WPML plugin review and common issues

WPML adds database queries for translation relationships on every admin page. For sites with large content libraries and many languages, this can impact admin performance. Mitigation: (1) in WPML → Settings → Performance, enable caching for WPML language information; (2) ensure WordPress database tables are optimized — run OPTIMIZE TABLE on wp_posts and wp_icl_translations; (3) disable WPML features not in use (if String Translation is not needed, disable the module); (4) consider WP Engine or Kinsta hosting with object caching (Redis/Memcached) which significantly reduces the impact of WPML’s additional queries.

This typically indicates the translation relationship is broken or the language detection is not working correctly. Check: (1) go to WPML → Translation Management and verify the page shows a translation for the target language; (2) clear all caches — caching plugins often serve the wrong language version to visitors; (3) in WPML → Languages, verify the language detection method (URL, cookie, or browser) is configured correctly; (4) check if a caching plugin is caching pages without language differentiation — add language-specific cache keys or configure your caching plugin to differentiate by language URL.

WooCommerce attribute translation requires the WooCommerce Multilingual add-on. Go to WPML → WooCommerce Multilingual → Attributes and translate each attribute name and its values. After translating, synchronize the translations by going to WooCommerce Multilingual → Products and running the translation sync. Attribute values that appear in the wrong language are usually cached — clear all caches after completing attribute translations.

WPML provides multiple language switcher placement options. For menus: go to Appearance → Menus, add the WPML Language Switcher as a custom item, and configure display options (show flags, language names, or both). For widget areas: add the WPML Language Switcher widget. WPML also inserts a language switcher automatically in the footer or admin bar based on Settings → Languages → Language Switcher. Custom placement is available via the wpml_add_language_selector PHP function or the [language_selector_widget] shortcode.

WooCommerce checkout UI strings (field labels, button text, error messages) are translated via WPML String Translation. Go to WPML → String Translation and search for the checkout strings — filter by domain “woocommerce” to find all WooCommerce text. Click the string, add translations for each language, and save. For page builder-built checkout pages (Elementor, etc.), use the Translation Editor to translate page builder-specific text. Order notification email content is translated in WooCommerce → Emails where each email template has language-specific versions managed by WooCommerce Multilingual.

WPML offers more comprehensive compatibility, deeper WooCommerce support, and professional translation management tools — at €99/year. Polylang has a functional free version and Polylang Pro at €99/year (unlimited sites) for sites needing multilingual without per-site licensing. For agencies managing many client sites, Polylang Pro is more economical. For complex single sites with WooCommerce, custom post types, and page builder content, WPML’s depth of compatibility justifies its cost.

WPML integrates with AI-powered automatic translation services (DeepL, Google Translate, Microsoft Translator) via WPML’s Translation Credits system. Automatic translations are sent to these services and returned to WPML for review before publishing. Translation credits are purchased separately on top of the WPML license. Human review of machine-translated content is strongly recommended before publishing for professional sites, as machine translation quality varies significantly by language pair and content type.

Yes, that can happen, especially on older sites with many plugins. This usually happens when the plugin, theme, and add-ons are updated out of sequence. In most cases, testing on staging catches the issue before it reaches the live site. From experience, backups and changelog reviews save a lot of cleanup time.

Start by checking whether another plugin already does the same job. In most cases, overlap is what creates avoidable conflicts and performance issues. A common issue is installing a plugin because it looks convenient without checking the stack first. From experience, a short compatibility review avoids most of the pain later.