How to make a multilingual site

Sometimes, even the seemingly simplest tasks turn into yet another challenge. Front end development is not an exception. I will tell you more about one of these challenges that I personally encountered. When creating my own business card site, I decided to make it multilingual. However, it turned out that it is not as simple as I would have liked J Of course, there are many ready-made solutions, but they do not always help in achieving the goal. More often, such decisions create either additional problems, or the result itself does not meet expectations.

Nevertheless, in search of the optimal solution for myself, I singled out several more or less successful options:

Using a plugin or widget with an automatic translation function. Creating text content in many languages ​​takes a lot of time, so this decision is fully justified if you want to make your site accessible and understandable for speakers of different languages. The disadvantages of this method are quite obvious: automatic translation does not always correspond to reality, and some plugins need to be purchased.

Alternatively, you can use separate language files for certain parts of the site to provide users with the most appropriate translation into another language. The advantage of this method is the ability to manage files from a single site admin panel. But it is obvious that this option will not be successful for every business, so it is better to consult with the developer in advance J

Finally, it is quite possible to create separate sites for each language separately, so-called copies. So even the design of such copies can be slightly different – this will provide additional opportunities for attracting customers. And each such site will have its own admin panel. But, the main drawback in this case is not the need to make any changes in each language version separately, but it takes time.

P.S. As of this writing, I am still working on solving this language challenge. But later you will be able to appreciate how well I coped with this task!