On your site

The language switcher

Add a switcher with a builder element or shortcode, and manage its default settings on one screen.

Where you can place it

You can add the same switcher in several ways: a builder element, a shortcode or a menu item. You can also float it in a corner of every page.

Search your builder’s element list for “WPGlotty Language switcher”. It has the same name in every supported builder.

The block editor: the WPGlotty Language switcher block
Breakdance, Bricks, Divi 4, Divi 5, Elementor and WPBakery: a WPGlotty element with every setting in the builder’s panel
Any other builder: the shortcode [wpglotty_switcher]
A menu: add the languages under Appearance → Menus
Floating: place it in a screen corner and turn it on or off with one setting

A language switcher in the site header.

Set it once, on the Switcher tab

Set your defaults under Settings → Switcher. The plain [wpglotty_switcher], menu items and floating switcher use these settings. Change a style or colour here and these switchers update across your site, with no pages to edit.

The live preview shows your changes before you save. The screen also gives you a shortcode to copy and paste.

To make one switcher look different, add settings as attributes to its shortcode. These override the defaults on the tab. Use them only where you need a different design, because that switcher stops following later changes to those defaults.

The Switcher tab with a live switcher at the top, the shortcode under it and the settings below. — The preview at the top updates as you change each setting.

In a page builder

The builder element uses the same setting names in the builder’s own panel. It shows only settings that apply to your chosen style. Choose the sliding switch to see its skins, or a modal to see its panel settings.

The builder canvas shows the real switcher, with the same animation visitors see. Click a language to preview it without leaving the page you are designing.

The element selected in a page builder, with its settings in the panel and the switcher drawn in the canvas. — The same settings as the shortcode, in your builder’s panel.

Check which builders are installed

WPGlotty → Integrations lists builders with a WPGlotty element and shows which are installed on your site. Check here to see whether to use an element or the shortcode.

The Integrations screen, listing the builders and whether this site has them.

How it looks

Choose from 11 styles. Dropdown, modal and off-canvas styles open a panel when clicked. The sliding switch has four skins and an indicator that moves to your chosen language. List and inline styles use plain links. The plain text style shows only language names.

Native names work best: a French visitor looks for “Français”, not “French”. Flags stand for countries, not languages.

Eleven switchers side by side: a dropdown, four sliding-switch skins, a horizontal and a vertical list, inline, plain text, a modal trigger and an off-canvas trigger. — Every style, with the settings left at their defaults.

A site with exactly two languages

Two languages do not need a menu. The toggle shows the other language and nothing else: one click, no list, no panel. It can be a link, a button or a small switch.

You can choose the toggle only when your site has exactly two active languages. With more languages, use a style that lists them.

The toggle style as a link, as a button and as a switch, on a site with English and French.

Without touching a page

One setting turns on the floating switcher, which then appears on every page without you editing any of them. Choose any of the four corners and set its distance from the edge. You can also hide it on mobile or desktop.

A page with the switcher floating in the bottom right corner.

Styling it to match the site

You can style the switcher without writing a stylesheet. Set text and background colours for normal, hover and current-language states. Adjust the dropdown panel, modal backdrop and focus ring. Choose the font, size, weight, letter spacing and capitalisation. Set borders, corner radius, shadows, padding, gaps, width and alignment. Change the size and roundness of flags. You can also choose how panels open, how long they take and how the sliding switch moves.

Choose a preset to set the shape, spacing and movement together: compact, roomy, fully round, square or springy. Presets leave colours unchanged, and you can adjust any setting afterwards.

A toggle has three separate colour settings: the track, the knob and the other language.

Which languages, and in what order

Each switcher has an on/off setting for every language. Turn one off to hide it from that switcher. The language remains available on your site.

You can give the switcher its own order, different from the one on the Languages screen, and give each language your own label. You can also hide the whole switcher on mobile or desktop.

[wpglotty_switcher style="list-horizontal" labels="flag+native"
    order="nl,de,fr" hide_languages="en"
    gap="18px" radius="9px" hide_on="mobile"]

Where it sends people

The switcher links to the same page in the other language. If that version is missing, it links to that language’s home page rather than showing a 404. This can happen with an untranslated post or an excluded page.

WPGlotty translates whole sites, so this fallback is rarely needed. It handles cases where content was deliberately excluded before you added a language.