Test Polylang

[jonathanbossenger]

Front-end requirements:

• Language selector does not show as country flags. (Many countries speak multiple languages, so describing a language with a flag should be avoided.)
• Languages can be changed without needing to log in to one's WordPress.org account.
• Once a language is selected, it is applied globally.
• Content of the selected language is shown above non-translated content.
• English content is still shown where translations don't exist.

Back-end requirements:

• Translators do not have permission to create or publish new content.
• Translators have permission to both translate any content, and review content translated by others.
• A flow can be implemented where translations must be approved (reviewed) before published.
• Sensei content types can be translated in the same way as native post types.
• Taxonomies can be translated.
• Translated content is indexed and searchable by Jetpack Search.

[jonathanbossenger]

@cynthianorman feel free to leave your testing feedback here.

[cynthianorman]

Successfully installed on Learn WordPress local dev env
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FhK_aov9Ut8Plex77k8LbDFTWdIGs90A/view?usp=drive_link

[cynthianorman]

Consider upgrading at some point to Pro
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jj_F4M59J4P52NTM1bk4bEKFO-WFLRDs/view?usp=drive_link

[cynthianorman]

We can select the languages we want to translate pages and posts to
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1npTZ3t9k9rWnaFMiVKHordb8YcKumMhF/view?usp=drive_link

Note that showing the flag in the front end is optional

[cynthianorman]

You can create translated menus
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pvQYi1QSD5u3pTduH3G1K1rxpinK_P5v/view?usp=drive_link

[cynthianorman]

We assign a language to a page or post
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QLN53RIfDCOAZlsqHBYE0NWbdLIJ82c-/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y92lEZv_rpNSI6BZy_s34wCuoel8A8uD/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HT_XT9a9XGh7g5w6mDBXNrMRO4AlUqNQ/view?usp=drive_link

Note, we are able to do the same thing with courses
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VegkHlSONpCsF5Oh6DfQVu9f4pSDn6ex/view?usp=drive_link

[cynthianorman]

It's important to know that we essentially build a separate set of pages/posts/taxonomies and corresponding menu for each language.

For this reason, we would need to create the copied English page/post and designate it as French (for example) otherwise I don't believe this will work out for us. In other words, the copied English page/post would act as a placeholder until a translator would contribute the translation.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZLAMfGTc4nOa6Cl9Wdgo5BFpZEiBf4KR/view?usp=sharing

[jonathanbossenger]

@cynthianorman do you think you'd be able to update this issue with a summary of your findings, in a similar way as the WPML test?

Edit, I've prepared the list in the comment below, so you just need to mark off the relevant items.

This will allow me to prepare a summary comparison table of our test findings for the training team meeting on Thursday.

[jonathanbossenger]

Front-end requirements:

• Language selector does not show as country flags. (Many countries speak multiple languages, so describing a language with a flag should be avoided.)
• Languages can be changed without needing to log in to one's WordPress.org account.
• Once a language is selected, it is applied globally.
• Content of the selected language is shown above non-translated content.
• English content is still shown where translations don't exist.

Back-end requirements:

• Translators do not have permission to create or publish new content.
• Translators have permission to both translate any content, and review content translated by others.
• A flow can be implemented where translations must be approved (reviewed) before published.
• Sensei content types can be translated in the same way as native post types.
• Taxonomies can be translated.
• Translated content is indexed and searchable by Jetpack Search.

[cynthianorman]

@cynthianorman do you think you'd be able to update this issue with a summary of your findings, in a similar way as the WPML test?

Edit, I've prepared the list in the comment below, so you just need to mark off the relevant items.

This will allow me to prepare a summary comparison table of our test findings for the training team meeting on Thursday.

ok @jonathanbossenger done

[jonathanbossenger]

Perfect, thank you so much!

[jonathanbossenger]

@sebastienserre I have been testing PolyLang this week, and I have encountered a blocker that I hope you can help resolve.

Learn.WordPress.org uses Sensei LMS to manage our course content: https://wordpress.org/plugins/sensei-lms/

Sensei allows you to create course, and then create modules within the course and lessons within the modules:

I am then able to navigate to individual lessons, and use the PolyLang feature to create different language versions of the individual lessons successfully:

However, as soon as I assign the language and link the translated version of a lesson to the English one, the relationship between the module and the lesson is broken. If I navigate back to the course edit screen, the translated lesson does not appear anymore in the module.

Are you able to assist in determining why this is happening?

[sebastienserre]

Hello @jonathanbossenger Here is a quick video where I show you What I'have found. I'm not used to use Sensei and at helpdesk we do not have so much request for this plugin, so I hope I'm matching your request.
https://www.loom.com/share/058116fd5b204318bf3d730f8c1b5b71

The "course" post meta seems to be synchronized between the same lesson in different language. This is due to a WPML compatibility because Polylang is compatible with the WPML API to understand plugin & theme compatibility made for this plugin.
WPML API in Polylang

To stop this synchronization, you can create a wp-content/polylang/wpml-config.xml file containing

<wpml-config>
    <custom-fields>
        <custom-field action="ignore">_lesson_course</custom-field>
    </custom-fields>
</wpml-config>

If some others post_meta needs to be ignored, then _lesson_course is the meta name.
https://polylang.pro/doc/the-wpml-config-xml-file/

Of course, what is done thanks to the wpml-config.xml file can also be done in PHP if the wp.org maintainers prefer.

[jonathanbossenger]

Hey @sebastienserre, no problem at all; I'm not used to PolyLang, so we're all figuring this out together. 😁

The "course" post meta seems to be synchronized between the same lesson in different language

That does seem to be correct, so I will test your suggestion and report back with my findings.

[sebastienserre]

The initial sync is made by the Sensei LMS wpml-config.xml available at their root https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/sensei-lms/trunk/wpml-config.xml

You can see lots of copied "custom fields" some other post metas are sync and may "break" your test. Adding some lines with ignore instead of copy should help. In case of doubts, I'm available.

Like WordPress with a child theme, Polylang will read first the plugin root wpml-config.xml file, then the parent theme one (if exists), then the child theme one, then check in mu-plugins folder and finally wp-content/polylang

[jonathanbossenger]

Hello @sebastienserre. With the suggested wpml-config.xml config in place, I am still experiencing the problem.

I have created a screen recording of what I am seeing, I hope this will help you understand what I'm experiencing.

2024-10-02.15-30-25.mp4

[jonathanbossenger]

Hi @sebastienserre I wanted to follow up here, have you been able to look into this?

Thanks

[sebastienserre]

Hello @jonathanbossenger
I'm away a few days, I will test and answer quickly

[jonathanbossenger]

@sebastienserre not a problem thanks for letting me know, I just wanted to make sure you got the message.

[jonathanbossenger]

I'm happy to do that if that works best for everyone involved.

[sebastienserre]

Hello,

I'm going to see with Polylang's founder if it's reasonable to expose our Pro plugin (Unique surce of revenue for our company) in a public Github repository.

Regards

[jonathanbossenger]

@sebastienserre it might be helpful here to confirm if Learn actually needs the pro version of the plugin.

As far as I can tell, all we need to be able to do is create translated versions of courses, modules, and lessons with support for a language switcher. Correct me if I am wrong, but this is part of the core plugin available on the .org directory.

[sebastienserre]

@jonathanbossenger Site Editor, block editor is managed by Polylang pro, not Polylang.
I've checked internally and this is OK to versioned Polylang Pro. If it's easier for every one, it's OK for us.

[adamwoodnz]

block editor is managed by Polylang pro, not Polylang

Sorry, but to be clear; we use the block editor for Courses and Lessons, so does that mean we need Pro?

I didn't quite appreciate that we would be open sourcing your Pro code with this approach 🤦 Thanks for checking, and making this possible.

Dion is currently on leave, so I'd like to await his return and opinion on this.

[sebastienserre]

Yes you need Polylang Pro.
In a WordPress world, the code is GPL. What we're selling is my job which is support :).
I spoke today with my manager (https://github.com/Chouby) who is the Polylang founder. There's no problem, Polylang Pro is already available on some public GH

[jonathanbossenger]

Thanks for checking and sharing the update @sebastienserre.

@adamwoodnz I will create the PR this week and ping you here once it's ready.

[dd32]

This would mean it wouldn't be available for other .org sites, only Learn, which might be desirable. @dd32 what do you think?

Learn is deployed into the same network that all other WordPress.org sites are in, so the plugin would be available to them, just not activated.

The main reason to include the Pro source in the GitHub repo is if you need it for local development sites of Learn, otherwise we can safely deploy it straight to WordPress.org without it going through this repo. That's why Sensei Pro is included AFAIK, because it was needed for local development and the free version didn't provide the same experience.

If you can share the code with me when you've got it, I can run it against the internal plugins tooling to ensure that no issues are flagged.

[dd32]

If you can share the code with me when you've got it, I can run it against the internal plugins tooling to ensure that no issues are flagged.

Just noting that I've run the latest version of Polylang Pro 3.6.5 through the scanners I have access to, and nothing is being flagged as needing extra review, so I consider this good to deploy.

[adamwoodnz]

@jonathanbossenger if you could proceed with the PR I can add any necessary tooling changes for deployment, thanks all.

[jonathanbossenger]

Thanks, everyone. I'll create the PR and tag @adamwoodnz for the review.

[jonathanbossenger]

Adding a note that we need to add the wpml-config.xml to the wporg-learn-2024 theme with the following content, once the plugin is merged.

<wpml-config>
    <custom-fields>
        <custom-field action="ignore">_lesson_course</custom-field>
    </custom-fields>
</wpml-config>

[jonathanbossenger]

@adamwoodnz created #3049 to merge the Polylang Pro code.

I'll DM you the training team canvas with the logins.

[adamwoodnz]

Adding a note that we need to add the wpml-config.xml to the wporg-learn-2024 theme with the following content, once the plugin is merged.

<wpml-config>
    <custom-fields>
        <custom-field action="ignore">_lesson_course</custom-field>
    </custom-fields>
</wpml-config>

Still need to do this, and test on https://learn.wordpress.org/test/

[adamwoodnz]

The plugin is activated on the test site with 2 languages: https://learn.wordpress.org/test/wp-admin/admin.php?page=mlang

Have a play and let me know what further code changes we need 🙂

cc @kaitohm

[kaitohm]

Thanks, will look into this 👀

[jonathanbossenger]

Thanks @adamwoodnz

@kaitohm when you're testing this, this video includes the process I followed to translate content.

I will also make a point to look into this later this week.