Frequently asked questions

Does the AI publish translations automatically?

No, never. Every translation the AI produces is saved as a draft linked to the original post. That way a person can review it and decide when to publish it. This isn’t an option you can change: it’s a design decision so that you always stay in control.

Does it work without an AI key?

Yes, completely. Everything that makes your site multilingual works without AI: the languages, your site’s web addresses (URLs), the language switcher, the menus, and the tags that tell Google which version to show in each language so people can find you properly. You only need an AI key if you also want the AI to translate for you.

What exactly does the AI translate?

It translates the title, the text, and the excerpt of the post. For media files (such as images), it translates the title, the description, the caption, and the alternative text. The formatting and layout of your content (bold text, images, buttons, links, and so on) is kept intact. The featured image is copied as is, and your categories and tags are linked to their translated version.

How do I stop the AI from mistranslating a term from my field?

You have two tools in the AI settings:

• Site context: describe your business and any terms that could be confusing, so the AI understands what you’re talking about.
• Glossary: fixed rules in the form term = required translation. You can also list a term on its own so the AI never translates it, which is ideal for brands and proper names.

What happens if the AI provider is overloaded or fails?

If there’s a temporary problem (a dropped connection, an overload, or an error on the provider’s side), LingoPress retries on its own, up to 3 times, waiting a little longer each time. If something fails for good, you’ll see it in LingoPress → Queue (the job queue) with the error message and a Retry failed button to try again.

Does it work for long content?

Yes. When a text is too long to translate in one go, LingoPress splits it into parts, translates them while keeping the terminology consistent across all of them, and then puts them back together. You don’t have to do anything.

I edited the original — does the translation notice?

Yes. When you change a post, its translations are flagged with a notice: a ⚠ symbol in the lists and a note in the editor. The Re-translate with AI button brings them up to date right away, without changing whether they were published or a draft.

Where do I keep the AI keys?

An AI key is a key you copy from the AI provider’s website (Claude, Gemini, and so on). You can paste it straight into the plugin settings. If you have a live production site and want maximum security, your hosting provider or your trusted technician can store it in one of your site’s configuration files (wp-config.php), using constants like LINGOPRESS_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY. If the key is in that file, it takes priority over the one in the settings.

Can I migrate from Polylang?

Yes. LingoPress comes with a tool that carries over your languages, the language of each piece of content, and the links between translations. You can run it as many times as you like without worry: it doesn’t create duplicates. See Migrating from Polylang.

Why doesn’t it redirect based on the browser’s language?

That’s on purpose, for SEO. Those kinds of automatic redirects confuse Google and break the links people share. Instead, LingoPress tells search engines which is the correct version in each language so people can find you properly, and lets the visitor choose their own language with the switcher. See Multilingual SEO.

Does it create weird tables in the database?

No. LingoPress uses the way WordPress already stores things to record the languages and the links between translations, without inventing its own structures. It’s the same method proven at scale by Polylang. This has a big advantage: your data survives backups and normal imports and exports, and it isn’t tied to the plugin.

Requirements?

WordPress 6.5 or higher and PHP 8.1 or higher. Your hosting needs to meet these requirements; if you’re not sure whether it does, your hosting provider can confirm it for you. The license is GPL-3.0-or-later.