How to translate wordpress theme to another language?

Question

Internationalization and localization

Hello.
In the theme files, I wrapped the necessary phrases with the __() function
Installed Loco Translate and translated the phrases.
I set the desired language on the site, but the translation does not work.
Why?
Thank you.

Answer 1

Should have just used the second parameter

Answer 2

Why - I will not say, but I will tell you how I translate the topics.
In the theme files, I make all the text entries through the function __e(), after which I launch the Poedit program, select the item in it: translate the Wordpress theme, and, in fact, I translate the theme. Save all files in the /lang/ folder of your theme. Then you can upload it to the site itself.

Answer 3

Why?

Maybe a text domain issue https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__/