How to Use the RainLab Translate Plugin For Multilingual Content?

The RainLab Translate plugin is a powerful tool for creating multilingual content in October CMS websites. It allows you to easily translate your website pages, partials, and static content into multiple languages, providing a seamless experience for users speaking different languages.

To use the RainLab Translate plugin effectively, follow these steps:

1. Install the Plugin: In the backend of your October CMS website, go to Settings -> Updates & Plugins. Search for "RainLab Translate" in the plugins list and click on "Install Plugin."
2. Configure the Plugin: Once the plugin is installed, go to the Settings -> Translation section in your backend. Set the default language for your website. Add additional languages you want to translate your content into.
3. Translate Static Content: To translate static content, go to the Static Pages -> Pages section. Select the page you want to translate and click on the "Translate" button. Enter the translated content for each language in their respective fields.
4. Translate Partial Content: If you have partials that require translation, go to the Static Pages -> Partials section. Select the partial you want to translate and click on the "Translate" button. Input the translated content for each language in their respective fields.
5. Translate Dynamic Content: For dynamic content, such as content managed through RainLab Static Pages or RainLab Blog plugins, translation is automatically handled. Add translations for each language within the translation tab of the respective content object.
6. Display Translated Content: To display the translated content in your frontend, you can use the |trans filter provided by the plugin. Add the trans: prefix to the translation key you want to display, for example: {{ 'key.to.translate'|trans }}.
7. Switch Languages: To allow users to switch between languages, you can use the localePicker component. Add the localePicker component to your layout or page to display a language switcher.

With the RainLab Translate plugin, you can easily manage and display multilingual content on your October CMS website. It simplifies the process of creating and maintaining translations, making it easier to cater to international audiences and provide a localized experience.

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What is the purpose of the RainLab Translate plugin?

The RainLab Translate plugin is a powerful localization tool for the October CMS platform. Its purpose is to enable website owners and developers to easily create and manage multilingual websites. The plugin allows for the creation of multiple language versions of website content, including pages, snippets, menus, and other components. It provides a user-friendly interface for translating content and managing language variants, making it easier to reach a wider audience by offering a localized experience to site visitors.

What is a fallback locale in the RainLab Translate plugin and how does it work?

A fallback locale in the RainLab Translate plugin refers to a default language that is used as a fallback when a translation is not available for a specific locale.

When translating content using the RainLab Translate plugin, you can define multiple locale translations for different languages. However, if the plugin cannot find a translation for a particular locale, it will fall back to the fallback locale to display the content instead of leaving it untranslated.

For example, consider a website with translations available in English (en) and French (fr). If a user with the Spanish (es) locale visits the website and there is no Spanish translation available, the plugin can be configured to fall back to the English translation (the fallback locale). This allows the user to still understand the content in their preferred language, even if it is not available in the specified locale.

To enable a fallback locale in the RainLab Translate plugin, you need to set the fallback locale option in the configuration file or in the plugin settings. This defines which locale should be used as the fallback for missing translations.

How to translate menus using the RainLab Translate plugin?

To translate menus using the RainLab Translate plugin, you can follow these steps:

1. Install the RainLab Translate plugin: Follow the installation instructions in the RainLab Translate plugin documentation to install the plugin in your OctoberCMS project.
2. Set up the language settings: In your OctoberCMS backend, navigate to the Settings tab and click on "Translation". Add the languages you want to translate your menus into.
3. Create the translation dictionary: In the plugin backend, go to the "Translation" section and click on "Create dictionary". Give it a name like "menus" and save it.
4. Assign the translation dictionary to the menus: Edit your menu partials and wrap the menu items with the {% dictionary locale="menus" %} ... {% enddictionary %} tags. This will specify that the menu items inside these tags should be translated using the "menus" dictionary. For example, if you have a main menu partial called "main_menu.htm", you can modify it like this: {% dictionary locale="menus" %}
   • Home
   • About
   • Contact
   {% enddictionary %}
5. Add translations to the dictionary: In the plugin backend, go to the "Translation" section, select the "menus" dictionary, and add translations for each menu item in the different languages you have enabled. For example: | Phrase | en | fr | |----------------|--------|------------| | Home | Home | Accueil | | About | About | À propos | | Contact | Contact| Contact |
6. Display the translated menus: Update your frontend templates to display the translated menus. Use {% dictionary_value locale="menus" key="Home" %} to retrieve the translated value of a menu item. For example:
   • {{ 'Home'|_ }}
   • {{ 'About'|_ }}
   • {{ 'Contact'|_ }}
   The _ filter is a shortcut for the dictionary_value filter.
7. Test the translation: Save your changes and preview your website in different languages to verify if the menus are translated correctly.

By following these steps, you can translate your menus using the RainLab Translate plugin in your OctoberCMS project.

What are translation bundles and how to manage them in the RainLab Translate plugin?

Translation bundles in the RainLab Translate plugin are groups of translation messages organized together in a single file. They allow you to package your translations into different groups based on your project's needs.

To manage translation bundles in the RainLab Translate plugin, follow these steps:

1. Install the RainLab Translate plugin if you haven't already done so.
2. Access the "Translations" section in the October CMS backend.
3. Click on the "Bundles" tab.
4. Click on the "+ New Bundle" button to create a new bundle.
5. Enter a name and optional description for the bundle.
6. Click on the "Create" button to save the bundle.
7. Now, you can click on the newly created bundle to manage its translation messages.
8. To add messages to the bundle, click on the "+ Add Message" button.
9. Choose the language for the message, enter the message key, and provide the translated value.
10. Click on the "Create" button to save the message.
11. To edit or delete existing messages, click on the respective icons next to each message.
12. To export a bundle for sharing or backup purposes, click on the "Export" button next to the bundle name.
13. To import a bundle, click on the "Import" button and choose the bundle file.
14. You can also duplicate or delete bundles using the respective icons.

By creating and managing translation bundles, you can effectively organize your translation messages and easily export/import them for use in different projects or to collaborate with other translators.

How to enable or disable automatic locale detection in the RainLab Translate plugin?

To enable or disable automatic locale detection in the RainLab Translate plugin, you need to modify the plugin's configuration file. Here are the steps:

1. Open your project directory and navigate to config/cms.php.
2. Locate the 'localePicker' configuration option.
3. By default, it should be set to 'RainLab\Translate\Classes\TranslatorLocalePicker', which means automatic locale detection is enabled.
4. To disable automatic locale detection, replace 'RainLab\Translate\Classes\TranslatorLocalePicker' with 'RainLab\Translate\Classes\StaticLocalePicker'.
5. To enable automatic locale detection, you can either leave it as it is or ensure that 'RainLab\Translate\Classes\TranslatorLocalePicker' is set.

Once you have made the necessary changes, save the file and your automatic locale detection setting will be updated.

What is a language variable in the RainLab Translate plugin and how to use it?

The language variable in the RainLab Translate plugin is used to manage multilingual content in OctoberCMS. This variable allows you to display content on your website in different languages based on the user's preference.

To use the language variable in the RainLab Translate plugin, follow these steps:

1. Install the RainLab Translate plugin from the OctoberCMS marketplace and set it up in your project.
2. Create a language variable in your template or layout file using the following syntax: {{ variable_name }}, where variable_name is the name of your language variable.
3. Wrap the content that needs to be translated within the language variable tags like this: {% variable_name %}Content to translate{% endvariable_name %}.
4. Configure translations for the specific language variable in the RainLab Translate plugin backend. You can add translations for different languages, and each language will have its own string values.
5. Use the {% currentLocale %} tag to define the current language of your website. This tag automatically detects the user's language preference or can be set manually.

Here's an example of how to use the language variable in a template:

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<h1>{{ title }}</h1>

<p>{% description %}Default description{% enddescription %}</p>

In the above example, title is a regular variable that will display the title as provided in the code. On the other hand, description is a language variable wrapped within the {% %} tags. The default value "Default description" will be shown if a translation is not available for the chosen language.

Remember to configure translations for each language in the RainLab Translate plugin settings, providing the appropriate translations for all language variables used in your template or layout files.