WPML – How to Import Post Translations from a CSV File

In a previous post, we showed you how to export post translations to a CSV file. This is useful when you hire a translator and send him/her the CSV to work on the translations. In this tutorial, we’ll see how to import WPML post translations into WordPress, using the WP Sheet Editor plugin.

With this method, you can save a lot of time because your translators don’t need to learn how to use WordPress in order to translate your content. Besides, you don’t need to give access to wp-admin to your translators.

WP Sheet Editor allows you to translate thousands of posts, edit translations using an intuitive spreadsheet, export translations, and import thousands of translations using a CSV file.

Important notes before you import your post translations

• You can get an error connecting translation posts to their categories when you create translations without previously translating the categories and tags.
• In this case, the translation posts are correctly connected to the original language posts, but the categories and tags are created as independent categories in the translation language. This means they are not connected to the categories and tags in the original language.
• Our recommendation is that you first translate the categories and tags. This way, the posts, categories, and tags will be connected correctly with their main language versions.
• For a quick way to translate categories and tags, you can read this tutorial.

Option 1 – Update existing post translations

This option is useful when you want to update translations of WooCommerce products that you have previously created.

In case you haven’t done it, here is a tutorial on how to create translations of posts in bulk.

Also, here is a tutorial on how to export post translations from a specific language to a CSV file.

It is possible that you hired a translator and gave him a CSV to edit the posts. Now you need the CSV file to import the post translations.

Important. Remember that you need to create the category and tag translations before importing the post translations. Here’s a tutorial you can follow to bulk create category translations. It’s for WooCommerce categories and tags, but you can apply the same steps to WordPress categories and tags.

We recommend you to have a CSV with these columns:

• ID
• Title
• URL Slug
• Content
• Date
• Author
• Excerpt
• Status
• Featured Image
• Categories
• Tags
• WPML – Language
• WPML – Translation priority
• WPML – Translation of
• WPML – Relationship
• SEO Title
• SEO Description
• SEO Keyword

Once you have prepared the CSV file you will import, open the posts spreadsheet in the language of the translations you’ll import.

Click on Import.

Now upload the CSV containing your post translations:

• Source: CSV file from my computer
• Click on Choose File and select the CSV from your computer.
• Click on Next.

Click on Import all the columns.

Now we need to select how we will import the information.

In this case, we will select Update existing items, ignore new items because we will update existing translations only.

We will match the translations by ID. WP Sheet Editor will find rows with the same value in the CSV field and the WordPress field.

Click on Next.

Now you’ll see a preview of the translations.

If everything is OK, click on Start import.

Now the post translations have been updated.

Option 2 – Create new translations from the CSV file

Important. Remember that you need to create the category and tag translations before importing the post translations.

WP Sheet Editor allows you to create new translations from a CSV file.

As you can see in the screenshot below, we have posts in English, which is our main language.

However, we don’t have any post translations in Spanish, so we will import the translations in this language.

We recommend you to have a CSV with these columns:

• Title
• URL Slug
• Content
• Date
• Author
• Excerpt
• Status
• Featured Image
• Categories
• Tags
• WPML – Language
• WPML – Translation priority
• WPML – Translation of
• WPML – Relationship
• SEO Title
• SEO Description
• SEO Keyword

Once you have the CSV, click on Import.

Now upload the CSV containing your post translations:

• Source: CSV file from my computer
• Click on Choose File and select the CSV from your computer.
• Click on Next.

Click on Import all the columns.

Now we will select Import all rows as new and click on the Next button.

Finally, you’ll see a preview of what all the post translations will look like in the spreadsheet once they’re imported.

If everything is OK, click on Start import.

As you see, we have imported the translations in Spanish.

With WP Sheet Editor, you can import WPML translations for any language using CSV files edited with Excel or Google Sheets.

You can create new translations or update existing translations.

Click here to read other tutorials on how to manage WPML translations with WP Sheet Editor.