Localization

Plugins can have localization files in the lang subdirectory of the plugin directory. Plugins' localization files are registered automatically. The localization strings are supported automatically in the back-end user interface menus, form labels, etc. - if you provide the localization key instead of a real string, the system will try to load it from the localization file. In other cases you need to load the localization string with the API.

Note: For translating front-end content, there are plugins that can be used (opens new window) for this purpose.

# Localization directory and file structure

Below is an example of the plugin's lang directory:

plugins/
  acme/
    todo/             <=== Plugin directory
      lang/           <=== Localization directory
        en/           <=== Language directory
          lang.php    <=== Localization file
        fr/
          lang.php

The lang.php file should define and return an array of any depth, for example:

<?php

return [
    'app' => [
        'name' => 'OctoberCMS',
        'tagline' => 'Getting back to basics'
    ]
];

The validation.php file has a similar structure to the lang.php and is used to specify your custom validation (opens new window) messages in a language file, for example:

<?php

return [
    'required' => 'We need to know your xxx!',
    'email.required' => 'We need to know your e-mail address!',
];

# Accessing localization strings

The localization strings can be loaded with the Lang class. The parameter it accepts is the localization key string that consists of the plugin name, the localization file name and the path to the localization string inside the array returned from the file. The next example loads the app.name string from the plugins/acme/blog/lang/en/lang.php file (the language is set with the locale parameter in the config/app.php configuration file):

echo Lang::get('acme.blog::lang.app.name');

# Overriding localization strings

System users can override plugin localization strings without altering the plugins' files. This is done by adding localization files to the lang directory. For example, to override the lang.php file of the acme/blog plugin you should create the file in the following location:

lang/               <=== App localization directory
  en/               <=== Language directory
    acme/           <=== Plugin / Module directory
      blog/         <===^
        lang.php    <=== Localization override file

The file could contain only strings you want to override, there is no need to replace the entire file. Example:

<?php

return [
    'app' => [
        'name' => 'OctoberCMS!'
    ]
];