BuddyX
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Recipe: Translate BuddyX into your language

Free theme

What you'll build: A BuddyX site whose theme text - buttons, labels, "Read more", search placeholders, footer strings - shows in your language instead of English, using the free Loco Translate plugin.

Time: ~20-40 minutes (depends on how many strings you translate; you can stop after the ones your visitors actually see).

Prerequisites:

  • BuddyX activated, Installation complete
  • Admin access to Plugins and Tools
  • Your target language decided (e.g., French, German, Arabic)

Good news before you start

BuddyX is already translation-ready. You are not editing code - you are filling in a template the theme ships for you:

  • Every visible string in the theme uses the buddyx text domain, so translation tools can find them all.
  • The theme bundles a template file (buddyx.pot) and a /languages folder in the theme, and it loads whatever translation it finds there automatically.
  • BuddyX is also RTL-ready, so right-to-left languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, Urdu) flip the layout correctly once WordPress is set to that language - no extra CSS from you.

Quick answer: If a translation for your language already exists on WordPress.org, you may not need this recipe at all. Set your site language at Settings -> General -> Site Language and reload. This recipe is for languages that are missing, incomplete, or that you want to word your own way.

Step 1 - Install Loco Translate (3 minutes)

Loco Translate is a free plugin that edits translations from inside wp-admin - no desktop software, no FTP.

  1. Go to Plugins -> Add New.
  2. Search for Loco Translate.
  3. Click Install Now, then Activate.

A new Loco Translate item appears in your admin menu.

First-time tip: Loco Translate saves its files safely so a theme update won't wipe them (more on that in Step 3). You only need the free version for this - there is nothing to buy.

Step 2 - Open BuddyX in Loco Translate (2 minutes)

  1. Go to Loco Translate -> Themes.
  2. Click BuddyX in the list.

You'll see the theme's translation overview: the buddyx.pot template plus any languages already present (the theme ships a few, such as German).

Step 3 - Create a translation for your language (3 minutes)

  1. Click New language.
  2. Under Choose a language, pick your language (e.g., French - fr_FR). For a region-specific variant, pick the exact one (e.g., Spanish (Mexico) - es_MX).
  3. Under Choose a location, select System (recommended).

Why "System"? It saves your translation in WordPress's own wp-content/languages/themes/ folder, so a BuddyX update never overwrites it. Saving inside the theme's own /languages folder works too, but a reinstall can replace it - System is the safe default.

  1. Click Start translating.

Step 4 - Translate the strings (10-30 minutes)

You're now in the Loco Translate editor. It has three parts: the list of source strings (English) at the top, the Source text in the middle, and your Translation box at the bottom.

  1. Click a string in the list.
  2. Type your translation in the Translation box.
  3. Move to the next string and repeat.

You do not have to translate everything at once:

  • Start with what visitors see most: navigation and button labels, "Read more", "Search", "Leave a comment", "Comments are closed", pagination ("Older posts" / "Newer posts"), and footer text.
  • Use the editor's search / filter box to jump to a specific word instead of scrolling the whole list.
  • Leave a string blank and it simply falls back to English - safe to skip anything you're unsure about and come back later.

Tip: Keep placeholders like %s or %1$s exactly as they appear in the English source - they get replaced with real values (a name, a count) at runtime. Translate the words around them, not the placeholder.

Step 5 - Save (this generates the .mo file) (1 minute)

Click Save (top of the editor).

Loco Translate writes two files for you:

  • a .po file - the human-readable translation you just edited, and
  • a .mo file - the compiled version WordPress actually reads at runtime.

You never edit the .mo by hand; Save compiles it every time.

Step 6 - Set your site language and check the front end (3 minutes)

Your translation only shows when WordPress is running in that language.

  1. Go to Settings -> General -> Site Language and choose your language.
  2. Click Save Changes.
  3. Open your site in an incognito window and look at the strings you translated - the menu, buttons, and footer should now be in your language.

For an RTL language, confirm the whole layout has flipped to right-to-left (header, menu, content). If it hasn't, double-check that Site Language is set to the RTL locale, not just the translation file.

Result: BuddyX theme text now displays in your language, stored safely outside the theme so updates won't erase it. Come back to Loco Translate any time to translate more strings or refine wording.

Translating vs. running a multilingual site

This recipe makes BuddyX speak one language. If you want your site to serve several languages at once (a language switcher, each post available in English and French, etc.), that's a different job - a multilingual plugin handles it, and BuddyX is compatible with the popular ones:

  • Polylang (has a free tier) - add languages, translate posts/pages, drop in a language switcher.
  • WPML (premium) - full multilingual management including WooCommerce and BuddyPress content.

You can combine the two approaches: use Polylang or WPML for your content, and use this recipe's Loco Translate flow to cover any theme strings the multilingual plugin doesn't translate for you.

Common questions

Plugins and BuddyPress are still in English - why? Loco Translate localizes one text domain at a time. This recipe covers the theme (buddyx). To translate BuddyPress, WooCommerce, or any plugin, repeat Step 2 onward under Loco Translate -> Plugins and pick that plugin. Each has its own strings.

Will a theme update delete my work? Not if you chose the System location in Step 3 - that stores files in wp-content/languages/themes/, outside the theme. That's exactly why we recommend it.

Some strings won't translate no matter what. Those usually belong to a plugin, not the theme. Confirm the string is a BuddyX string (it appears under Loco Translate -> Themes -> BuddyX). If it's not listed there, it comes from a plugin - translate it under Loco Translate -> Plugins.

Related

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