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How to Translate and Customize Text Strings in GeneratePress

14 threads Sep 16, 2025 Theme → Generatepress

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Many GeneratePress users who run multilingual websites or need to customize default text run into a common issue: certain theme strings don't translate properly or appear in the wrong language. This comprehensive guide explains why this happens and provides several effective solutions.

Why GeneratePress Text Doesn't Translate Properly

Based on community discussions, translation issues typically occur for these reasons:

  • The theme relies on WordPress's translation system rather than including its own language files
  • Some strings might be hardcoded in certain contexts
  • Translation plugins may not detect all theme strings
  • Customizations from plugins or child themes might override translations

Solution 1: Use WordPress's Official Translation Platform

The recommended approach is to contribute translations through WordPress's official platform. The GeneratePress theme uses the same translation system as WordPress core:

  1. Visit WordPress Translate for GeneratePress
  2. Select your language
  3. Find and translate missing strings
  4. Wait for translations to be approved and included in future updates

This method ensures your translations persist through theme updates and benefit the entire community.

Solution 2: Use PHP Code Snippets for Custom Translations

For immediate changes or strings not available in the translation platform, you can use filter hooks with PHP code snippets. Add these to your child theme's functions.php file or a code snippets plugin:

Changing the Site Tagline/Title:

add_filter( 'generate_site_description_output', function( $output ) {
    // Replace with your custom tagline
    return 'Your Custom Tagline Here';
} );

Customizing Comment Titles:

add_filter( 'generate_comment_form_title', function() {
    $comments_number = get_comments_number();
    return sprintf(
        esc_html(
            _nx(
                '%1$s Thought on “%2$s”', // Singular
                '%1$s Thoughts on “%2$s”', // Plural
                $comments_number,
                'comments title',
                'generatepress'
            )
        ),
        number_format_i18n( $comments_number ),
        get_the_title()
    );
} );

Translating Specific Strings:

add_filter( 'gettext', function( $text ) {
    if ( 'Search Results for:' === $text ) {
        return 'Your Translation Here';
    }
    return $text;
} );

Solution 3: Using Translation Plugins

Plugins like Loco Translate can help manage theme translations:

  1. Install and activate Loco Translate
  2. Navigate to Loco Translate → Themes
  3. Select GeneratePress
  4. Create a custom translation file for your language
  5. Translate the strings directly through the plugin interface

Note that custom translation files might need maintenance after theme updates.

Common Translation Challenges

Some users report specific challenges with:

  • WooCommerce integration strings like "Colors" and "Sizes" - these may be controlled by WooCommerce rather than GeneratePress
  • Comment form strings including the GDPR compliance checkbox text
  • Search-related text like "Search..." and "No matching records found"
  • Pagination text such as "Next →" and "← Previous"

For these cases, you may need to identify whether the string originates from GeneratePress, WordPress core, or another plugin before applying the appropriate translation method.

When Translations Still Don't Work

If strings still don't translate correctly after trying these methods:

  1. Clear all caching (theme, plugin, and server caching)
  2. Check if your multilingual plugin (like WPML) is properly configured
  3. Verify that your child theme isn't overriding translation functions
  4. Test with all other plugins temporarily disabled to rule out conflicts

Remember that translation issues can sometimes originate from WordPress core or other plugins rather than the GeneratePress theme itself.

By understanding how GeneratePress handles translations and using the appropriate method for your needs, you can effectively customize all text strings throughout your website.

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