Hey @vadimm5! 👋
Starting from the next update, the lightbox front-end component will be internalized.
Thanks for your patience and understanding!
Good afternoon. Version 5.5.6 has been released (May 7, 2026), but everything is still in English. Could you tell us how to add translations into our language? When adding translations for volunteers, there’s no option to translate button names, aria-label attributes, etc. Thank you.
Hey @vadimm5! 👋
Thank you for your patience!
The previous update added the i18n infrastructure. The upcoming update completes this work by adding JavaScript translation support, which is required for translating lightbox elements such as button labels, aria-labels, EXIF labels, and other interface strings.
Once the update is available, you will be able to:
• Create your translation using the meow-lightbox.pot file located in the languages folder (wp-content/plugins/meow-lightbox/languages).
• Submit your .po file to us, and we’ll generate the required JSON files and include your translation in future releases.
Alternatively, use the Loco Translate plugin, which should handle both the .po and JSON files automatically within WordPress.
We’d be happy to include community translations, so feel free to send us your .po file if you create one, which will help other users who speak the same language.
The update should also include support for common languages.
Thanks. Cool. I’ll wait for the update.
Hello. I’ve created a Russian translation for the Meow Lightbox plugin using the meow-lightbox.pot file, as you requested. You can download the finished .po file here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12JTWpckhLinpcK1-vW_uG_OTdrc-UbGG/view?usp=sharing
Please generate the necessary JSON files and include this translation in future releases. Thank you!
Good afternoon. It’s been over a month and I still haven’t received a response to my previous messages.
Hi @vadimm5,
Sorry for the late reply! I realized we might have gone down the wrong road here. It would be extremely difficult for us (devs) to handle all the translations ourselves, updating them every time something changes, etc. This really needs to go through the official WordPress translation system: https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/meow-lightbox/. It actually looks like Russian is almost done there 🙂 Through this system, languages are automatically updated and synced via the WordPress repository, which is much cleaner.
The only tricky part is that it needs a moderator for Russian specifically for this plugin, and that’s something only the WordPress team can validate, it’s independent from us. But if you’re interested in translating plugins into Russian, it’s definitely worth looking into: https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/translating/glotpress-translate-wordpress-org/
On our end, we focus on making everything as solid as possible in English, but we’re too small a team to handle each language independently, which is exactly why WordPress has this system in place.
Hello. I performed the translation using the Loco Translate plugin, as you recommended. However, nothing was translated. Please try to reproduce this issue on a test site.
For instance, the AI gave me the following explanation regarding this matter:
The fact that the .json file did not appear in the Loco Translate folder is the key to the problem. It means that Loco Translate generated only the .po and .mo files for the PHP backend. The developer of the Meow Lightbox plugin did not mark these strings (Close, Next buttons, etc.) in the code as translatable script strings for WordPress. Consequently, Loco Translate simply does not detect the need to create JSON files for them. Since the .json files are missing, the browser loads the default English interface hardcoded into the lightbox script.
Hi @vadimm5!
Yes, indeed! The lightbox interface is translatable, but the buttons that come from PhotoSwipe (Close, Zoom, Previous, Next) and the sharing close button still use built-in English labels. We’re making them translatable in the next update, so they’ll pick up your Russian translation through translate.wordpress.org. I’ll let you know here when it’s out 🙂
Thank you. I’ll look forward to the update.
It’s out! Meow Lightbox 5.6.2 makes the PhotoSwipe buttons (Close, Zoom, Previous, Next), the sharing close button and the image error message translatable. The new strings are in the translation template, so you can translate them on translate.wordpress.org, or right away with Loco Translate. Thanks a lot for your patience, and for the Russian translation 🙂
Thanks. I’ve updated the plugin. I then visited the links below to translate it, but I didn’t find any new strings to translate into Russian. Please take a look.
Here are the links:
https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/meow-lightbox/
https://translate.wordpress.org/locale/ru/default/wp-plugins/meow-lightbox/
Hi again @vadimm5,
Sorry, indeed, they were only in the JS side… I moved all those labels to the PHP side, so WordPress picks them up like every other string. Once that update is out, they will appear on translate.wordpress.org and your Russian translation will finally show in the lightbox. I will let you know here as soon as it is ready 😊
