Adding a language
This page is for the owner who wants to offer the site in another language. In Exponential this has two technical halves (a content language, and a siteaccess that shows it) and one large human half: the translation work. The administrator's steps are in Content languages; the planning view is Multilingual planning.
Contents
- What adding a language does, and does not
- Decisions before you start
- The steps, and who does them
- What to translate first
- Launch checks
What adding a language does, and does not
From Content languages:
Setup > Languages > Add language adds a content language; 132 locales are in the list on a standard installation, and a custom one can be made from a locale file.
Setup, Languages: the content languages with the Add language button above the list Adding translates nothing and changes no siteaccess: no visitor sees anything new yet.
What a visitor sees is decided per siteaccess by
SiteLanguageList: the content languages it shows, most preferred first. An item is shown in the first of these it has; items in none of them are hidden unless always available (orShowUntranslatedObjectsis enabled).A content language is not the interface language: buttons and menus come from the siteaccess's
Localeand the translation files.An installation holds at most 62 content languages.
Decisions before you start
| Question | Options | Read |
|---|---|---|
| How do visitors reach the language? | a path (/de), a host (de.example.com) or a domain per country | Language switcher and language URLs |
| What do visitors see when a page is not translated? | hidden, or shown in the main language | Content languages |
| Everything, or a subset? | a full site, or the main pages only | Multilingual planning |
| Who translates and who approves? | staff, agency, freelancers, assisted by the writing assistant | Translation routine |
| Right-to-left? | Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and others need the design to support it | Right-to-left markets |
| Currencies, dates and formats? | the locale decides dates and numbers; a store also needs prices | Currencies, dates and formats |
The steps, and who does them
| Step | Who |
|---|---|
| 1. Decide the questions above | owner |
| 2. Add the content language in Setup > Languages | administrator |
3. Create or adjust the siteaccess, its address and SiteLanguageList; add a language switcher to the design | partner |
| 4. Give translators accounts limited to the language; set up per-language approval if wanted | administrator (Approvals and review) |
| 5. Translate the content (below) | translators |
| 6. Test on the new address, signed out | owner and a native speaker |
| 7. Make the address public; tell search engines (sitemap per language) | partner (XML sitemaps) |
The new siteaccess can be tested before it is public; ask your partner for a test host (One installation, many sites).
What to translate first
- The start page and the menu folders: visitors reach everything else through them (Translation workflow).
- Contact, legal and privacy pages.
- The pages visitors from that market use most (your search statistics and analytics help).
- Forms and their confirmation texts; newsletter lists for that language.
- Everything else, in the order of the Content calendar.
Launch checks
- To do: Every page in the menu has a translation, or is deliberately shown in the main language.
- To do: The language switcher leads from each page to the same page in the other language.
- To do: Dates and numbers are written the local way.
- To do: Forms, error messages and mails are in the language.
- To do: A native speaker read the main pages.
- To do: The Multilingual checklist is ticked off.
Related pages
- Translation routine
- Languages and locales
- Multilingual sites
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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