Translating posts and pages is the core workflow you will use every day with Lang Forge. Each translation is a separate WordPress post that is linked to the original as its language equivalent. This means every translation has its own content, featured image, categories, publication status, and URL — giving you full control over how each language version looks and behaves.
This approach is different from plugins that store translations as metadata or hidden fields. In Lang Forge, translations are real posts that you can edit, preview, schedule, and manage just like any other content on your site.
Step-by-step: Creating a new translation from scratch
- Go to Posts > All Posts (or Pages > All Pages, depending on what you want to translate) in your WordPress admin
- Find the post you want to translate and click Edit to open it in the WordPress editor
- Look for the Language & Translations metabox. If you are using the Block Editor (Gutenberg), it appears in the right sidebar under the “Post” tab. If you are using the Classic Editor, it appears as a panel below the main content area
- The metabox shows your post’s current language at the top. Below that, you will see a row for each of your other active languages
- Next to each language, you will see either Create Translation (if no translation exists yet) or a link to the existing translation post
- Click Create Translation next to the language you want to translate into — for example, “Spanish”
- WordPress opens a new draft post in a new tab. The title field is pre-filled with the original title (as a reference), and the language is automatically set to the target language
- Replace the title with the translated title. For example, change “About Our Company” to “Acerca de Nuestra Empresa”
- Write or paste the translated content into the editor. You can write directly in the Block Editor, paste from a document, or use AI translation (PRO) to generate a starting point
- Set a featured image if needed. By default, the original post’s featured image, categories, tags, and custom fields are copied to the translation draft, so you may not need to change anything beyond the text
- Preview the translation by clicking Preview to see how it looks on the frontend with your theme’s design
- When the translation is complete and ready for visitors, click Publish
Real-world example: Translating a hotel “About” page
Imagine you manage a website for the Grand Pacific Hotel. Your English “About” page describes the hotel’s history, location, and amenities. You need a Spanish translation for guests visiting from Latin America. You open the “About” page in the editor, click Create Translation for Spanish, and a new draft opens. You replace the title with “Acerca del Hotel Grand Pacific” and translate each paragraph of the content. You keep the same hero image of the hotel exterior (it works for any language) but translate the alt text from “Grand Pacific Hotel exterior at sunset” to “Exterior del Hotel Grand Pacific al atardecer”. You review the page, publish it, and now Spanish-speaking visitors who switch languages will see the full translated About page.
What gets linked and copied automatically
When you create a translation through the metabox, Lang Forge takes care of several things behind the scenes:
| Element | What happens |
|---|---|
| Featured image | Copied to the new draft (you can change it later) |
| Categories and tags | Copied to the new draft |
| Custom fields (ACF, Field Forge) | Copied to the new draft |
| Translation group link | Created automatically — both posts are now connected |
| Language assignment | Set automatically to the target language |
| Post status | Set to Draft (you decide when to publish) |
| Permalink/slug | Pre-filled from original (you should translate it) |
Working with translation statuses
Translations follow standard WordPress statuses, and each serves a purpose in a translation workflow:
| Status | What it means for visitors |
|---|---|
| Draft | The translation is in progress. Visitors cannot see it. The language switcher does not show this language for this page |
| Pending Review | A translator has finished, but an editor or administrator needs to approve it before publishing |
| Published | The translation is live. Visitors see it when they switch to this language. The language switcher includes this language for this page |
| Scheduled | The translation will automatically publish at a future date and time |
Common mistakes to avoid
- Forgetting to translate the permalink slug. When you create a Spanish translation, the URL slug may still say
/about-our-company/. Change it to/acerca-de-nuestra-empresa/for a better visitor experience and SEO - Publishing a half-finished translation. If you need to step away, save as Draft. A partially translated page looks unprofessional
- Deleting the original post. If you trash the original English post, the translation links break. Always keep the original intact
> Tip: You do not have to translate everything at once. It is perfectly fine to publish translations one language at a time. The language switcher only shows languages that have a published translation for the current page, so visitors will never land on a missing translation.
> Good to know: If a visitor switches to a language that does not have a translation for the current page, Lang Forge redirects them to the homepage in that language instead of showing an error page. This provides a graceful fallback experience.
> Important: Remember to translate the SEO title and meta description too, not just the visible content. If you use Yoast SEO or SEO Forge, these fields appear in the translation editor and should be filled in for each language.
[Screenshot: The Language & Translations metabox in the Block Editor sidebar showing “Create Translation” buttons for Spanish, French, and Japanese]
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