Creating a truly global WordPress website often requires more than just translating your pages and posts. For many sites, custom fields play a crucial role in organizing and displaying content.

That's where Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) comes in - a powerful tool that extends WordPress's content management capabilities. But how do you make these custom fields multilingual?

With Weglot, it’s surprisingly simple. This guide walks you through the process of setting up, translating and managing multilingual custom fields in WordPress.

How to Translate ACF Fields

Translating Advanced Custom Fields is essential for creating a fully multilingual WordPress site. This process ensures all your custom content is accessible to your global audience.

Weglot works with ACF right out of the box (as well as all other WordPress plugins and themes), meaning it couldn’t be easier to turn your advanced custom fields multilingual.

Let's dive into the process of making your ACF content multilingual with Weglot.

1. Set Up Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)

To set up your custom fields, install the free Advanced Custom Fields plugin from WordPress.org. You can also purchase the ACF Pro add-on plugin for more functionality.

Then, go to Custom Fields → Add New to create your custom fields in the ACF options page. We’ll create two different field types to show you how Weglot will work with any type of custom field from ACF:

Then, you can add your custom field information in the WordPress editor using the new meta box from ACF:

You can then display ACF field data on the front-end of your site using shortcodes or PHP functions. Here’s an example of what it might look like:

2. Configure Weglot and Translate Site

With Weglot, you can get started and create a multilingual site in just a few minutes.

You’ll want to register for a Weglot account and install the Weglot plugin from WordPress.org. Then:

• Go to the new Weglot tab in your WordPress dashboard.
• Add your Weglot API key.
• Choose your default language and the destination language(s) into which you want to translate your site’s content.

Once you save your changes, Weglot will automatically translate your site using machine translation, including any content from ACF. You can preview this by using the front-end language switcher that Weglot adds:

If you're using WPML, here's a guide on WPML language switchers.

Within a few minutes, you’ve already translated all your ACF content.

3. Manually Refine ACF Content Translations (Optional)

If you want to manually edit the machine translations for your ACF content (and the rest of your site), you can use the Weglot dashboard.

There, you can manage your translations from two interfaces. Both interfaces sync with each other and your live WordPress site – the only difference is the translation management interface.

First, you can use the backend side-by-side translations list interface, which shows the original text from your ACF content on the left and the translated version on the right. You can manually edit a translation or add it to a content order to send to a professional translation agency:

Secondly, you can use the visual editor, which lets you manage your translations on a live preview of your site:

To use it, you hover over the ACF content that you want to translate and click the pencil icon:

And that’s how to use Weglot as a WPML ACF alternative.

Next Steps: Implementing Your Multilingual ACF Strategy

Integrating Advanced Custom Fields with multilingual functionality is crucial for a truly global WordPress site. Weglot offers the simplest and most effective solution for this integration:

1. Install and activate Weglot on your WordPress site
2. Set up your languages and configure basic settings
3. Weglot automatically detects and translates all your ACF content
4. Use Weglot's visual editor to refine translations for your custom fields
5. Enjoy a fully multilingual site, including all your ACF content, with minimal effort

With Weglot, you can transform your ACF-powered site into a multilingual powerhouse in minutes. Start your free trial today and experience the ease of managing multilingual custom fields with Weglot!