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Page translations

With toujou you can manage multilingual websites within the same TYPO3 back end. Here we explain the necessary as well as the optional steps to set up each subpage with a translation into the target language. Before starting, please tell our support team which language you need.

Step by step guide  Pieces of advice

Multilanguage Sites

Please note: The initial language configurations (language setup/settings) always have to be done by your administrator and cannot be controlled by website editors.


Step by step

Create a new translation

  • When you click on the Page icon, the page tree of your website will appear in a new menu bar on the left side.
  • Located above the work space you will see a drop-down menu Columns. Select the Language option.
  • This selection will cause another dropdown menu to appear Make new translation of this page.
  • All available languages (set by the admin!) will be displayed. Click on the desired language, in our example Français.

Translate the page title and URL segment

  • You will be automatically redirected to the page properties workspace. Here, you will stay on the General tab.
  • Located below the mask for the page title, you will see information about the original page title, that will be flagged with the default language. For our example »Why« will become »Pourquoi«.
  • The URL Segment must also be updated according to your new page title. The URL root has been automatically supplemented with the country code »/fr/«. By clicking on the wheel at the outer edge of the input mask, the system will adopt your new translated page title.
  • For more information on editing the URL segment, please refer the tutorial on page properties.

Edit the target language column

  • After saving the translated page title (see above) you will see your target language to the right of the default language. In our example Français.
  • Unlike the default language on the left, there will be no content elements on the right for your target language. 
  • To create these new elements, click on the button Translate.

Translate or copy elements

There are two ways to transfer existing elements from the original language to the target language:

  • Translate: Use this when your content demands a strict translation workflow.
    •  Translating content will create a direct connection between the original language and the language you translate to.
    • This means that moving and element or setting meta information like start- or endtime will be taken directly from the original content and you will not be able to change these values at all.
  • Copy: Use this when you want to have different options  for how you design your translated content.
    • Copying content will take the content elements from the original source and create copies in a different language.
    • This allows you to move content elements around freely, but you will not have the ability to compare changes made from the original language later on.

Transfering elements

  • Regardless of which option you choose: Translate or Copy (see below) – clicking on either of them will open a subpage in the default language. This subpage will provide you with an overview of all the elements available to you.
  • Divided into different page areas, the elements are arranged from top to bottom.
  • If you do not want to transfer all elements, uncheck the respective checkboxes to deactivate elements at this point.
  • Click on Next to finalize the process.
  • For information on how to assign names to elements for back end processing please refer to our tutorial on setting anchor links.

Editing elements

The elements that have been transferred will show the identical content of the default language but are not automatically translated into the target language. Always make sure, that texts (and possibly differing images) are available in the target language before starting the updates, so that they can be inserted into the appropriate elements.

To illustrate the difference between the Translate and Copy options for a language translation, see the next steps.

Translate

  • In the target language column, you will see a note below the language indicating that you are in Connected Mode.
  • The elements are directly related to their original in the default language.
  • You can use the editing buttons to edit, hide or delete elements.
  • If you subsequently add a new element in the source language, it will appear on the target language page by repeating the steps for transferring elements explained above. Only the Translate button and the newly added elements are then displayed in the transfer window.

Copy

  • In the column of the target language you will see a note below the language that you are in Free Mode.
  • The elements are copies of the content of the default language and are not directly related.
  • Using the editing buttons you can edit, hide or delete elements.
  • Additionally you have the possibility to add elements by using the button + Content. These are not related to the default page, but are only displayed in the target language if desired.
  • If you subsequently add a new element in the source language, it will appear on the target language page by repeating the steps for transferring elements explained above. Only the Copy button and the newly added elements are then displayed in the transfer window.

Pieces of advice

toujou is based on TYPO3 and anyone familiar with TYPO3 knows that there are many different options to use to reach your desired results. We would like to point out important information and little tricks that can assist you when you’re creating and editing your website.

TYPO3 has the integrated components to manage websites that require multiple languages. The default or original language is never explicitly determined by TYPO3, but will be set to German with toujou – unless otherwise requested. Additional languages can also be created by an admin in the back end if requested and then can be used to translate pages and content elements.

Note: Please keep in mind that editing the other tabs in the page properties sections (metadata, resources, categories, etc.) should also be carried out in the target language rather than the default language.

For any further questions on this complex topic, please contact the toujou support team.