load_theme_textdomain( string $domain, string|false $path = false ): bool

Loads the theme’s translated strings.

Description

If the current locale exists as a .mo file in the theme’s root directory, it will be included in the translated strings by the $domain.

The .mo files must be named based on the locale exactly.

Parameters

$domainstringrequired: Text domain. Unique identifier for retrieving translated strings.
$pathstring|falseoptional: Path to the directory containing the .mo file.

Default:false

Return

bool True when textdomain is successfully loaded, false otherwise.

Source

function load_theme_textdomain( $domain, $path = false ) {
	/** @var WP_Textdomain_Registry $wp_textdomain_registry */
	/** @var array<string, WP_Translations|NOOP_Translations> $l10n */
	global $wp_textdomain_registry, $l10n;

	if ( ! is_string( $domain ) ) {
		return false;
	}

	if ( ! $path ) {
		$path = get_template_directory();
	}

	$wp_textdomain_registry->set_custom_path( $domain, $path );

	// If just-in-time loading was triggered before, reset the entry so it can be tried again.
	if ( isset( $l10n[ $domain ] ) && $l10n[ $domain ] instanceof NOOP_Translations ) {
		unset( $l10n[ $domain ] );
	}

	return true;
}

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Uses	Description
WP_Textdomain_Registry::set_custom_path()`wp-includes/class-wp-textdomain-registry.php`	Sets the custom path to the plugin’s/theme’s languages directory.
get_template_directory()`wp-includes/theme.php`	Retrieves template directory path for the active theme.

Used by	Description
load_child_theme_textdomain()`wp-includes/l10n.php`	Loads the child theme’s translated strings.
WP_Theme::load_textdomain()`wp-includes/class-wp-theme.php`	Loads the theme’s textdomain.

Changelog

Version	Description
6.7.0	Translations are no longer immediately loaded, but handed off to the just-in-time loading mechanism.
4.6.0	The function now tries to load the .mo file from the languages directory first.
1.5.0	Introduced.

User Contributed Notes

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Codex 11 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 9You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
1st example
The load_theme_textdomain() function should generally be called from within the after_setup_theme action hook.
```
add_action('after_setup_theme', 'wpdocs_theme_setup');

/**
 * Load translations for wpdocs_theme
 */
function wpdocs_theme_setup(){
    load_theme_textdomain('wpdocs_theme', get_template_directory() . '/languages');
}
```
The .mo files must use language-only filenames, like languages/de_DE.mo in your theme directory.

Unlike plugin language files, a name like my_theme-de_DE.mo will NOT work. Although plugin language files allow you to specify the text-domain in the filename, this will NOT work with themes. Language files for themes should include the language shortcut ONLY.
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JanLukas 11 months ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 6You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

Since WordPress 6.7 this can only be called on init or later.

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Codex 11 years ago

2nd example
you can use this example if you wish to switch theme language using a variable passed within the URL, for example to load the Tamazikht language, your URL would look like; www.example.com/?l=tz_MA, this will search for a .mo file with name tz_MA.mo in the language directory inside your theme.

// CHANGE LOCAL LANGUAGE
// must be called before load_theme_textdomain()

add_filter( 'locale', 'wpdocs_theme_localized' );

/**
 * Switch to locale given as query parameter l, if present
 */
function wpdocs_theme_localized( $locale )
{
	if ( isset( $_GET['l'] ) )
	{
		return sanitize_key( $_GET['l'] );
	}

	return $locale;
}

// SET THEME LANGUAGES DIRECTORY
// Theme translations can be filed in the my_theme/languages/ directory
// WordPress translations can be filed in the wp-content/languages/ directory
load_theme_textdomain( 'wpdocs_theme_textdomain', get_template_directory().'/languages' );

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