Creating Multilingual WordPress Websites

Creating Multilingual

WordPress SitesWP Campus

Shawn HooperChief Technology Officer

Actionable Books

@shawnhooper - shawnhooper.ca

http://shawnhooper.ca/

Chief Technology Officer at Actionable BooksHappy to be visiting here from Ottawa, Canada.Have used WordPress since 2009 as a blogger, freelance developer, and in a corporate environment.I speak in English, French, and according to my friends & family, I also speak nerd.

Hi, I’m Shawn!




Let’s Learn Some Words…

Internationalization, Localization, Languages,

Locales,

Oh My!



“The method of human communication, either

spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured

and conventional way”- Oxford Dictionary

Examples:English, FrenchSpanish, Italian

Language



“In computing, a locale is a set of parameters that

defines the user's language, region and any

special variant preferences that the user wants to see in their user

interface. Usually a locale identifier consists of at least a language identifier and a region

identifier.” - Wikipedia

Locale



Canadian Englishen-CA

US Englishen-US

Canadian French fr-CA

Argentina Spanish es-AR

Spanish Columbia es-CO

Locale



“Internationalization (sometimes shortened to

“I18N , meaning "I - eighteen letters -N") is the process of planning

and implementing products and services so that they can easily be

adapted to specific local languages and culture.

…”

- techtarget.com

Internationalization


http://techtarget.com/


“Localization (also referred to as "L10n") is

the process of adapting a product or content to a

specific locale or market.”

- GALA Global

Localization



Localization isn’t just about words, think about:CURRENCY

English$1,234.56

French1 234,56 $

Localization



Localization isn’t just about words, think about:DATES

English (US)MM/DD/YYY (ex: 03/20/2016)

English (Canada)DD/MM/YYYY (ex: 20/03/2016)

Localization



Localization isn’t just about words, think about:TIME

English (Canada)4:30 pm

French (Canada)16h30

Localization



Localization isn’t just about words, think about:Script Direction

Localization

Left to Right Right to Left

English Arabic

Spanish Persian

French Hebrew

Greek Yiddish

Latin Western Punjabi







Localization isn’t just about words, think about:TEXT LENGTH

Localization





WordPress Core is translated in 162

locales. 52 translations are

100% complete, up-to-date with the most current version of

WordPress.Translations are done by volunteers on the

“Polyglots” team.

WordPress





Although WordPress comes in many languages, it does not natively support providing

viewers with content in more than one language.



Multilingual Plugins



WPMLPremium Plugin from OnTheGoSystems.

https://wpml.org/Supports:

PostsPages

Custom Post TypesTaxonomies

MenusTheme TextPlugin Text


http://wpml.org/














Tip:Turn off the Make Themes Work Multilingual option if you

don’t need it!



qTranslate XFree Plugin Available on WordPress.org

https://wpml.org/Supports:

PostsPages


MenusGeneral Settings

Widgets


http://wpml.org/






If you disable the plugin, you’ll seethe content for each language is wrapped in shortcodes.

Shortcode Warning











Babblehttps://github.com/Automattic/babble

Babble


https://github.com/Automattic/babble


Doesn’t create any additional database tablesLike WPML, each translation is a separate post

Supports:PostsPages


MenusWidgets

Babble





Multisite Approach



There are two ways of doing this:

Separate Installs of WordPress for each language (yuck!)

Using WordPress Multisite with a sub-site for each language (yay!)

Multisite Approach



FREN ES



There are a few plugins that can assist with switching languages

if you choose to use the multisite approach:

Multisite Language SwitcherZanto WP Translation (For Multisites)

Language Switching



ComparisonFeature WPML qTranslateX Multisite Babble

Cost Paid Free Free Free

Content Storage Separate Posts Single Post Languages in Subsites Separate Posts

Widget Areas Needs Additional Plugins Yes Yes No

Media With Additional Plugin No Each subsite has it’s

own media library No

Permalink Translation Yes With “Qtranslate Slug” Plugin Yes Yes

Sync Custom Fields Yes Yes No Yes

Sync Taxonomies Yes Yes No No

Translate Strings in Themes & Plugins

WPML String Translation Plugin

Additional Plugins Required



Database Impact High Low Low Low

Translation Service Support ICanLocalize No No No



Theme & Plugin Translation



.POT, .PO and .MO FilesContain all the strings in your plugins and

themes for a specific language.

.POT = Template ( Original Strings ).PO = Localized Version of the Strings

.MO = Compiled Version of the Localized Files



.POT, .PO and .MO FilesMany popular themes & plugins

come with translations already provided.

If not, you can manage your own translationsthrough plugins or 3rd party applications.



Loco TranslateTranslation Mangement Plugin

for Themes & Plugins

Free in the WordPress Plugin Repository





PO EditDesktop Application for Managing POT and PO Files

Freemium

Available for Windows, OSX and Linux(poedit.net)


http://poedit.net/


PO Edit (Statistics)



PO EditPro Version ($20) will scan your source code and find

missing translations

Provided Statistics includingWord Count.





GlotPressDeveloped by the WordPress Community.

Still a work in progress.

Learn More at http://blog.glotpress.org/



Content Translation



Please please please….



Translation ServicesHire a Professional Translator

They usually charge by the word



Translation ServicesBuilt in Translation Services in WordPress:

ICanLocalize (Works with WPML)LingoTek (Works with Polylang)



Contribute



Polyglots TeamThe polyglots team is responsible for ensuring

WordPress is available in dozens of languages and many more regions. It’s a big job, which is why we

need help from native speakers of many languages to make it possible.

https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/



translate.wordpress.orgPowered by GlotPress

Contribute translations to: WordPress Core

ThemesPlugins

Meta Projects


http://translate.wordpress.org/



Thank you! Merci! Gracias!

Slides: www.shawnhooper.ca

E-Mail: [email protected]

Twitter: @shawnhooper

WordPress Slack: shooper@shawnhooper - shawnhooper.ca

http://www.shawnhooper.ca/

mailto:[email protected]
