The translate mode propagates translated content to other language stores. Use it when content should be translated and remain language-specific.
At save time
- For non-container fields, writes only when the target value is empty.
- Uses machine translation when available.
- Small saves (below workload thresholds): machine translation runs synchronously during the request.
- Large saves (above thresholds): machine translation is queued and runs in the background after the source save completes.
- For container fields (
repeater,flexible_content,group,clone), keeps structure aligned across languages.
During import
- Copies source value to the default-language store only when the default-language value is empty.
- Queues machine-translation jobs when DeepL is available (always with first-use assistant; only above import workload thresholds with WP-CLI).
- Small WP-CLI imports below thresholds translate synchronously instead of queuing jobs.
- Queued jobs skip targets that already have a value.
- For container fields (
repeater,flexible_content,group,clone), keeps structure aligned across languages.
When to use
Use translate for content that should be manually translated and kept language-specific over time, such as headings, body text, and marketing copy. See Field translation overview for recommended settings across all modes.