Save Changes. This forces WordPress to update its URL rules to include Lang Forge’s language routes
What happens behind the scenes after setup
Once you save your settings, Lang Forge quietly configures several things for you. It registers language-specific URL routes so visitors can access translated pages through clean addresses. It adds a Language column to your post and page lists so you can see which language each item belongs to at a glance. It creates language-specific menu locations for your theme menus so you can have separate navigation for each language. It generates hreflang SEO tags on all your pages so search engines understand that your English “About” page and your Spanish “Acerca de” page are the same content in different languages. And it creates a multilingual XML sitemap that helps search engines discover all your translated content.
Real-world example: Setting up a travel agency site
Imagine you run a travel agency based in the United States with customers in the US, Mexico, and Brazil. Your site is currently in English and you want to add Spanish and Portuguese. During setup, you would add Spanish and Portuguese as languages, choose the Directory URL format (so your Spanish pages appear at yoursite.com/es/ and Portuguese at yoursite.com/pt/), and check Posts, Pages, and any custom “Tour” or “Destination” post types in the Translatable Content section. After saving and refreshing permalinks, your site is ready to start receiving translations.
> Good to know: You do not need to change your existing permalink settings. Lang Forge works with any permalink structure WordPress supports — whether you use plain, day-based, post name, or a custom structure.
> Tip: If you are setting up Lang Forge on a staging or development site first, you can export your settings later and import them on the production site. This saves you from repeating the entire setup process.
> Important: If your hosting environment uses a page caching plugin (like WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache), clear the cache after completing the setup. Cached pages generated before Lang Forge was active will not include the language routing or hreflang tags until the cache is refreshed.
[Screenshot: The Lang Forge Languages page showing the default language and active languages list, with URL Settings and Translatable Content configured from Lang Forge > Settings]
Check Setup & Health
After activation, open Forge Suite > Setup & Health in WordPress admin and click Run diagnostics. This shared panel checks whether Forge plugins are active, Avakode Connect is ready, AI credits can refresh, the Avakode API is reachable, permalinks are configured, and migration/integration source plugins are present. It can show recommended next actions, refresh permalink rules or credit balances, and generate a redacted support package, but it does not spend AI credits, change Freemius state, or move licenses.
Use this panel before running bulk translation, WPML migration, or any paid AI workflow. If it reports a license or credits warning, connect to Avakode from the Forge Suite dashboard first, then run diagnostics again. The same dashboard also shows guided setup cards for each Forge plugin with links to the next configuration pages.
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