Joomla Developer Manual

Language Packs

Joomla implements multilingual functionality using language packs, the default being British English. Each language pack consists of a number of .ini files for each core extension and each client (admin, api or site). There is information on the structure and use of language files in the Multilingual section of General Concepts in this manual. This section is more concerned with language packs as extensions.

Language Pack Documentation

There are many parts to the Joomla language system, each needing its own specific documentation. For example:

• Official Language Packs created by translation of the English originals require management code that is not part of the Joomla CMS.
• The actual translation of language packs using Crowdin requires Translator documentation.
• The use of multiple languages in a Joomla site using Associations or Overrides requires User documentation.
• The CMS language debugging feature requires Developer documentation.
• Third party components may offer several languages for which developers need some guidance on best practices.
• There may be circumstances where a Language Pack produced by a third party is not an Official language pack. An example is described for Scottish Gaelic in this section of the Manual.

References

• Making a Language Pack for Joomla
  • This article is a little out of date and uses French as an example of how to build a language pack for Joomla 3.
• Joomla's L10N-hearted
  • This article describes how translation is accomplished using Crowdin.