load_plugin_textdomain( string $domain, string|false $deprecated = false, string|false $plugin_rel_path = false ): bool

User Contributed Notes

1. Skip to note 9 content

   Fahad Alduraibi 10 years ago

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   Loading the plugin translations should not be done during plugins_loaded action since that is too early and prevent other language related plugins from correctly hooking up with load_textdomain() function and doing whatever they want to do.
   Calling load_plugin_textdomain() should be delayed until init action.

   add_action( 'init', 'wpdocs_load_textdomain' );
    
   /**
    * Load plugin textdomain.
    */
   function wpdocs_load_textdomain() {
     load_plugin_textdomain( 'wpdocs_textdomain', false, dirname( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) ) . '/languages' ); 
   }

   • I’ve found the after_setup_theme can work better. The default WordPress themes use this hook to load the theme textdomains and some plugin init actions require the translations to be in place and load before the default priority 10.

     joost de keijzer 4 years ago
   • Loading plugin textdomain on init hook doesn’t work for all the strings. For example, translations for admin menu items will not be loaded, while later strings will be translated.

     Viktor 3 years ago
   • “The text domain name must use dashes and not underscores, be lower case, and have no spaces.”

     Gabriel Reguly 2 years ago
   • I think, The plugins_loaded hook is more appropriate than the init hook for loading translations because it ensures that all plugins are fully loaded before your plugin’s text domain is registered.

     FARAZFRANK 1 year ago
2. Skip to note 10 content

   Pablo Pacheco 6 years ago

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   Just a note,

   load_plugin_textdomain() will try to load the mo file firstly from:
   WP_LANG_DIR . ‘/plugins/’ . $mofile

   Only if it is not able to it will load it from WP_PLUGIN_DIR folder
3. Skip to note 11 content

   Gabriel Reguly 2 years ago

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   “The text domain name must use dashes and not underscores, be lower case, and have no spaces.”

   Source: https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/internationalization/how-to-internationalize-your-plugin/

   So use ‘wpdocs-textdomain’ instead of ‘wpdocs_textdomain’, e.g.
   
load_plugin_textdomain( 'wpdocs-textdomain', false, dirname( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) ) . '/languages' );

4. Skip to note 12 content

   coderalamin 2 months ago

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   load_plugin_textdomain() is no longer necessary for plugins hosted on WordPress.org. Since WordPress 4.6, translations are automatically loaded from the languages directory, and since 6.7, a just-in-time loading system is used. Calling this function manually is now discouraged. It’s recommended to just use proper text domains in your __() , _e() , and other translation functions, and place .mo files in the standard plugin languages folder.
5. Skip to note 13 content

   Deepak Rajpal 12 months ago

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   WordPress 6.7.0 has started showing following notice if load_plugin_textdomain is loaded with plugins_loaded hook.

   PHP Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the xyz-plugin/theme domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later.

   As mentioned in this documentation/notes, use init hook instead of plugins_loaded to fix it.

   Example:

   function wpdocs_init() {
       load_plugin_textdomain( 'wpdocs-textdomain', false, dirname( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) ) . '/languages' ); 
   }
   add_action( 'plugins_loaded', 'wpdocs_init' );
6. Skip to note 14 content

   Mark Westguard 12 months ago

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   If you are using the widgets_init hook in a plugin, I’d suggest setting the priority to 0 when using add_action to run the load_plugin_textdomain function. For example:

   add_action( 'init', 'my_load_plugin_textdomain_function', 0 );

   The reason for this is that the widgets_init action runs as a result of a priority 1 init hook. In your extended WP_Widget class you might use l10n functions such as __() to label or describe the widget. This therefore needs to happen after load_plugin_textdomain is called.

   Use of __() prior to using the load_plugin_textdomain function will result in subsequent translations failing for that registered domain.
7. Skip to note 15 content

   Binsaifullah 5 years ago

   You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: -7You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

   Plugin Text domain load

   function my_plugin_init() {
       load_plugin_textdomain( 'my-textdomain', false, dirname( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) ) . '/languages' ); 
   }
   add_action( 'plugins_loaded', 'my_plugin_init' );

   • See note by Fahad Alduraibi above: You should load plugin textdomains during the init action (and not plugins_loaded).

     Philipp Stracker 5 years ago
8. Skip to note 16 content

   FARAZFRANK 1 year ago

   You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: -11You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

   
/**
* Load plugin textdomain.
*/
function load_translation() {
load_plugin_textdomain( 'your-plugin-textdomain', false, dirname( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) ) . '/languages' );
}
add_action( 'plugins_loaded', 'load_translation' );


   The plugins_loaded hook is more appropriate than the init hook for loading translations because it ensures that all plugins are fully loaded before your plugin’s text domain is registered. This avoids potential issues with translation files being loaded too early.

   plugins_loaded hook: This hook fires after all active plugins have been loaded. It’s the recommended place for loading the text domain since all necessary plugin files will be available by then.

   init hook: While it can work, it’s fired earlier than plugins_loaded, and loading the text domain here may result in translations not being fully registered, especially if your plugin depends on other plugins being loaded.

   Therefore, using plugins_loaded is the best practice for ensuring reliable translation loading.

   • It’s exactly the opposite. plugins_loaded is before init and is too early for loading translations.

     Pascal Birchler 1 year ago
   • The init hook is running after the plugins_loaded hook! With WordPress 6.7, it is recommended to use init hook, as plugins_loaded will give an error: “PHP Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the example-textdomain domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later.”

     Surbma 12 months ago
   • Using plugins_loaded instead of init will now give you a warning. Don’t use it!

     JanLukas 11 months ago