Making a Language Pack for Joomla

CORE language packs

Joomla! uses three language packages, one for the front end, one for the administrator and one for installation. Ideally you will create all three.

• For Joomla! 1.5, see the forum post: How to create a new 1.5 language pack.

Files encoding

• ALL FILES MUST BE SAVED AS UTF8 NO BOM (for non-ascii glyphs as in accented letters, etc.)

Tools

Many people find it helpful to use the Translation manager extension. This helps by automating the creation of the files.

Translation pack

A translation pack consists of an xml file, a blank index file and a set of *.ini files containing the language strings for your language. The easiest way to understand this structure is to look at the files in the language/en-GB folder of your Joomla! installation.

This is an excerpt from en-GB.mod_login.ini

 BUTTON_LOGIN=Login
 BUTTON_LOGOUT=Logout
 ENCRYPT LOGIN FORM=Encrypt Login Form
 FORGOT_YOUR_PASSWORD=Forgot your password?
 FORGOT_YOUR_USERNAME=Forgot your username?
 GREETING=Greeting

To create a package for your language you change the strings to the right of the = signal.

Language naming convention

Language naming convention in Joomla are: language + ISO code.

• Use 2 letters when available. The list is available here.
• This reference concerns country codes

Name of package should start with your language's ISO code + description + version:

• fr-FR_joomla_lang_full_3.0.2v1.zip

Locale

The locale is used to sort translated lists when present on the server. Information on available locales may be found here.

Guidelines for developers

Guidelines for developers to facilitate translation: Language Guidelines for 3rd Party Extensions

• For Joomla 1.5 see the forum: Building Extension's Language Pack for J1.5