Pluggies Multilingual

What it’s for

Pluggies Multilingua transforms your site into a multilingual site: each language has its own addresses (for example /en/, /de/), the content is translated, and search engines understand which version to show to each visitor.

The most important feature concerns the way translations are saved: the plugin does not create copies of your pages. The original content remains a single one (in Italian) and the translations are «layered on top» of it. In practice, you continue to work on a single page, a single article, a single product: you won’t find your WordPress panel filled with duplicates to keep aligned manually.

In summary, with the plugin you get:

Dedicated URLs for each language (with prefix, for example /fr/), plus the ability to translate the final part of the address (the «slug»);
Translation of pages, articles, and products directly from the editor, without duplicating anything;
A language selector to display on the site (dropdown menu or buttons, with or without flags);
Multilingual SEO already configured (tags hreflang, canonical, og:locale, and sitemap), without you having to touch anything;
Automatic translation with artificial intelligence (OpenAI / ChatGPT), using your personal key.

Requirements

For the plugin to work correctly, it requires:

WordPress version 6.4 or later;
PHP version 8.0 or later;
WooCommerce version 8.0 or later, only if you want to translate the products in your store (not mandatory for the rest of the site).

If you’re unsure of the versions in use, you can find them in the WordPress dashboard under Tools → Site Health → Info. If in doubt, ask your hosting provider.

Installation and activation

After installing and activating the plugin from the Plugins page of the dashboard, enter your license key: open the Pluggies → Licenses menu, paste the key in the format PLG-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX, and click on Activate on this site. The complete procedure is described in the Licenses and Activation guide.

The license unlocks the creation of new translations and automatic updates. A useful note on the system’s «tolerance»:

If the license expires, already published translations remain online and the site continues to display in multiple languages. What gets blocked, until you renew, is the ability to add new translations. This way, your site never «returns» suddenly to being monolingual in front of visitors.

The site’s languages

The plugin manages six languages: Italian (default), English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. You decide which ones to activate: you can start with just one additional language besides Italian and add more whenever you want.

Each language has its own prefix in the address:

The default language has no prefix: the address remains the same as before (for example iltuosito.it/prezzi/);
The other languages add their code at the beginning of the path: /en/, /fr/, /de/, /es/, /pt/ (for example iltuosito.it/en/prices/).

Initial configuration

All settings are in Pluggies → Multilingua, in the Settings tab. The points to set up on first launch are few:

Default language (without prefix): this is the main language of the site, shown at addresses without a code. Usually, it is Italian.
Active languages: check the languages you want to make available on the site. Only these will appear in the selector and generate dedicated addresses.
Enable translated URL slugs: if enabled (recommended setting), the final part of the address is also translated — for example /de/preise/ instead of /de/prezzi/. If you disable it, the address will only use the language prefix while keeping the Italian slug.
Show language selector: enable the appearance of the language selector on the site (see below).
Show language suggestion banner: if enabled, visitors arriving from a browser set to another language are discreetly offered to switch to the corresponding version. It is disabled by default.

Remember to click on Save Changes at the end.

Translating pages, articles, and products

This is the heart of the plugin. You don’t need to create new pages: translate directly the content you already have.

Open the page, article, or product you want to translate for editing.
Scroll down to the Translations — Pluggies Multilingua box (it appears below the editor).
Click on the language tab that interests you (for example English or Deutsch).
Fill in the available fields:
- Title (for products, the name);
- Slug (URL): the final part of the address in that language;
- Excerpt (for products, the short description);
- Content (for products, the description);
- SEO meta description: the text that search engines may display in the results.
Update or publish the content, as you would normally do.

Below each field, you can open the Original Text (IT): it shows you the starting Italian, so you can translate while keeping the reference in view without changing screens.

Italian always remains the «main» text: translations start from there. If you modify the original in the future, you just need to open the tabs of the other languages and update what is needed.

Translating with artificial intelligence

To avoid writing each translation by hand, the plugin can generate them automatically via OpenAI (ChatGPT). The AI translation works «with your key»: it is not included in the price of the plugin, and the service costs are charged directly to your OpenAI account, based on how much text you translate.

How to activate it

Go to Pluggies → Multilingua, AI Translation tab.
Paste your OpenAI API Key (you get it from your account on platform.openai.com).
Choose the Model:
- gpt-4o-mini — fast and economical, recommended for most cases;
- gpt-4o — maximum quality;
- gpt-4.1-mini and gpt-4.1 — available alternatives.
Save.

How to use it

Once the key is entered, in the Translations box of the editor, the buttons Translate with AI (next to each field) and Translate all with AI (to fill in all fields of a language at once) appear. The automatic translation is intended as a starting point: it is always advisable to reread and tweak it before publishing.

Your API key remains on your server and is used only for translation requests: it is never sent to Pluggies.

The language selector

The selector is the command with which visitors switch from one language to another. You have three ways to insert it:

Automatically in the menu: in the Settings tab, under Insert in menu, choose one of your theme’s menus. The languages will be added as items in that menu.
With a shortcode: insert Italiano English Français Deutsch Español Português in a page, article, or text/HTML block.
In the theme code: those who edit the theme files can use the function plgml_language_switcher().

The appearance of the selector is always adjusted in the Settings tab, Language Selector section:

Style: Dropdown Menu or Buttons in a row.
Display: Flag + code (e.g. 🇬🇧 EN), Flag only, Code only (IT, EN, FR…) or Language name (Italiano, English…).

The flags are drawn directly on the page: they do not slow down the site and are displayed correctly on all browsers.

Checking the status of translations

To keep track of what has been translated and what is missing, open Pluggies → Multilingua, Translation Status tab. You will see a table with your content on the rows and the languages on the columns. Each box indicates at a glance the level of translation:

empty circle (○): no translation for that language;
half circle (◐): partial translation (some fields filled in);
full circle (●): complete translation.

By clicking on a box, you go directly to the editor of that content, ready to complete its translation.

In addition to the actual content, there are two types of «system» labels that often need to be translated. You can find them in the appropriate tabs of Pluggies → Multilingua:

Attributes (requires WooCommerce): translates the names of product attributes — for example «Siti» to «Sites».
Menu: translates the labels of «custom» menu items (manual links), which do not automatically take the title from a page or product.

SEO and indexing

You don’t need to configure anything: the plugin automatically prepares everything needed for search engines to manage a multilingual site well. In particular, it adds to the pages:

the hreflang tags, which indicate to Google the versions of the page in various languages (plus the «default» version for those who do not fall into any specific language);
the correct canonical tag for each language, to avoid duplicate content issues;
the og:locale indications, used when a page is shared on social media;
the title and meta description translated, when you have filled them in the language tab.

If the WordPress sitemap is active, the translated addresses are also included, so search engines can find all the language versions of your content.

Frequently asked questions

Does translating the site create duplicate pages in the panel?

No. This is the main difference compared to many other systems: the plugin does not duplicate pages, articles, or products. You continue to manage a single piece of content, and the translations live «above» it. The panel remains clean and organized.

Do I have to translate everything right away?

No. You can translate the content bit by bit. Where the translation is missing, the site behaves sensibly (for example, redirecting to the home of the chosen language), so the visitor never ends up on a broken page. The Translation Status tab helps you see what remains to be done.

Do the addresses of the main language change?

No. The default language does not have a prefix: its addresses remain identical to before. Only the other languages add their code (/en/, /de/, and so on).

Is automatic translation included in the price of the plugin?

No. The translation with artificial intelligence uses the OpenAI service via a your personal key: the related costs are charged directly to your OpenAI account, based on the amount of text translated. The plugin does not add any consumption costs.

Is my OpenAI key safe?

Yes. The key is saved on your site and used only to send texts to OpenAI for translation. It is never transmitted to Pluggies. On the settings page, it is also shown «masked», so it is not readable in plain text.

Can I add or remove a language later?

Yes, at any time. In Pluggies → Multilingua → Settings, check or uncheck the language among the active ones and save. Disabling a language does not delete the translations already entered: that language simply will no longer be displayed on the site.

What happens to the translations if the license expires?

Already published translations remain online and the site continues to function in multiple languages. However, until you renew the license, you will not be able to create new translations or receive plugin updates. To resume, renew the license and reactivate it in Pluggies → Licenses.