Polylang Translation Preview

A WordPress plugin that provides instant Google Translate previews for selected text in the WordPress admin interface when using Polylang.

🌟 Features

• Instant Translation Preview: Select any text in WordPress admin to see live translation tooltips
• Polylang Integration: Automatically detects page language and uses your configured Polylang languages
• Smart Language Detection: Uses actual locales (e.g., en_GB) instead of just language codes
• HTML Formatting Preservation: Maintains bold, italic, links, and other formatting in translations
• Equivalent Language Filtering: Skips unnecessary translations between similar languages (e.g., en_GB ↔ en_CA)
• Visual & Text Editor Support: Works with both TinyMCE visual editor and text areas
• Configurable Debug Logging: Optional console logging for troubleshooting
• Secure API Key Management: Built-in security best practices for Google Cloud API

📋 Requirements

• WordPress 5.0 or higher
• PHP 7.4 or higher
• Polylang plugin (free or pro)
• Google Cloud Translation API key

🚀 Installation

From GitHub

1. Download the latest release or clone this repository
2. Upload the polylang-translation-preview folder to /wp-content/plugins/
3. Activate the plugin through the WordPress admin
4. Configure your settings at Settings → Translation Preview

Manual Installation

cd wp-content/plugins/
git clone https://github.com/your-username/polylang-translation-preview.git

⚙️ Configuration

1. Get Google Cloud Translation API Key

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project or select existing one
3. Enable the Cloud Translation API:
   • Navigate to APIs & Services → Library
   • Search for "Cloud Translation API"
   • Click and press Enable
4. Create credentials:
   • Go to APIs & Services → Credentials
   • Click Create Credentials → API Key
   • Copy the generated API key
5. Security (Recommended): Restrict your API key:
   • Click on your API key in Credentials
   • Under "API restrictions", select "Restrict key"
   • Choose "Cloud Translation API" only
   • Under "Website restrictions", add your domain
6. Set up billing (required for Translation API)

2. Configure Plugin Settings

1. Go to Settings → Translation Preview in WordPress admin
2. Enter your Google Cloud API key
3. Select your default target language from your Polylang languages
4. Optionally enable debug logging for troubleshooting

💡 Usage

1. Edit any post, page, or term in WordPress admin
2. Select text in the editor or text fields
3. View instant translation in the popup tooltip
4. Formatted content (bold, italic, links) is preserved in translations

Supported Content Areas

• TinyMCE Visual Editor
• Text Editor/HTML mode
• Text input fields
• Textarea fields
• Custom field inputs

🎯 Smart Features

Language Equivalence Detection

The plugin intelligently skips translations between equivalent language variants:

• ✅ en_GB → fr_FR (English to French) - Translates
• ❌ en_GB → en_CA (UK English to Canadian English) - Skips with message
• ❌ de_DE → de_CH (German Germany to German Switzerland) - Skips with message

HTML Preservation

Maintains formatting in translations:

• Bold and italic text
• Links with URLs
• Lists and paragraphs
• Headings and blockquotes

🔧 Developer Features

Debug Logging

Enable detailed logging in settings to troubleshoot:

• Translation API requests/responses
• Language detection process
• Selection coordinates
• TinyMCE editor events

Hooks & Filters

Currently no custom hooks available, but pull requests welcome!

💰 Pricing

Google Cloud Translation API pricing:

• Free Tier: 500,000 characters per month
• Paid Usage: $20 per 1M characters
• Billing account required but free tier available

View Current Pricing

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. No translation tooltip appearing

   • Check API key is correctly entered
   • Verify Google Cloud billing is set up
   • Enable debug logging and check browser console

2. "Equivalent language variants" message

   • This is normal for same-language variants (e.g., en_GB ↔ en_CA)
   • Check your Polylang language configuration

3. Escaped characters (e.g., "it\'s")

   • This should be fixed in current version
   • Enable debug logging to troubleshoot

Debug Mode

Enable debug logging in Settings → Translation Preview to see detailed console logs for troubleshooting.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues.

Development Setup

1. Clone the repository
2. Install in WordPress development environment
3. Enable debug logging for development
4. Make changes and test thoroughly

📝 Changelog

Version 1.0.0

• Initial release
• Google Translate integration
• Polylang language detection
• HTML formatting preservation
• Smart language equivalence detection
• Debug logging controls
• Comprehensive setup instructions

📄 License

This plugin is licensed under the GPL v3 or later.

🏢 About Winners Media Limited

This plugin is created and maintained by Winners Media Limited, a digital agency specializing in WordPress development and digital solutions.

• Website: winnersmedia.co.uk
• Contact: For support or custom development inquiries

🔗 Links

• Plugin Settings
• Google Cloud Console
• Google Translation API Docs
• Polylang Plugin

⭐ Support

If you find this plugin helpful, please consider:

• ⭐ Starring this repository
• 🐛 Reporting issues
• 💡 Suggesting new features
• 🤝 Contributing code improvements

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Made with ❤️ by Winners Media Limited