Multilingual sites: start here
A site in several languages is several sites' worth of upkeep. The structure is shared, but every change in one language raises the question of the others: is the translation still correct, who updates it, and what do readers see in the meantime? Running a multilingual site well means knowing which language leads, who translates, and how you notice when a translation has fallen behind.
This page is for the owner of such a site, the translation coordinator and the editors in each language. Planning a multilingual site is covered in Multilingual sites for businesses.
What Exponential gives a multilingual site
| Need | What carries it | Where it is explained |
|---|---|---|
| Every item in several languages | Translations of each content item, with a main language | Languages, Content languages |
| Each language with its own address | Siteaccesses matched by host or path, and language URLs | Language switcher and language URLs |
| Arabic, Hebrew and other right-to-left languages | Right-to-left support in the site and in the administration | Right-to-left, Right-to-left markets |
| Dates, currencies and formats per country | Locales | Currencies, dates and formats |
| Help with translation | Exponential Intelligence: "Translate" per field, and translation sync through the job queue when the source changed | README.md ("Exponential Intelligence"), Assisted translation |
| An administration in the editor's language | The administration in many languages (the translation files in share/translations/) | Languages |
Decide these four things first
- The leading language. Usually one language is written first and the others follow. Write it down; it decides what "out of date" means.
- Who translates what. Name a person (or a translation agency through your partner) for each language. Give translators a role that lets them translate, not necessarily publish new items (Roles for your team).
- What readers see while a translation is missing. Your partner can tell you how your site behaves: whether it shows the item in another language, or not at all. Agree on it, and tell the editors.
- How you notice changes. The translation routine describes a weekly look at what changed in the leading language.
Tip
Machine or assistant translations are drafts. Exponential Intelligence writes drafts only and never publishes on
its own (README.md, "Safety"). Let a person who knows the language read every translation before it is
published (Using AI drafts responsibly).
Adding a language later
A new language is a project, not a setting: addresses, menus, the design, forms, mail and the search all have to know about it. See Adding a language for what to plan with your partner.
Your next step
Follow the multilingual reading path.
Related pages
- Multilingual reading path
- Translation workflow (businesses)
- Multilingual checklist (businesses)
- Multilingual sites (builders)
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
Become an Exponential Partner
Partners share their information, provide funding, contribute back and develop the products with us, and that is how Exponential grows. A partner website and dashboard are planned for mid-2027: please become a partner today to speed up our growth rate and land new features faster.