How to Change WordPress Language

Change the site language from Settings, General

WordPress changes language in one screen: Settings, then General, then Site Language. Pick हिन्दी or another language, save, and WordPress downloads that language pack and reloads the dashboard in it. The interface turns Hindi first; theme and plugin text follows only where a translation exists.

1. Log in to wp-admin and open Settings, then General.
2. Find Site Language near the bottom of the page.
3. Choose हिन्दी (Hindi) from the list, or type to filter it.
4. Select Save Changes. WordPress fetches the language pack from wordpress.org if it is not already on the server.
5. Reload any admin page. You know it worked when the left menu reads डैशबोर्ड, पोस्ट and मीडिया instead of Dashboard, Posts and Media.

Two versions matter here. WordPress 4.1 and later can install language packs straight from this screen; 4.0 let you choose a language during installation. If the list is empty or the save fails, the server cannot reach wordpress.org, and that is a hosting-side check.

Set a different admin language for one user

Since WordPress 4.7, each account carries its own dashboard language. Open Users, then Profile, scroll to Personal Options, and change Language. Leave it on Site Default unless the person wants something else.

This is the setting to use when an editor reads Hindi but the site is in English. Their menus change and the front end does not. An agency handing over a site often leaves the owner's profile on Hindi while the public pages stay English.

Hindi is a language pack, not a translation of your content

The Site Language setting translates the strings WordPress itself ships: menus, buttons, settings labels and error messages. It does not touch posts, pages or product descriptions. A site with English content reads English to a visitor no matter which language the dashboard uses.

That surprises people who expect a switch to Hindi to translate the site. It will not. Content is translated by writing it again, or by a multilingual plugin that stores a second version of each page.

• Site language: the interface, and the lang attribute on the page.
• User language: that person's dashboard only.
• Content language: whatever you typed into the editor.

Why some strings stay in English

A theme or plugin that has no Hindi translation for a string leaves it in English. That is normal, and it is not a caching fault. Check the plugin's page on translate.wordpress.org to see whether a Hindi translation exists at all.

If it exists but is incomplete, translate the missing strings with a tool such as Loco Translate and keep the resulting .po and .mo files in the child theme, so an update does not wipe them. A theme with no translation files at all is the usual reason a Hindi dashboard still shows an English footer.

Changing language in PHP or wp-config.php

Modern WordPress stores the site language as an option in the database, so editing a theme file will not change it. Older guides still say to set WPLANG in wp-config.php; that applied to WordPress 3.9.2 and earlier, and a current install reads the option, not the constant.

If a plugin writes the language into code, it is setting that option through WordPress rather than replacing a constant. That is also why a language switch survives a theme change: the setting is not in the theme.

Hindi and English on one site

One WordPress install shows one site language. Two public languages need a multilingual plugin that stores both versions and gives each its own URL, which is what the Hindi plus English site guide walks through.

Polylang keeps the free tier and a clean /hi/ path. WPML adds translation management and WooCommerce support. TranslatePress works on the rendered page, which is quick to start and heavier under load. Whichever you pick, the Hindi page needs Hindi copy written for it, not a machine pass over the English.

What the language change does to SEO

Changing the site language changes the lang attribute in the page source and the dashboard language. It does not change rankings by itself, because Google ranks pages on their content and links, not on a setting.

A bilingual site needs hreflang tags that point the Hindi page and the English page at each other, plus a distinct title and description in each language. A single page that swaps language by cookie is one URL to Google and usually ranks for one language only.

When the dashboard is Hindi but the site reads English

That is the expected result when the content was typed in English. Clear the page cache, then read one product or post on the front end: if the words are still yours in English, nothing is broken, because the setting never translated content.

The exception is a theme string you expected in Hindi, such as "Read more". Those come from the theme's translation files, covered above. If the whole front end fails to load after a language switch, disable the last plugin you added and reload.

Where this fits on WebJi hosting

Nothing in this guide needs a plan change. Hindi sites run on the same WordPress hosting as English ones, and Devanagari adds no special server requirement. Email support answers in Hindi and English, 24/7, with an average first reply under 60 minutes.