Version 2.4.7 released with changes to translation system

Easy Digital Downloads version 2.4.7 was released a few minutes ago to resolve a couple of small issues and also introduce a change that will make the platform more accessible to more languages around the world.

A few weeks ago, WordPress.org announced a new system launching for plugins that will help plugin authors make their plugins available in more languages. The new system also enables more users and contributors to get involved with the translation process.

In an effort to improve the experience for more users of Easy Digital Downloads, we have made a few changes to the plugin in order to be fully compatible with the new translation system on WordPress.org. Primarily, we have changed what is called the “text domain”. We changed it from “edd” to “easy-digital-downloads”. This change was done because it was mandatory for the new translation system provided by WordPress.org.

We have worked hard to ensure that there are as few unexpected changes to sites as possible. It is possible, however, that users who have provided custom translation files for Easy Digital Downloads will need to update their translation files to match the new naming conventions. Please see the steps below to update your translations.

If you have used the “Say What?” plugin

The Say What? plugin is a nice, simply way to translate or change individual text strings in plugins and themes. If you have used this plugin, please make sure you have updated to version 1.6 as it introduced a compatibility layer for the new text domains.

If you have provided your own translation files

Easy Digital Downloads allows you to create your own translation files. These files are kept in one of two places:

• wp-content/languages/edd/
• wp-content/plugins/easy-digital-downloads/languages/

The files were previously named edd-{language}_{country}.mo. With EDD 2.4.7, the files should be named easy-digital-downloads-{language}_{country}.mo.

If your translation file uses “edd” for the prefix instead of “easy-digital-downloads”, it should continue to work. On the off chance that it does not, however, simply rename the file to easy-digital-downloads-{language}_{country}.mo.

The translation system for Easy Digital Downloads on WordPress.org is expected to go live sometime tomorrow. We will be following up this blog post with more information about how the new system works once it is available.

As mentioned previously, the update to 2.4.7 should be smooth and without issues as we have worked hard to account for every variable. If you do experience any issues, however, do not hesitate to let us know via the support page. We will be happy to help!