Website Localization Examples: Drupal L10n
CiklopeaExpanding your business to global markets implies that you already own a website that represents what you do in the best possible way. However, it will hardly get you any traffic if most of the online population can’t understand it. Having in mind that well prepared and optimized website is your first contact with your prospective clients, I’m guessing you’d want to make website localization your priority.
Luckily, we now have endless possibilities to create and edit our websites with number of different content management systems (CMS). WordPress and Drupal are most popular CMS platforms. We’ve already covered localization of WordPress websites, and now it’s time to talk about the localization possibilities on Drupal.
Going multilingual on Drupal
Drupal is an open source software that enables you to create, edit and modify content and design of your web pages. By using a whole bunch of add-ons, modules, themes and packages, you can completely tailor the site according to your needs. Because of its endless possibilities, it is possible to set up a multilingual page, which should be the key factor for your global business.
To do that painlessly, this software offers you several additional modules which can serve as your life-saving boats through the whole process. Localization client module provides you with an easy way to translate your website’s interface, while its buddy Localization update keeps you up with the newer versions of translations. Since your visitors probably care more about the content than the interface, you should give them what they want and localize it, too, with the Internationalization (i18n) module. Even though Drupal already has some built-in multilingual features, i18n module provides you with the full support. Some of its key features include:
- A proper multilingual menu system
- Multilingual blocks
- Multilingual taxonomy
It is divided into few submodules, such as multilingual content, field translation, string translation, synchronized translations and many others. However, it is suggested not to install or use them all at once, but rather to enable them as you need them.
Drupal and CAT integration
What’s more interesting about Drupal is that it gets along with CAT (Computer-assisted translation) tools, mostly with Memsource. This means there’s a special module that synergizes the two. Thanks to the Memsource Translation Plugin, every piece of content can be sent to Memsource Cloud platform for translation and pulled back into Drupal for review and publishing, preserving the code integrity and optimizing the localization process.
It can be imported manually or automatically using the Automated Project Creation feature. It’s important to emphasize that Memsource plugin only supports Drupal 8, which is the current version of the software.
It’s Worth It
It seems that Drupal has recognized the need for creating and maintaining multilingual websites intended for wide use. The main purpose of such websites is to reach the minds and hearts of audiences across the globe. And of course, the biggest benefit here is yours, since expanding your ideas outside the state borders means faster growth of your business.
No one said getting into website localization would be easy, especially not with all these modules and plugins that can leave you utterly confused, but it’s the inevitable step on the business success ladder.
After all, it will pay off in the end. Literally.