Post Translations

Keep one post per article and attach every language to it. The posts list gives each language its own entry; each entry opens a full-page editor in that language.

Description

Out of the box, a WordPress post has one title, one excerpt and one body. The usual way to publish it in several languages (Polylang, WPML) is one post per language: the posts list fills up with near-duplicates, slugs have to be kept in sync, and sticky flags, categories and revisions all multiply.

This plugin takes the opposite route: one post, many languages. The original lives in the native fields; every other language is stored as post meta. All languages share the same slug, so localized URLs differ only by the language prefix your front end chooses.

What you get in the admin:

• A "Languages" column in the posts list. One entry per language. A solid chip with a dot means the translation exists; a dashed chip means it does not yet.
• A full-page editor per language. Click a language and you get that language's title, excerpt and body in one screen. Saving writes only the translation — the original is never touched. Handy when each language needs its own SEO title and meta description.
• A sidebar panel in the block editor for quick edits without leaving the post. A classic-editor meta box is included as well.
• A "missing translation" filter at the top of the posts list.

Generic by design

The plugin implements the mechanism; every site decision is injected through a filter. It ships with no languages, no URL scheme and no assumptions about your stack — until you declare a language, nothing is shown (and the admin tells you how).

• pt_languages — the language list: code => [ label, short, meta_prefix? ].
• pt_base_language — which language is the original (defaults to en / English / EN). The original can be any language, including Chinese or Arabic.
• pt_fields — fields to translate, default title / excerpt / body.
• pt_field_labels — field labels in the admin.
• pt_field_hints — per-field help text and an optional character range.
• pt_rest_field — REST field name, default pt_translations.
• pt_preview_url — optional; show the front-end URL of the translation being edited.

examples/site-config.php in the plugin folder is a ready-to-copy configuration file.

REST

• Every post gains a pt_translations field: { "zh-hans": { "title": "", "excerpt": "", "body": "" }, ... } — readable and writable.
• Dedicated endpoint GET|POST /wp-json/post-translations/v1/posts/<id>/translations. It writes meta only: post_modified is untouched and no revision is created.

Installation

1. Upload the zip through Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, then activate.
2. Copy examples/site-config.php to wp-content/mu-plugins/ and edit the language list for your site. Until then the plugin stays invisible and shows a notice explaining what to declare.
3. Open Posts, then click a language in the "Languages" column to start translating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I lose data if I deactivate the plugin?

No. Translations are ordinary post meta (pt_<language>_title and friends). The plugin only adds the UI and the REST surface on top of it.

Can the original language be something other than English?

Yes — set pt_base_language. The original is always the post's own fields, so "original" simply means "the one that is not stored in meta".

Note that switching the original language of an existing site means moving content: the translations have to be written back into the native fields, and the previous original moved into meta. Plan for a migration.

Do all posts have to share the same original language?

At the moment, yes: the original language is a site-wide setting. A per-post override (some posts written in Chinese, others in English) is not supported yet.

Is the HTML in a translation sanitized?

The body goes through wp_kses_post (common markup kept, scripts stripped); title and excerpt go through sanitize_text_field.

Does it work with right-to-left languages?

The admin styles use logical properties (margin-inline-start and friends), so the UI mirrors correctly under an RTL locale.

Changelog

1.5.0

• Every user-facing string is now translatable (post-translations text domain), with a POT template and a bundled Simplified Chinese translation.
• Admin CSS switched to logical properties so the UI mirrors under RTL locales.
• Plugin header, readme and inline documentation translated to English.

1.4.2

• Fixed: the classic-editor script hard-coded en as the original language, so the visual editor never initialised when the original was another language.

1.4.1

• Fixed: the "missing translation" filter could push an empty string into meta_query when merging with an existing one.
• Asset version numbers now follow a single PT_VERSION constant.

1.4.0

• Generic rewrite: languages, fields, REST field name and front-end URL are all injected through filters; the plugin carries no site assumptions.
• Added the per-language full-page editor.
• The posts list column now lists one entry per language.

1.3.0

• Added the per-language editor screen with character counters.

1.2.0

• Added the language column to the posts list.

1.0.0

• First release: per-post translation meta plus a REST field.