Change WPML Support > Multilingual Solution on Roadmap...Thoughts?

Feature Requests / Improvements
1

Hey Dev Team & Community

I have meant to post this for a while but have just been very busy recently.

I have an idea to propose in relation to the WPML Support on the idea board and believe it should be changed to a Multilingual solution, and here’s why


Like me, many of you will be in many of the WordPress, Speed optimization, and Page builders groups.

And almost daily, I see the question of ‘best translate plugin’ or ‘best multilingual plugin’, and the answer is always the same
nobody knows with answers usually based on non-conclusive and usually emotionally attached answers i.e. someone had a good experience or someone had a bad experience.

I see Bricks as a ‘Bugatti’ page builder i.e. very quick, clean code etc. I do not want to use WPML if it is like adding a Skoda engine into my Bugatti.

I do not know if WPML is heavy or not or coded well or not, as I am not an expert coder. WPML may be the best coded and lightweight translation plugin, but we all trpoorlyhe Dev team and their abilities to identify a badly coded or heavy plugin similar to what they did with Slider / Splide.

If they did investigate the top 5 translation plugins and then say to the community ***“Hey guys, we looked at the best translation plugins and found x plugin to be head and shoulders above the others in terms of code quality”, *** I would have more faith in this than having a translation plugin pushed by misguided popularity.

The 5 Plugins to investigate would/could be:

  • WPML
  • Polylang
  • TranslatePress
  • Weglot
  • GT Translate

I appreciate some slight functionality differences between them, but as a Bricks user, would you not like to know which is the best coded and lightweight plugin recommended by the Bricks Team to use on your Bricks websites?

In time support for others translation plugins will arrive, but for the first one, I think it would be great to find the best one.

Anyways
Thoughts?

Mick

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2

Great idea, Mick
! :100:

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Interesting. Keep in mind there’s a reason why WPML is the #1 solution, even if really heavy : because it’s the most compatible solution with all major 3rd party plugins.

I wouldn’t want the Brick team to pick a single multilingual plugin based only on the code quality - sacrificing compatibility with major 3rd party plugin
 People are building all kind of websites using all kind of tool. My #1 concern with Bricks is compatibility with the WP ecosystem.

Example:

  • Weglot is super expensive for large website
  • TranslatePress is string based, which is not practical (Each time you update a word or even a single letter the entire translation disapear)
  • etc

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Weglot Out from this game, since it cost too much $$
TranslatePress, Add this Not helpful for websites that run LTR/RTL languages same time! out too!
Never gave TranslatePress / GT Translate a real test!

For me the game in WPML/Polylang

WPML for sure is heavy and there are some

For now, I’m with the Polylang side since its the cleaner and lightweight.

Regards

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5

Thanks for getting involved John :+1:

I have some follow-up questions for you if you may:

  • Would you have a 3x heavier plugin and a much slower website than a plugin that might not be as compatible? (This is hypothetical, I know, but just interested in your position)

  • Where do you get your information to say that WMPL is the most compatible? I just heard 02 is no longer compatible with WPML

So shouldn’t we all be using WPBakery & Elementor? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Hey Kareem, Thanks for getting involved :+1:

To be honest, the 5 I mentioned were ones I had heard, not a proposal. It would be good to do a Poll here or in the FB group, but it seems they have removed the functionality due to it causing a rift late last year / early this year.

I just looked at Weglots pricing model :zipper_mouth_face:

May I ask how you know this? What testing did you do, and how extensive was it?

Many thanks

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Sorry Michael, but just NO.

The Bricks team should concentrate on developing Bricks and not looking at other peoples plugins.
Its down to you to decide which you want to use. Bricks should simply provide the ability to work with any - although given the limited resources you might want to submit your choice to the ideas board so we can all vote for it, should it not be compatible out the box.

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I followed really great dev experts over the years!
More I can say it’s my personal test
 Almost they agree on this for WPML:

WPML It can be slow. Also many complaints about bloated code.
& uses a large database

On the other hand Polylang,
Not only is it free, but Many people have also said that it is the best-written translation plugin. & it’s very well-coded, easy-to-use.
You can check the reviews as well > Here

I’ve done extensive research about this since I was seeking lightweight, Cleaner, plugins, etc!
I landed eventually on Polylang! I’ve used WMPL for a long time but now it’s all for me Polylang!

This is according to my research, experience, expertise, and tests!
You can do your own work too, test
 Go try it on local server etc

try tools like “Query Monitor” to test speed/slow

Regards

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9

Hi Michael,

3x heavier in the backend doesn’t necessarely translate into 3x heavier in the front-end. 75% of our websites are multilingual and WPML doesn’t really prevent us to have nice speed score. It’s 100% true that WPML could be better built, but it’s always the case with older plugin which have to support legacy code.

WPML compatibility : WPML is the more know product to translate WordPress. They have a large team, provide support in multiple language and offer plugin/theme author help to make their software compatible with WPML (GoGlobal program).

Elementor / WP Bakery are page builder. We never used them. Different story
 :wink:

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I agree.

WPML and Polylang are the only real contenders in my opinion.

Do you build complex site ? (WooCommerce + custom stuff, Membership, etc.) Have you ran into issue with Polylang on complex builds?

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Hey Alan, Thanks for contributing.

No need to apologise for your opinion; everyone’s is valid.

I agree in time that there should be the ability to work with as many or all as you mentioned however, as you also mentioned, the Bricks team is limited currently, so is it not a case to work a little bit smarter about ensuring the right 3rd party solutions is added which will cause you and your users the least hassle?

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Awesome Kareem,

Good insights!

Unfortunately, as mentioned, I would not feel confident in my diagnostic abilities to determine it myself.

I did think perhaps saying it to Paul C (WPTuts) as a great video opportunity, where he would be repaid with views and for what I think would be well sought after content or even Supamike, who has some excellent non-biased charts and would be a great addition to them.

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Hi John,

I appreciate the equation is not as simple, and it was more of a simplified hypothetical.

But great input, thanks :+1:

P.s Don’t tell lies, you know you have an old LTD for WPBakery, its okay to admit it we are all friends here haha just jesting.

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I’m building one right now with Bricks
Dynamic
Woo not in yet!
So far I can tell it’s amazing!

And the thing is I’m using 2 languages reversed LTR/RTL which is hard work to do!
But again so far so good didn’t face any problem yet!

Will share the results for it once it’s done.

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Using absolutely nothing else then WPML and I am getting 100/100 on complex e-commerce sites.

Issue with bricks and their “roadmap” is I think they are over-promising stuff. Will probably be a longtime until we see an official integration. At the same time people are upvoting other features. And basing all your dev work on “votes” is leading you to develop in a biased direction. People in US are less likely then people in EU to be interested in multi-lang support for example


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yeah same situation, wpml everywhere. long time user, no issues with wpml. but still waiting for any offical statement about integration of translation plugins.

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As already explained several times, for professional sites, there is no alternative to WPML!
And WPML is also the only existing solution if you want to use a specific domain for each language.
All the other plugins mentioned (Polylang, TranslatePress
) do not offer this functionality.

If Bricks does not integrate WPML, it should at least offer a viable alternative.
I believe that many (like me) bought Bricks based on the promise of a full WPML integration, made over a year ago.

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18

asking again to get some infos. please


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19

Why do you want to have specified domain for different language?

For example:
English: puma.com
Chinese: puma.cn
Turkey: puma.tr

Like this?

21

For example, many travel companies offer their services in several countries.
From an SEO point of view, it is better to have a specific domain for each country in order to achieve a better ranking.
Although a multi-site layout can be used, it is very complicated to maintain, as new offers have to be updated daily on all sites.

With WPML you have a consistent layout, as only the text is translated.
When used with WP’s native blocks or other compatible builders, it works like a charm.