polylang-strings-options

Polylang Strings and Options

Use this skill when a plugin or classic theme has administrator-configured copy that should be translated through Polylang's Languages > Translations screen.

Do not confuse three layers:

Need	Use
Static developer strings in PHP	WordPress i18n: __(), _x(), etc.
Admin-configured single strings	pll_register_string() plus pll__() / pll_translate_string()
Admin-configured option arrays	PLL_Translate_Option

Guard and register strings

pll_register_string() exists in the public API, but the implementation only registers when PLL() is an admin object:

function myplugin_register_polylang_strings(): void {
    if ( ! function_exists( 'pll_register_string' ) ) {
        return;
    }

    pll_register_string(
        'myplugin_checkout_heading',
        get_option( 'myplugin_checkout_heading', 'Complete your booking' ),
        'My Plugin',
        false
    );
}
add_action( 'admin_init', 'myplugin_register_polylang_strings' );

Register in admin/settings context, not only on the frontend. If you call pll_register_string() only during frontend rendering, the string will not be added to the strings table.

Parameters:

pll_register_string( $name, $string, $context = 'Polylang', $multiline = false );

• $name is a stable internal label, not necessarily the displayed string.
• $string is the original source text.
• $context is the group shown in the strings table.
• $multiline controls textarea vs single-line input.

Polylang de-duplicates registered strings by md5( $string ) internally. If two different options use the same source text, the translation is shared.

Output translated strings

For the current language:

$heading = get_option( 'myplugin_checkout_heading', '' );

if ( function_exists( 'pll__' ) ) {
    $heading = pll__( $heading );
}

echo esc_html( $heading );

Prefer the escaped helpers where possible:

echo function_exists( 'pll_esc_html__' )
    ? pll_esc_html__( $heading )
    : esc_html( $heading );

printf(
    '<input placeholder="%s">',
    function_exists( 'pll_esc_attr__' ) ? pll_esc_attr__( $heading ) : esc_attr( $heading )
);