Translate with Polylang
On sites where Polylang provides the languages, Fenómenus adds a translation panel to every menu item and keeps the shared facts aligned automatically.
What appears on the item screen
When Polylang is active, opening a menu item shows:
- Language tabs above the editor, one per language;
- a Translations panel containing, for each other language, a title field and the translatable fields for that menu type;
- an AI Content Generator panel, where the AI tools are available.
The current language's tab explains that this is the post's own language; the others carry the translation fields.
How a translation is created
Fill in the title for a language and save the item. Fenómenus then:
- creates the translated item if it does not exist;
- links it to the source as its translation;
- sets it to the same status as the source;
- stores the translated field values on it;
- keeps its category assignments aligned with the source, creating the matching translated category link where it can.
The title is what triggers creation. A language whose title is left empty gets no translated item — deliberately, so an accidental save does not fill the site with empty records.
What is kept in step automatically
| Behavior | Effect |
|---|---|
| Status changes from All items | Applied to the item and all its translations |
| Reordering on All items | The same position applied to every translation |
| Allergen assignments | Applied to every translation when the item is saved |
| Category assignments | Kept aligned when the item is saved from its screen |
The confirmation messages say so — publishing reports that the post and its translations were published.
What the admin lists show
All items and All categories work in the main language. You maintain one list, not one list per language, and reach translations from inside the item.
That is why a search returns one row per dish rather than one per language.
Which fields are translatable
Per menu type, and by design:
- Item menus — subtitle, description, long description; the à la carte menu adds the recommended-wine description.
- Tasting menus — subtitle, description, every block title and block content, and the footer note.
- Set menus — subtitle, description, block titles and the footer note.
Prices, allergens, images and dish selections are shared, not translated.
Duplicating is not translating
A duplicated item is an unrelated record in the same language. It is not linked to any translation and will drift out of step.
Always create translations from the item's translation panel.
When a translation is missing
Open the source item and look at the language tab. An empty title field means no translated record exists yet — fill it and save.
Category names
Categories are separate records and are translated as such. Translating the items does not translate their sections, and a menu whose dishes are in English under Spanish headings reads as unfinished.