# Polylang Language Switcher Shortcode

> Adds a [wpide_pll_switcher] shortcode that prints an accessible Polylang language list or dropdown anywhere, with flags, names or both.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [Multilingual](https://wpide.com/library/category/multilingual/)
- Tags: polylang, language-switcher, shortcode
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/pll-language-switcher-shortcode/

## Code

```php
add_shortcode( 'wpide_pll_switcher', function ( $atts ) {
    if ( ! function_exists( 'pll_the_languages' ) ) {
        return '';
    }

    $atts = shortcode_atts( array(
        'dropdown'          => '0',
        'flags'             => '0',
        'names'             => '1',
        'hide_current'      => '0',
        'hide_untranslated' => '0',
    ), $atts, 'wpide_pll_switcher' );

    $languages = pll_the_languages( array( 'raw' => 1, 'hide_if_empty' => 0 ) );

    if ( empty( $languages ) || ! is_array( $languages ) ) {
        return '';
    }

    $languages = array_filter( $languages, function ( $lang ) use ( $atts ) {
        if ( $atts['hide_current'] && ! empty( $lang['current_lang'] ) ) {
            return false;
        }
        return ! ( $atts['hide_untranslated'] && ! empty( $lang['no_translation'] ) && empty( $lang['current_lang'] ) );
    } );

    if ( $atts['dropdown'] ) {
        $id   = wp_unique_id( 'wpide-pll-ls-' );
        $html = '<label class="screen-reader-text" for="' . esc_attr( $id ) . '">' . esc_html__( 'Language' ) . '</label><select id="' . esc_attr( $id ) . '" class="wpide-pll-switcher" onchange="if(this.value){window.location.href=this.value;}">';
        foreach ( $languages as $lang ) {
            $html .= sprintf( '<option value="%1$s" lang="%2$s"%3$s>%4$s</option>', esc_url( $lang['url'] ), esc_attr( $lang['locale'] ), selected( ! empty( $lang['current_lang'] ), true, false ), esc_html( $lang['name'] ) );
        }
        return $html . '</select>';
    }

    $html = '<nav class="wpide-pll-switcher" aria-label="' . esc_attr__( 'Language' ) . '"><ul style="list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0;display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:.75em">';
    foreach ( $languages as $lang ) {
        $inner = '';
        if ( $atts['flags'] && ! empty( $lang['flag'] ) ) {
            $inner .= wp_kses( $lang['flag'], array( 'img' => array( 'src' => true, 'alt' => true, 'width' => true, 'height' => true, 'style' => true ) ) ) . ' ';
        }
        if ( $atts['names'] || ! $atts['flags'] ) {
            $inner .= esc_html( $lang['name'] );
        } else {
            $inner .= '<span class="screen-reader-text">' . esc_html( $lang['name'] ) . '</span>';
        }
        $html .= sprintf(
            '<li><a href="%1$s" hreflang="%2$s" lang="%2$s"%3$s>%4$s</a></li>',
            esc_url( $lang['url'] ),
            esc_attr( $lang['locale'] ),
            ! empty( $lang['current_lang'] ) ? ' aria-current="true" style="font-weight:700"' : '',
            $inner
        );
    }

    return $html . '</ul></nav>';
} );
```

## Notes

Attributes: dropdown="1", flags="1", names="1", hide_current="1", hide_untranslated="1" (skip languages without a translation of this page).

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Polylang Language Switcher Shortcode" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/