What “layout preservation” actually means
Translator must copy or reuse the source content structure and replace only human-readable strings. It must not flatten a builder page into plain text, switch the page template, change theme conditions, translate CSS classes or rebuild WooCommerce product data. Visual parity still depends on the theme, builder and multilingual plugin loading the same target-language template and assets.
Gutenberg and the block editor
Translator preserves block comments, attributes and nesting while translating visible block text. Test headings, paragraphs, buttons, lists, columns, cover blocks, galleries, reusable patterns and plugin blocks. After translation, open the target in the block editor and confirm WordPress does not display an invalid-block recovery warning.
Elementor
Elementor stores page content as structured metadata. Translator copies the structure, extracts safe text nodes and writes translated text back into the same widgets. Verify the target has the same page template, Elementor edit mode opens normally, global styles remain linked and responsive settings are unchanged. Test headings, text editors, buttons, tabs, accordions, forms, sliders and WooCommerce widgets.
Other structured builders
Compatible extraction paths cover Bricks, Breakdance, Beaver Builder, Oxygen, Themify, SiteOrigin, Cornerstone, Zion and Visual Composer structures when detected. Builder versions and third-party widgets can add unique metadata. Always create a representative draft test for the site’s actual widgets before starting a bulk queue.
WooCommerce products
Customer-facing names, short descriptions, long descriptions, visible attributes, category/tag labels and compatible custom tabs can be translated. Prices, sale prices, tax configuration, stock, SKU, dimensions, shipping classes, downloadable files, IDs and variation relationships remain technical or synchronized values.
- Translate one simple product and one variable product.
- Confirm the target is linked by the multilingual commerce integration.
- Compare gallery, featured image and variations.
- Select every variation on the front end.
- Test Add to cart, cart fragments, cart and checkout.
- Verify product tabs, related products and breadcrumbs.
ACF and custom fields
Human-readable text in compatible ACF and custom metadata can be included. Technical values must remain protected: post IDs, relationship IDs, colours, coordinates, URLs, hashes, flags, serialized controls, CSS, JavaScript and private operational fields.
For repeaters, flexible content and nested groups, verify that row order, layouts and keys remain identical. If a custom field stores both text and configuration in a proprietary serialized value, create a site-specific test before enabling it for bulk work.
Custom post types and taxonomies
Enable only public post types intended for localization. Confirm their archive, rewrite slug, taxonomy relationships, parent/child behavior and single template in the target language. A custom post type may be public but still represent technical data; exclude it if its records are not customer-facing content.
Visual parity checklist
- Same page/product template and body classes.
- Same section order, columns, spacing, breakpoints and visibility rules.
- Same images, galleries, icons and background media unless localized intentionally.
- Same tabs, accordions, sliders, forms and popup behavior.
- No raw shortcode, JSON, CSS or builder control text displayed.
- Translated text fits buttons, cards and navigation at mobile width.
- WooCommerce price and stock values match the source product.
If the target layout is wrong
- Keep the target as Draft.
- Compare the source and target post type, template and builder metadata.
- Check whether the wrong multilingual adapter created the target.
- Clear builder-generated CSS only after the saved structure is confirmed.
- Delete only the incorrect target-language item if a clean retry is required.
- Do not delete or edit the source merely to make it reappear in Translator.