Link a site written in more than one language
When your site has posts in more than one language, every link Silotree suggests or writes stays within a language, and no post is linked to its own translation. There is nothing to set up: the language of each post is read on every scan.
On a site with posts in more than one language, three rules hold for every new link:
- No link joins two posts in different languages. A German reader sent to an English post has been sent nowhere.
- No post links to its own translation. Your theme’s language switcher already does that.
- A post whose language Silotree could not tell gets no new links, in or out, because a wrong guess would break the first rule.
On a site in one language, posts link as they always have.
Steps
Run a scan
Every scan works out each post’s language from what the site says: the language WPML or Polylang gives it, the page’s own language tag, or a language folder or subdomain such as
/de/orde.yoursite.com. Only when none of those say does it read the text itself. Translations of the same post are paired up from the hreflang links between them. Nothing needs setting up, see run your first scan.Check the languages Silotree found in Advanced
Open Advanced at the foot of the sidebar. One sentence there names the languages the last scan found, with how many posts in each, for example This site has posts in English (412) and German (380). Links stay within each language. It also says how many posts it couldn’t place, and which languages get word-for-word matching.
Review links as usual
Work through Links to add as usual. Every link there already follows the rules. Link wording is tuned for English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese; posts in other languages still get links within their language, marked as a lower confidence match.
In WordPress, with WPML or Polylang, the editor sidebar, the publish prompt and keyword rules follow the same rules, and the plugin refuses a link that would join two languages.
What you should see
Each language on your site is linked as if it were its own site: links between posts readers can actually read, and none that send them to a language switcher’s job.
If it doesn’t work
- “We couldn't tell the language of 12 posts”
Those posts don’t say their language, and the site has more than one. Set the language in WPML or Polylang, or make sure the theme prints the page’s language tag, then scan again.
- “This link would join posts in different languages”
The plugin found the two posts are in different languages in WPML or Polylang, and refused the link. Nothing was changed. See a link didn’t land for every other reason a link can be refused.
- A post is shown in the wrong language
Check the language WPML or Polylang gives it, and the language tag on the published page. The next scan reads them again.
Questions
Which multilingual plugins does it work with?
Any setup that says which language a page is in: WPML, Polylang and TranslatePress, the page’s own language tag, or language folders and subdomains such as /de/ or de.yoursite.com. Translations are paired up from the hreflang links between them.
Which languages are suggestions tuned for?
English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese each have their own word lists and stemming. Posts in other languages still get suggestions, within their own language, marked lower confidence because they are matched word for word.
Does the WordPress plugin follow the same rule?
Yes, with WPML or Polylang. The editor sidebar, the publish prompt and keyword rules only offer posts in the same language, and the plugin refuses a link that would join two languages.