The Visual Editor is a dedicated translation workspace that shows the original content and the translation side by side on one screen. It is designed for translators and content managers who want to work through content segment by segment — paragraph by paragraph, heading by heading — with full context visible at all times. Instead of switching between two browser tabs (one for the English post, one for the Spanish translation), you see everything in a single, organized interface.
The Visual Editor is especially valuable for long or complex pages where losing your place is easy, for pages with many custom fields that need individual attention, and for situations where you want to use AI translation on specific segments rather than the entire post at once.
When to use the Visual Editor vs. the regular editor
| Situation | Recommended tool |
|---|---|
| Translating a long blog post or page (1,000+ words) | Visual Editor — keeps you oriented in long content |
| Translating a post with many ACF or Field Forge custom fields | Visual Editor — shows all fields in a structured layout |
| Quick edit to one paragraph of an existing translation | Regular WordPress editor — faster for small changes |
| Translating a short post (under 300 words) | Regular editor — less overhead for simple tasks |
| First-time translators who want a guided experience | Visual Editor — the segment-by-segment layout is intuitive |
Step-by-step: Translating a blog post in the Visual Editor
- Go to Lang Forge > Visual Editor in the WordPress admin menu
- At the top of the page, use the search dropdown to find the source post. Start typing the post title and select it from the results
- Select the target language from the language dropdown next to the search field
- Click Load. If a translation already exists, it loads into the right panel. If not, an empty translation draft is created automatically
- The screen splits into two panels. The left panel shows the original content as read-only segments — each paragraph, heading, list item, blockquote, and image (with alt text) appears as a distinct segment. The right panel shows corresponding editable fields for the translation
- Click any segment on the right panel to activate its editing field. A cursor appears and you can start typing
- For each segment, you have several options:
– Copy from Original — click this button to paste the original text into the field as a starting point that you then modify
– AI Translate — click the AI icon on that specific segment to have the AI translate just that one piece (costs a fraction of a credit)
- As you translate each segment, it is marked with a green checkmark. Untranslated segments remain highlighted in light yellow so you can easily see what is left
- Work through all segments from top to bottom. Use Tab to jump to the next segment or Shift + Tab to go back to the previous one
- Below the main content segments, you will find any translatable custom fields grouped by field group. Expand repeater field groups to translate each row
- When finished, click Save to save the translation as a draft, or Save & Publish to save and publish it immediately
Keyboard shortcuts for faster translation
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Tab | Jump to the next segment |
| Shift + Tab | Jump to the previous segment |
| Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac) | Save the translation draft |
| Ctrl + Enter | AI translate the currently selected segment |
| Ctrl + Shift + C | Copy the original text into the current segment |
Real-world example: Translating a “Spa Services” page segment by segment
A resort website has a “Spa Services” page with 15 sections: an introduction paragraph, 10 service descriptions (each with a heading and paragraph), a pricing note, a booking call-to-action, and two ACF fields (“Opening Hours” and “Booking Phone Number”). In the Visual Editor, the translator sees all 15 content segments on the left and corresponding fields on the right. She uses AI Translate on the factual service descriptions (since they describe massage types and durations — straightforward content), manually translates the marketing-heavy introduction and call-to-action, and copies the Opening Hours as-is since the resort uses the same hours for all languages. The phone number field is replaced with the international-format number. The entire page takes 20 minutes instead of an hour.
How custom fields appear in the Visual Editor
Below the main content area, the Visual Editor displays all translatable custom fields from ACF, Field Forge, and other supported field plugins. Fields are grouped by their field group name and labeled clearly. Text fields, textarea fields, and WYSIWYG fields all have editable translation fields. Repeater fields appear as expandable accordion sections — click to open them and translate each row individually.
Running an AI Quality Check on your translation
Once you have translated all segments (manually, with AI, or both), the Visual Editor can run an AI Quality Check to catch issues you might have missed. Click the QA Check button in the toolbar at the top of the page. Lang Forge sends the original and the translation to the AI, which returns a 0–100 score and a list of specific issues grouped by type: missing content, meaning changes, tone or style mismatches, and grammar or spelling errors.
Each issue in the list is anchored to a specific segment and includes:
- A short explanation of what is wrong (e.g., “The translation of ‘free shipping worldwide’ omits ‘worldwide'”)
- The problem segment highlighted in the right panel
- An Apply fix button that replaces the problem segment with an AI-suggested improvement
Click Apply fix on any issue to accept the AI’s suggestion. The Visual Editor updates the affected field in place — the new text appears immediately in the right panel and the editor is marked as unsaved. Review the change, edit further if needed, and click Save when you are ready.
For the rare case where the problem lives in a field the Visual Editor does not render on screen (for example, the SEO excerpt or a hidden custom field), the fix is still applied to the post on the server, and a small Reload editor link appears next to the issue. Click it to refresh the editor and see the updated field.
> Tip: Each QA run and each Apply fix click consumes AI credits. For short posts this is negligible; for very long posts, consider running QA once at the end of translation rather than after every small change.
> Good to know: If the AI returns a suggestion that is essentially identical to your current translation (same text after ignoring formatting and whitespace), Lang Forge filters it out automatically — you will not see “ghost” issues without a real difference to apply.
What happens on the Free plan
The Visual Editor menu item is visible on the Free plan, but clicking it shows an informational landing page that explains the feature and invites you to upgrade to PRO. The basic translation workflow (using Create Translation in the post editor) remains fully available on the Free plan.
> Tip: Use the AI Translate button on individual segments that contain straightforward, factual content (like product specifications or step-by-step instructions), and manually translate segments that need a creative touch (like marketing headlines, calls to action, or culturally sensitive content).
> Good to know: The Visual Editor auto-saves your progress every 60 seconds. If your browser closes unexpectedly or you lose your internet connection, your work is preserved and will be there when you return.
> Important: The Visual Editor creates a real WordPress post for the translation. Everything you do here is the same as editing a post directly — the Visual Editor is simply a more translator-friendly interface for the same underlying content.
[Screenshot: The Visual Editor showing the original English content in the left panel and editable Spanish translation fields in the right panel, with AI Translate buttons on each segment]
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