Unlocking Multilingual Capabilities with plone.app.multilingual

Unlocking Multilingual Capabilities with plone.app.multilingual

Are you struggling to manage translations of your content types in Plone? Look no further! The plone.app.multilingual module is here to revolutionize your multilingual support needs. Built on ZCA technologies, this powerful module offers a unified user interface for managing translations, supporting both Dexterity and Archetypes content types in Plone.

Meeting the Evolution of Plone

In the past, managing multi-language support in Plone relied heavily on the now-legacy Products.LinguaPlone. However, with the release of Plone 4.3 and the adoption of Dexterity content types as the default story, plone.app.multilingual was born. Years of hard work, including a Google Summer of Code project, redesigns, and reimplementations, have led to the arrival of plone.app.multilingual.

Features and Functionalities

Root Language Folders

plone.app.multilingual creates root folders for each language in your site, segregating translated content and enhancing user experience. These language folders implement INavigationRoot, providing a seamless browsing experience within a specific language.

Babel View

Building upon the success of the LP translate view, plone.app.multilingual introduces the Babel View. This view combines the translation management for both Archetypes and Dexterity content types, offering translated content viewer with an easy-to-use dynamic selector.

Language Independent Fields

plone.app.multilingual embraces language independent fields, making translations more consistent than ever before. By marking fields as language independent, their values are automatically copied over to all members of the translation group, ensuring uniformity across translations.

Translation Locator Policy

When translating content, plone.app.multilingual offers two policies for placing the translated content in the site’s structure. The first policy follows the LP way, placing the translation in the nearest translated folder in the parent’s hierarchy. The second policy allows users to choose the destination language’s root folder for the translated element.

Language Selector Policy

To enhance user navigation on the site, plone.app.multilingual provides a language selector viewlet. This viewlet allows users to switch the site’s content language, presenting either the nearest translated container or an informative view showcasing the available translations for the current content.

The Assets Folder

plone.app.multilingual introduces the concept of a shared “Language Independent Folder,” where assets and side resources like images, videos, and documents can be stored. The assets folder, also known as the Language Independent Folder, is accessible from all root language folders, expanding the possibilities for content organization.

Technical Innovations at a Glance

plone.app.multilingual embraces the principles of adaptability and autonomy, ensuring that each translation is treated as an individual content object with no canonical object dependency. The translation reference storage is managed by a translation group, providing a centralized way to maintain relations between translations.

To facilitate the translation process, plone.app.multilingual adapts multiple steps, allowing for flexibility and customization. The unified adapter, plone.base.interfaces.ILanguage, simplifies accessing and modifying the language of a content type. Additionally, the marker interface plone.app.multilingual.interfaces.ITranslatable identifies whether a content type is translatable.

Compatibility and Usage

plone.app.multilingual is compatible with Plone versions 4.1 and above, supporting both Archetypes and Dexterity content types. To use plone.app.multilingual with Archetypes content types, add “plone.app.multilingual[archetypes]” to your buildout eggs section. For plone.app.contenttypes, add “plone.app.multilingual” to your buildout eggs section.

Roadmap and Community

Plone.app.multilingual is an actively maintained project with a vibrant community of contributors. To get involved in the development process, consult the Process for Plone core's development documentation <https://docs.plone.org/develop/coredev/docs/index.html>. The source code is accessible on the Plone code repository hosted at Github <https://github.com/plone/plone.app.multilingual>.

Conclusion: Empower Your Multilingual Experience with plone.app.multilingual

Say goodbye to the complexities of managing multilingual content in Plone. With plone.app.multilingual, you can effortlessly navigate the nuances of translation workflows, leveraging its powerful features to enhance user experience and ensure consistency across languages. Unlock the true potential of your multilingual website with plone.app.multilingual, the next generation Plone multilingual engine.

So, what are you waiting for? Embrace plone.app.multilingual today and take your multilingual content management to new heights!