Navigation menus need to be translated separately from your page content because WordPress menus are independent structures with their own labels, links, and hierarchy. A well-translated menu is critical to the visitor experience — it is often the first thing a visitor interacts with, and if the menu items are in the wrong language, the entire site feels broken. Lang Forge simplifies menu translation by automatically creating language-specific menu locations and providing a dedicated interface for translating menu labels.
Understanding the two methods for translating menus — the standard WordPress Menus page and the dedicated Lang Forge Menu Translation page — helps you choose the right approach for your site’s complexity.
How language-specific menu locations work
When Lang Forge is active and your theme defines menu locations (like “Primary Menu” and “Footer Menu”), Lang Forge automatically expands each location into language-specific versions:
| Original location | Expanded locations |
|---|---|
| Primary Menu | Primary Menu — English, Primary Menu — Spanish, Primary Menu — French |
| Footer Menu | Footer Menu — English, Footer Menu — Spanish, Footer Menu — French |
When a visitor views your site in Spanish, WordPress automatically uses the menu assigned to “Primary Menu — Spanish”. If no menu is assigned for that language, the default-language menu is shown as a fallback.
Step-by-step: Method 1 — Translating menus through the WordPress Menus page
This method gives you full control over each language menu’s structure, items, and hierarchy.
- Go to Appearance > Menus in your WordPress admin
- Click Create a new menu at the top of the page
- Give the menu a clear, descriptive name like “Main Menu — Spanish” or “Footer — French”. Including the language in the name helps you identify menus later
- On the left side of the page, find the Pages panel. If you have already created Spanish translations of your pages, they appear here. Check the translated pages you want to include and click Add to Menu
- Arrange the menu items by dragging them into the correct order. Create dropdown structures by dragging items slightly to the right under their parent item
- For each menu item, click the arrow to expand it. Verify that the Navigation Label (the text visitors see) is in the correct language. If it shows the English title, replace it with the translated title
- Scroll down to the Menu Settings section at the bottom. Check the box for the correct language-specific location — for example, “Primary Menu — Spanish”
- Click Save Menu
- Repeat the entire process for each language you need to support
- Visit your site in each language to verify the correct menu appears
Step-by-step: Method 2 — Using the Lang Forge Menu Translation page
This method is faster for simple menu structures and lets you translate labels without creating entirely separate menus.
- Go to Lang Forge > Menu Translation in the WordPress admin
- The page shows your default-language menu on the left and language tabs on the right
- Click a language tab — for example, “Spanish”
- For each menu item, you see the original label on the left and an editable field on the right
- Type the translated label for each item. For example, change “About Us” to “Sobre Nosotros”, “Services” to “Servicios”, “Contact” to “Contacto”
- For items that link to pages, click Link to Translation to automatically point the menu item to the translated version of that page
- Click Save when all labels are translated
- Switch to the next language tab and repeat
Real-world example: Hotel website with complex navigation
A hotel website has a Primary Menu with these items: Home, Rooms (with dropdown items: Suites, Standard, Family), Dining (with dropdown: Restaurant, Room Service, Bar), Spa, Events, Contact. Using Method 1, the content manager creates a “Primary Menu — Japanese” with translated labels and links pointing to the Japanese versions of each page. The dropdown structure is recreated exactly as in the English menu, but items like “Room Service” become their Japanese equivalents. Using Method 2, the same work could be done faster by simply typing the Japanese labels next to each English item — but Method 1 gives more flexibility if the Japanese menu needs a different structure (for example, if “Events” is not relevant to Japanese visitors and should be excluded).
Common mistakes to avoid
- Forgetting to update menus when you add new pages. If you add a new “Careers” page to your English menu, remember to add its translation to every other language menu. This is not automatic
- Not linking menu items to translated pages. A common error is having a Spanish menu whose items still point to the English pages. Always verify that each item links to the correct language version
- Using the same menu for all languages. Each language needs its own menu (or translated labels). Do not assign the same English menu to all language locations
> Tip: The Lang Forge Menu Translation page (Method 2) is faster for simple menu structures where you just need to translate labels. Use the standard WordPress Menus page (Method 1) when you need full control over complex dropdown menus, different items per language, or menus with custom CSS classes.
> Good to know: If your theme uses widget areas for navigation instead of menu locations, you will need to set up separate widgets for each language or use the language switcher shortcode to conditionally show content. The menu translation system works specifically with WordPress navigation menu locations.
[Screenshot: The Lang Forge Menu Translation page showing the English menu on the left and Spanish translation fields on the right]
—