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Translation

LearnDash is in English and has user-donated translations. Strings in the LearnDash codebase are translatable.

You can use free software like PoEdit to create and modify LearnDash translation files for your language. Or a free WordPress plugin like Loco Translate.

Current Translations #

NOTE: As the translations are user-donated, they may not be 100% complete for your desired language.

  • Arabic (ar)
  • Chinese (zh_CN)
  • Danish (da_DK)
  • Dutch / Nederland (nl_NL)
  • French (Canada) (fr_CA)
  • French (France) (fr_FR)
  • German (de_DE)
  • Hebrew (he_IL)
  • Italian (it_IT)
  • Polish (pl_PL)
  • Portuguese (Brazil) (pt_BR)
  • Russian (ru_RU)
  • Spanish (Spain) (es_ES)
  • Swedish (sv_SE)

Right-to-left (RTL) languages are supported.

Adding (or Modifying) a Translation #

If you are creating a new translation, you can reference this helpful list of WP Locale Codes for file naming conventions.

If you need to update a translation, you can do so by following these steps:

  1. Navigate to LEARNDASH LMS > SETTINGS > TRANSLATIONS
  2. Download the latest POT file by clicking the POT download button (it will automatically download)
  3. Download the .po file by clicking the PO download button (it will open in a new tab)
  4. Right-click & save the file
  5. Open the .po file with PoEdit
  6. Navigate to CATALOG > UPDATE FROM POT and select the downloaded POT file in step 2
  7. Make your additions and/or modifications to the translation file
  8. Save the .po file
  9. Regenerate the new .mo file via FILE > COMPILE TO MO
  10. Using an FTP program or File Manager, add your new .mo and .po files to the /wp-content/languages/plugins/ folder

NOTE: Verify that the file is named correctly and in the proper directory. If either of these is incorrect, you will encounter issues with the translation and upload.

LearnDash admin translation settings

Common Issues #

Not Updating from Latest POT File #

If you are translating strings such as “Next Lesson” and notice that the translation is not reflected on your site, it is because you are translating from an out-of-date .pot file.

The string in the LearnDash codebase is actually “Next %s”, because the %s acts as a placeholder for your Custom Label (even if you do not use Custom Labels).

This may also be why you notice that all of a sudden, you have “lost” translations of strings like “Next Lesson” and “Previous Course”, as well as other strings that contain a custom label. However, the translation is not necessarily lost. It is no longer used because the codebase is now using placeholders in those strings, not the literal words such as Lesson or Course.

To resolve, download the latest POT (step #2), then follow steps 6-10 to update from the latest POT, add translations for the new strings as needed, and upload your new .mo/.po files to the right place.

Translations Set to “Needs Work” #

Be mindful of “Needs Work” settings on individual translations. This is typically indicated by an orange color and an orange toggle after selecting the individual translation in poEdit.

When “Needs Work” is set on a translation, you are indicating to WordPress that you are unsure whether this is the correct translation. Therefore, WordPress does not display this translation on your site because it thinks the translation “Needs Work” as per your instructions.

To resolve, toggle the “Needs Work” setting off. It should resemble the screenshot below.

Then, save your new .mo/.po files and upload as per step 10 in the above documentation.

Unexpected Locale #

WordPress translations may be localized to a particular region. For example, es_ES would be Spanish in Spain, and es_MX would be Spanish in Mexico.

As far as WordPress is concerned, these are totally different languages (technically, referred to as “localizations”).

If your WordPress site localization is set to es_MX, then that setting will not pull any information from your es_ES translation files (even though to you, the differences in language may be minor).

Incorrect Folder #

Please ensure that the LearnDash translation files are located in the folder path below, with file names that include the locale code. This should prevent your translation file from being overwritten after a LearnDash software update. For example:

  • /wp-content/languages/plugins/learndash-es_ES.po
  • /wp-content/languages/plugins/learndash-es_ES.mo

It is not a good idea to store your customized translation files in the /wp-content/plugins/sfwd-lms/languages/ directory, as they may be overwritten in the event of a plugin update.

Incorrect File Name #

This section highlights the correct file name format, as seen in the above “Incorrect Folder” issue.

learndash[hyphen][locale code, underscores used as separators].po

Please ensure your hyphens and underscores are in the right places. This is correct:

  • learndash-es_ES.po

These are not:

  • learndash_es_ES.po (underscore instead of hyphen is incorrectly placed between learndash and es_ES).
  • learndash-es-ES.po (hyphen instead of underscore is incorrectly placed between es and ES).

The .po and .mo files should be identically named, except for the file extension.

Not Accounting for All Contexts #

Translating a word once does not necessarily change the word in all strings in which that word occurs.

Words used in different contexts may be the same in your language. For example, the word “quiz” can serve as both a verb and a noun in English.

Understand that other languages may use different words depending on the context, and your translation files will need to account for that on a string-by-string basis.

PoEdit and Loco Translate both have search features to ensure that you account for every instance of a word in the translation files.

Not Considering Strings from Third-Party Code #

Not every translatable string displayed on a LearnDash-related page, such as a page containing a Course Grid or Login Form, originates from the LearnDash codebase. Therefore, you may not be able to find the word you need to translate in the LearnDash file source text.

Or maybe you do, however, the string output is coincidentally duplicated in third-party code where it is actually being output.

This is especially common with WordPress themes built with LearnDash in mind, such as BuddyBoss, that override template files (or other third-party addons for LearnDash).

For example, the LearnDash source text includes the string “Incorrect username or password. Please try again.”

You change that string in your LearnDash .po file, but notice it is not reflected on your site. Other parts of your LearnDash translation are working as intended.

This may be because the string is actually output by third-party code, and is coincidentally using the same string. You would need to translate it separately from the LearnDash translations.

Updated on October 15, 2025