Contents
Multilingual - Plugixa FAQ
Where this appears: Settings, then the Multilingual tab, and the language filter on the FAQ list.
Detected rather than configured. If Polylang or WPML is active, multilingual mode switches itself on. It is free.
The model
Every question, category and custom field value carries two things: a language, and a translation group.
The language is what it is written in. The translation group is a shared id linking every language version of the same thing. So the English “How do I cancel?” and the French “Comment annuler ?” are two records with one group between them, rather than one record with two fields.
That matters because they are genuinely separate answers. A French answer might need a different length, a different example, or a legal note the English one does not.
Categories translate too
A French category is the French version of an English one, linked the same way, not a second unrelated list. Get this right and the filter bar shows five categories in both languages; get it wrong and your French visitors see five English category names.
What the front end does
A French page shows French answers. When a translation is missing, the fallback setting decides between showing the default language’s version or hiding the answer entirely.
Show the default suits a site where a partial translation is better than a gap. Hide suits one where a stray English answer in a French list looks broken. There is no universally right answer, which is why it is a setting.
Search covers the current language only.
Linking translations
From an answer, link it to its counterpart in another language. If neither side has a group yet, linking creates one; if one does, the other joins it.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The multilingual filter is missing | Neither Polylang nor WPML is active | It is detected, not configured |
| French answers in an English category | The category was never switched to its French twin | Set the category on the French answer |
| A French page shows English answers | The fallback is set to show the default | Set it to hide, or translate the answer |
| A French category is empty | Its answers are in the English one | Check the category on each translated answer |
What to do next
Settings covers the rest of the tabs.