Sunday, January 21, 2007

Multi-lingual content

DaliCMS supports multi-lingual content and multi-lingual content integration.

According to cmsmatrix.org, the definition of "multi-lingual content" is a positive answer to the question "Does the system support the creation of sites with multiple languages?"

The definition of "multi-lingual content integration" then is a positive answer to the following question:
"Does the system support a multi-lingual version of each content object without republishing the content object. For example, if you create an FAQ in English, then all that needs to be done to display the FAQ in Spanish or another language is to translate the content, not create another page with another FAQ content object. Then depending upon user preferences it either shows one version or the other."

DaliCMS indeed supports multi-lingual content integration. Take a look at the website of the online research bureau iVox at http://www.ivox.be.
By default, the content is in Dutch. At the right side of the topbar, a language switcher allows the visitor to choose between Dutch (NL), French (FR) and English (EN). Switching a language will result in the site being shown in the new language. The structure of the site remains the same, but the content and the titles (and in some cases the images) are in the new language.
In some cases, the entire structure is available in different languages, while in other cases, not all pages are available. DaliCMS will detect if there is appropriate content for the specific items in the desired language, and allows the Webmaster to decide which pages have to be shown or not.

It turns out that the ability to show multi-lingual content is a major advantage of DaliCMS in our region. The reason for this is probably the same as the reason LodgON implemented it: we live in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. But going south 5 miles, we are in the French-speaking part of Belgium. At going east for about 70 miles, we are in the German-speaking part of Belgium. And of course, many of our partners and customers use english as the default language inside their company.
The advantage of living in a small, multi-cultural region!

No comments: