Admin: Plugin search does not match translated plugin names in “Installed Plugins” list

[malimart]

When WordPress is used in a non-English language, the Plugins > Installed Plugins screen in the WP admin dashboard displays translated plugin names (from .mo files) if they exist. However, the search box at the top of that screen only matches the plugin’s original (English) name, not its translated name. If you search a plugin by the translated name from the list you get no results.

Expected behavior

When doing a search using the plugin's translated name, the plugin should appear, because the displayed (translated) name matches the search query.

Benefits

• Improves usability for non-English users.
• Aligns the admin search with localized UI expectations.
• Avoids confusion when users see translated names but get no search results.

Technical details

I believe the issue is that the WP_Plugins_List_Table search logic in class-wp-plugins-list-table.php uses the raw plugin headers ($plugin_data['Name'], etc.) from the plugin files, without passing them through translation functions. Therefor, only the original English strings are searchable.

Related tickets

The issue is similar to ​#1496, except it's not related to the plugin directory but the plugin search inside the wp admin.

[dd32]

I have moved this ticket here from ​https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/8123

To reproduce this, you can use the following playground:
​https://playground.wordpress.net/?language=de_DE&url=%2Fwp-admin%2Fplugins.php%3Fs%3Dnicht

[nikunj8866]

@malimart Could you please provide a specific plugin to reproduce this issue?

I tested using ​Allow Cyrillic Usernames in Russian, but the Installed Plugins page still displays the plugin name in English (​https://prnt.sc/0IUyzf4Cq_nJ).

[malimart]

I think plugin names should not be translated, but if they are, plugins should be searchable by the translated name that is displayed on the plugin list.

Steps to reproduce the issue:

1. Install Event Organiser (​https://wordpress.org/plugins/event-organiser/)
2. Go to wp-admin/options-general.php and change Site Language to Polish (Polski)
3. Go to wp-admin/plugins.php. The Event Organizer plugin is now displayed with its Polish name (Organizator wydarzeń)
4. Copy and paste that name in the plugin search bar. You will get 0 results.
5. You can find the plugin by using its original name Event Organiser.

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Screenshots

Searching by the original name, 1 result:

Searching by the translated name, 0 results:

[nikunj8866]

✅ Reproduced
I was able to reproduce this issue. On the Plugins → Installed Plugins screen, the search functionality only matches against the original English plugin names.

If the plugin list displays translated plugin names (from .mo files), those names are not searchable, which can be confusing for users viewing the admin in a non-English language.

Notably, the Add Plugins screen search does work with translated plugin names, so the behavior is inconsistent across plugin-related screens.

[nikunj8866]

Add Plugin Search