Multiple Magento Languages
As we all know Magento is an open-source, cross-browser, multi-language piece of beautiful ecommerce software. However what a lot of people do not realise is that Magento does not come pre-equipped with all the latest language packs. By default it normally comes simply with En_US (American English).
What we need is to download the En_GB (British) language pack – main difference is the inclusion of VAT and Basket (rather than TAX and CART).
You can then follow the steps below to install this language pack – I have made a few changes to my GB file which you can download here.
It’s really easy to get different language packs for Magento – you can find them here: http://www.magentocommerce.com/langs.
What’s important to remember is that this is not a translation service – it only replaces those phrases that are changeable in the inline translation service. It does however save you a lot of time and effort. Another thing to remember is that these translations are never going to be 100% complete. As magento evolves the translation csv will also need to be amended. You can see a nice percentage number next to where you download the scripts – this indicates the amount of language conversion completed.
When you download a language you will find a folder (in UK example it would be en_GB) and a file named translate.csv within that folder. You should the folder containing the translate.csv into the appropriate “locale” folders. You will need to do this twice – I prefer to place my translate.csv into the following folders:
app>locale
and also into your theme directory
app>design>frontend>base>theme>locale
This should then apply your translations.
I hope this helps some of you who are struggling with the translations of magento – these language packs should give you a much needed boost – don’t forget you can also add to this file using the translate inline tool. You can also apply a different language to a different “website” on your magneto store. Just change your store view default language and it should be fine.
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Rob is Ecommerce Web Design’s lead PHP developer, and an expert at customising the Magento framework to create completely unique sites. Follow him on twitter (because he's a twit) http://twitter.com/kent_robert. - Read my other posts.
A very good explanation Robert. At the time of writing I don’t think your translate.csv that you link to directly contains anything other than: “Keep your eyes open for our special Back to School items and save A LOT!”
I did visit the Magento languages section and downloaded the package from there and also made some suggestions of strings to change to basket, such as:
%s was added to your shopping cart.
%s was updated in your shopping cart.
Those examples at the moment don’t even exist in the UK package.
Nice post, but how on earth do I change this in Magento go as i’ve no access to any files. Can it be done in the admin? I’ve been going round in circles for hours and it’s ducking the life out of me. Any advice would be appreciated.
James