I’m just about to get started on a new project for a client and it’s going to be my first multi-lingual site. The site is Visit Pyrenees and it’s a holiday home and hotel advertising site based around three villages in the Eastern Pyrenees. As far as a brand new project goes, it shouldn’t be too complicated and the only technically difficult bit will be the French and English versions.
As the site is aimed at UK tourists wanting to visit the area, the default language will be English, but I also want a French version for a number of reasons:
- It adds to the USP of the site by attracting visitors speaking both languages
- There will be a slight SEO benefit from the dual language site
- Some of the advertisers will only speak French and will be editing their advert which will then need translating
There are basically two section to the site: the adverts for the various places of accommodation and the static information pages. Since I don’t speak much French, I’d like the static areas of the site to be editable by a none technical but French speaking person (such as the site owner). It therefore makes sense that the easiest way of implementing the site using a wysiwyg editor that lets the user select their language and then enter the text and any other HTML entities into the editor before saving it. The PHP script will then take the text and then create a version in the other language.
When I find something suitable that works, I’ll post a link or a zip file for download if I have to modify it.
I'm a web developer based in the East Midlands, UK and if I keep up the current rate, I might have developed 3 million sites by the time I retire