Translate PO and POT Files Online with AI

Translate PO and POT files online with AI. Sign up free, describe your product, select languages, and download PO file translations.

Try PTC for free

How to Automatically Translate PO and POT Files

Step 1: Create a Free PTC Account

Sign up without a credit card to start using PTC — an AI-powered PO file translator that considers your product’s context to apply the right terminology and tone. After signing up, create a new project and select Manual File Upload.

Step 2: Configure AI Translation Settings

Next, go through the setup wizard to:

Describe your product so PTC can generate human-quality translations
Select target languages
Upload .pot files or .po files
Select output files you want to receive. By default, PTC creates .po files, but you can also configure PTC to create .mo files, .l10n.php files, and .json files
Add terms to your glossary (optional)

Telling PTC about your theme or plugin

Selecting output files from translation

Step 3: Download MO and PO Translation Files

Give PTC a few minutes to translate your PO file. Then:

Review translated strings in the Translations tab
Download your files as a ZIP from the Resource Files tab

Viewing strings in the Translations tab

Downloading the files in the Resource files tab

✅ You’ve successfully translated your PO file using AI translation!

What’s next?

Set up continuous localization so translations update automatically
Load your translations in WordPress
Need to translate more words? Activate Pay-As-You-Go — translate into unlimited languages, paying only for what you use

Automating PO File Translation

Once you see how PTC translates PO or POT files, you can automate the entire process so translations stay up-to-date as your code changes. PTC gives you two options:

Git Integration

Connect your GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket repository to PTC:

Select the repository and branches you want PTC to monitor.
Define the output paths for your .pot files.
When PTC detects changes, it automatically translates updated strings.
Translations are delivered back to your repository via merge request.

PTC API

Integrate translations into your CI/CD pipeline:

Use the PTC API to upload your .pot files automatically when your build pipeline generates them.
PTC translates the files and returns .po and .mo files in the API response.
Your CI system saves the translated files as artifacts or commits them back to your repository.

Loading Translations in WordPress

After downloading your translated .po and .mo files from PTC, you need to load them in your WordPress plugin or theme.

You have two options: bundle the translations with your plugin/theme, or import them to WordPress.org (if your project is hosted there).

Option 1

Bundle translations with your plugin or theme (recommended)

Place .po and .mo files in your /languages/ directory
Add load_plugin_textdomain() or load_theme_textdomain() calls to load the text domain (see the PHP commit and JavaScript commit in our demo plugin repository)

Option 2

Import translations to WordPress.org

Create a CLPTE (Cross-Locale Project Translation Editor) account on WordPress.org
Wait around 4-6 days for approval
Import the translated files to your plugin or theme’s translation project page

See our complete guide on loading WordPress translations for step-by-step instructions and comparisons of both options.

FAQ: POT and PO File Translation

Why aren’t my translations showing up in WordPress?

The most common cause is mismatched text domains. Your code, plugin header, file names, and load_plugin_textdomain() call must all use the exact same text domain.

Other common issues:
– .mo files aren’t in the correct directory.
– Missing load_plugin_textdomain() or load_theme_textdomain() call.
– For plugins/themes on WordPress.org: community translations are overriding your bundled translations.

For detailed troubleshooting steps and solutions to specific scenarios, see why your translations might not be showing.

Why are some of my strings not getting translated?

If text isn’t wrapped in a gettext function like __() or _e(), it won’t be extracted into your .pot file.

Hardcoded (won’t get translated):

echo 'Read more';

echo 'Read more';

Wrapped in gettext (will get translated):

PHP

echo __( 'Read more', 'your-plugin' );

echo __( 'Read more', 'your-plugin' );

How should I handle dynamic text like numbers or names?

Always use placeholders (%s, %d) instead of breaking sentences into pieces.

PHP

printf( __( 'You have %d new messages.', 'your-plugin' ), $count );

printf( __( 'You have %d new messages.', 'your-plugin' ), $count );

Using placeholders also prevents variables from being translated as text. PTC automatically detects and preserves placeholders during translation.

Learn more about how PTC handles placeholders.

When should I regenerate my POT file?

Whenever you add or change translatable strings in your code, regenerate the POT file so your translations stay up to date. If you set up automated translations through Git or CI/CD, PTC can detect changes to your POT file and automatically translate the updated strings.

How do I translate my readme.txt file?

Readme.txt files aren’t included in your .pot file, so you need to translate them separately using PTC’s Paste to translate feature. You can also use Paste to translate for emails, release notes, and other types of text that live outside your POT file.

Can I use PTC to translate other file formats besides PO files?

Yes. While this guide focuses on .po and .pot files for WordPress, PTC supports many other resource file formats. This includes .json, .yaml, .xcstrings, .xml, and many more.

See all supported resource file formats.