The Settings page is where you configure the global behavior of WPResidence Translate. Most of these options are set once during initial setup and never touched again. This article explains every field on the screen in plain English so you can make informed choices while you build a multi-language real estate website.
Where to Find It
In wp-admin go to WPEstate Translate > Settings. The page is gated by the Manage Options capability, so only administrators can access it.
The page is split into two forms:
- The main Translation Settings card, where you edit configuration.
- The Reset Translation Settings card at the bottom, for starting over.
- A Delete Translations card for bulk removing translated content (covered in the Cache Purge & Reset Tools article).
Default Language
A dropdown populated with every language currently active in WPEstate Translate > Languages. The language you pick here is used for:
- New content you create. A post saved without a language assignment is treated as being in the default language.
- Fallback display. If a visitor requests a translation that does not yet exist, the site falls back to this language.
- The language whose posts are treated as “originals” in the translation linking table.
You should almost always make your site’s primary editing language the default. Changing it later is possible, but it re-labels existing originals — expect to review your translation links afterwards.
URL Strategy
Controls how translated URLs are structured. WPResidence Translate currently supports a single strategy:
| Strategy | Example URL | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Subdirectory | example.com/fr/ |
Each non-default language lives under a folder-like prefix. Default language is served at the site root. |
The radio button is present for future expansion (subdomain and query-parameter strategies), but subdirectory is the only supported mode today. The sanitizer locks the saved value to subdirectory.
Media Synchronization
A single checkbox: Clone attachments metadata when duplicating content.
- Checked (default) — when you create a translation of a post, its featured image and attached media references are cloned to the new language variant, so the translated post shows the same pictures without you having to re-upload them.
- Unchecked — media is not cloned automatically. Useful if you want each language variant to pick its own gallery and featured image.
For real estate sites this is almost always kept on — property photos are identical across languages.
Elementor & Shortcodes
A checkbox: Enable compatibility layer for Elementor widgets and WPResidence shortcodes.
With this enabled, the plugin remaps widget and shortcode identifiers across language variants so a translated page renders the correct translated resource. For example, a property search form placed on your homepage keeps working when the page is viewed in French — it quietly resolves the French variant of the form definition.
Keep this on unless you have a specific reason to disable it; turning it off usually results in translated pages showing English source content inside widgets.
Menu Language Dropdown
If your theme registers any navigation menu locations (WPResidence registers several — primary, footer, mobile, etc.), you will see a grid with one row per menu location and a Position dropdown. Pick where the language switcher appears inside each menu:
- No dropdown — do not inject a language switcher into this menu.
- Before menu items — language dropdown appears as the first item.
- After menu items — language dropdown appears as the last item.
If the theme has no registered menu locations, a short description message appears in place of the grid.
Save Settings
Click Save Settings at the bottom of the main card to persist your choices. You will see a green success bar at the top of the page when the save succeeds. Any validation issues are reported in a red bar below the page title.
The Reset Section
At the bottom of the page you will see a secondary card: Reset Translation Settings. This is a destructive action — it clears plugin data, theme option translations, and saved settings, while keeping your actual translated posts. Always read the confirmation dialog before clicking.
Full details are in the companion Cache Purge & Reset Tools article.
The Delete Translations Section
Directly below the reset card, you will also find a Delete Translations area with two sub-sections:
- Delete Translated Posts — pick post types (properties, posts, pages, agents, etc.), pick a non-default language, and permanently delete the translated copies.
- Delete Translated Terms — pick taxonomies, pick a non-default language, and remove translated terms.
Originals in the default language are never affected by these two buttons. Again, the Cache Purge & Reset Tools article covers the full workflow, including how the batch delete progress bar works.
Other Settings Screens You Might Expect Here
A few settings live on their own dedicated pages rather than the main Settings screen:
| What you are looking for | Where it lives |
|---|---|
| Add/remove languages, set default | WPEstate Translate > Languages |
| Automatic translation provider & API keys | WPEstate Translate > Automatic Translation |
| Translatable taxonomies | WPEstate Translate > Taxonomy Translation |
| Per-field custom meta rules | WPEstate Translate > Custom Field Rules |
| Menu alignment across languages | WPEstate Translate > Menu Synchronization |
Tips for Multilingual Real Estate Sites
- Start with Media Synchronization and Elementor & Shortcodes enabled. Turn them off only if you run into a specific integration issue.
- Pick the default language of your editorial team, not the target audience language. Translations branch off from the default, so editors should be fluent in it.
- Set the Menu Language Dropdown on your primary header menu first — that is the most visible switcher for visitors.
What To Read Next
- Managing Languages — pick which languages your site speaks.
- Automatic Translation — configure OpenAI, Google, DeepL, or Azure keys.
- Cache Purge & Reset Tools — the admin-side maintenance controls.
For a big-picture look at the feature set, see WPResidence’s multi-language real estate website page.