Wordpress Wpml Download and Install

First time WPML installation

The first time you use WPML, you need to manually download it and install. Then, register to receive automated updates to future versions.

  1. Log in to your WPML.org account.
  2. Go to the Downloads section.
  3. Download the main WPML components: WPML core plugin, String Translation, Translation Management, and Media Translation. You will receive a ZIP file for each one of WPMLs components
  4. Log into your site and in the WordPress admin, go to the Plugins page and click Add New. On the Add Plugins page click Upload Plugin, select the ZIP files that you downloaded and click Install Now.

    Alternatively, if you cannot upload plugins directly to WordPress:
    1. Unzip each file. A directory will be created.
    2. Upload the unzipped directories to your sites ../wp-content/plugins directory

  5. Go back to the Plugins page and enable the newly uploaded/added plugins.
  6. Follow WPMLs setup wizard to add languages to your site.

Done with the first-time installation? Remember to register WPML to receive automated updates to future versions.
Automated updates for WPML

Registering WPML to receive automatic updates

Registering WPML allows you to receive automatic updates, directly to the WordPress admin. Once WPML is registered, updates for WPML will appear exactly like updates for plugins that come from wordpress.org.
You need to register WPML on every site that you run it on so that you receive these updates. Depending on which WPML account type you buy, you can install it on a different number of sites:

  • Multilingual Blog 1 site
  • Multilingual CMS 3 sites
  • Multilingual Agency unlimited number of sites

To register WPML, go to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin. You will see a message asking you to register WPML, with a link to the registration page.
Registration message on the plugins admin page* Dont see the registration link for WPML? It means that you are using an older version that didnt have it yet. No worries, download and install WPML manually, from your wpml.org account. You will only need to do this once. Next updates will arrive automatically.
Alternatively, you can click the Add New button at the top of the Plugins page and then click the Commercial tab.
Follow the link to buy/register and you will see WPMLs info box:
Purchase and registration optionsIf you havent yet purchased WPML, you can do that right from within the WordPress admin. If you have a WPML account, click on the register on wpml.org link.
Click to register this siteClick where it says your account. This will take you to your account and auto-register your site. You will need to confirm that youre adding this site. Then, you will see the key to activate WPML on the site. Copy your site-key. You can select it by double-clicking on the text and copying to the clipboard (CTRL-C).
Your site key is ready. Copy it, so you can paste back in WordPress.Now, return to your WordPress site and enter this site key. Click OK to complete the registration.
Paste the site-key and click OK to complete the registration.You will see a list of WPML components which are available for you to install.
Install additional WPML componentsSelect the checkboxes next to the components that you need. If you also want to activate the plugins immediately, select the Activate after download checkbox. Then, click on the Download button. If you dont choose the option to activate, these components will be downloaded and installed on your WordPress site and you can activate them later from the Plugins page.
From now on, you will receive updates to WPML and its components automatically to the site that you just registered.
Registration FAQ

How many sites can I register WPML on?

This depends on the type of WPML account you bought. Multilingual Blog allows 1 site, Multilingual CMS 3 sites, and Multilingual Agency an unlimited number of sites.
Can others reuse my site-keys to register WPML on other websites?

No, each site-key is unique for the website you registered.
Can I stop automatic updates for any site?

You control which sites can get automatic updates from your account. You can always visit My sites and delete site keys.
What do I need to do when the sites URL changes?

When sites move (happens when you move from development to production) they get a new home URL. You need to register the site again to keep receiving updates for WPML. If you moved the site by copying the database, go to Plugins -> Add new -> Commercial and click on Unregister WPML from this site.
Unregister WPMLGo to the your accounts Downloads section.
Then, click again on Register WPML and complete the registration for the site, in its new URL.

Automatic WPML registration using PHP for easy moves between production, development, and staging

The sites key is unique to the sites domain. If you are frequently moving the database between production, development, and staging, you can avoid re-entering the site-key by setting the site-key in the wp-config.php file.
To set a different site-key per environment, do this:


  1. Generate a different site-key for each of the different domains of the site. Go to your Account page to generate the site-keys.
  2. Add the different site-keys to each of the environments in their respective wp-config.php files, using the following statement:
    define( 'OTGS_INSTALLER_SITE_KEY_WPML', 'your-site-key' );

The value that you set using the OTGS_INSTALLER_SITE_KEY_WPML takes precedence over the value in the database. So, when you move the database between domains, you will not need to update the registration.
Receiving automated updates for WPML

If you have installed WPML 3.1.7 or later and have registered it on your site, you will receive updates automatically.
Whenever a new version of WPML is available, you will see notices on the WordPress dashboard. Notices appear in the Updates and Plugins sections. Follow either to receive your updates.
WPML updates will appear like any other WordPress updates in your admin dashboard
  1. Click on the Plugins admin screen.
  2. Click on Updates available.
  3. Next to each of WPMLs components, click on the Update now link. Be sure to update all WPML components that you are using, starting with the main plugin.

When you update WPML, your content (including translations) doesnt change.
We recommend backing up your database before performing any updates. This includes WordPress, your theme, and plugins. To make a database backup, you can use plugins like Duplicator and BackupBuddy. You can also take a database dump using your hosting control panel.
Registering complimentary Toolset Types and Views Lite plugins

We offer you complimentary download of Toolset Types and Views Lite plugins, right from your accounts download page. You can use these plugins on sites with or without WPML.
If WPML is present and registered in the site, Toolset Types and Views Lite plugins will automatically be registered.
If WPML is not present in the site, you need to register Toolset Types and Views Lite plugins. Follow the same instructions in the section about registering WPML.
The important part is to register your site using the WPML section, not the Toolset one, as shown in the following image.
Register Toolset Types and Views Lite plugins using the WPML section