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How to Translate Your Website Footer with Polylang: Common Issues and Solutions

18 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Polylang

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Translating a website footer is a common challenge for WordPress users setting up multilingual sites with the Polylang plugin. Based on community discussions, the issue often arises because footers are handled differently by themes and page builders, and their translation isn't always a straightforward process within Polylang's core functionality.

Why This Happens

The core issue is that a website's footer is typically a global element. Many themes and page builders construct footers outside the standard WordPress post and page structure. This means the content isn't always accessible to Polylang's translation mechanisms by default. Common scenarios include:

  • Theme Options Footer: Text entered in a theme's options panel (e.g., copyright text) is often not detected by Polylang's string translation.
  • Custom Footers from Builders: Footers created with page builders like Elementor, Brizy, or WPBakery may be saved as custom post types that need to be explicitly linked for translation.
  • Widget Areas: While Polylang can manage widgets, the process depends on using the classic Widgets screen in WordPress, not the newer Full Site Editor (FSE).
  • Hard-Coded Text: Text directly written into a theme's footer.php file cannot be translated by Polylang without modifying the theme code.

Common Solutions and Workarounds

1. Translating Footer Widgets

This is the most common method supported by the free version of Polylang for widget-based footers.

  1. Navigate to Appearance → Widgets in your WordPress admin.
  2. Locate your footer widget area.
  3. Add a widget (e.g., a Text widget) for your default language content.
  4. Click on the widget to expand its settings. You should see a meta box labeled Language or similar, allowing you to assign a language to that widget.
  5. Add a second instance of the same widget to the same footer area. Write your translated content in this new widget and assign it the second language in its language meta box.

Note: Some users report not seeing the language option. This typically requires the classic Widgets interface. If your theme uses the new FSE, you may need to install the free Classic Widgets plugin to restore this functionality.

2. Translating Custom Footers from Page Builders

If your footer is built with a page builder like Elementor or Brizy and saved in a library:

  1. Ensure the custom post type for your builder's templates (e.g., "Elementor Library") is activated for translation in Languages → Settings → Custom post types.
  2. After enabling translation, edit the footer template for your default language.
  3. You should now see a language meta box and a "Translations" box allowing you to create a linked duplicate of the footer for your second language.
  4. Create the translated version, edit it, and replace all content with the appropriate translations.

3. Using Conditional Display with Theme Builders

Some themes with advanced header/footer builders (like Kadence, Astra Pro, or Avada) have their own conditional display logic. If Polylang's integration isn't working, you might find a solution within your theme's tools:

  1. Create two separate footers in your theme builder.
  2. Use the theme's native "Display Conditions" or "Rules" to assign each footer to a specific language. Look for condition rules like "Language is...".

4. Translating Hard-Coded Theme Strings

For text hard-coded in your theme's footer.php file or output by a function, you must prepare the theme for translation. This is a more technical solution:

  1. A developer must wrap the text in the PHP file with a translation function like pll__('Your text here') or the standard WordPress __('Your text here', 'text-domain') function.
  2. Once the strings are properly prepared, they should appear in the Languages → String translation interface for you to translate.

Warning: Modifying theme files directly is not recommended, as changes will be overwritten on theme updates. Using a child theme is essential for this method.

What to Do If Nothing Works

If you've tried these solutions and your footer still isn't translating, the conflict might be specific to your theme or plugin combination. The next step is to perform a standard conflict test:

  1. Temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Four.
  2. Disable all plugins except Polylang.
  3. Check if the problem persists. If it resolves, reactivate your theme and plugins one by one to identify the source of the conflict.

For further reading, the Polylang team provides documentation on translating widgets and theme internationalization on their website.

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