xili-language

**Version not compatible with php 8+ – maxi php7.4.33

xili-language provides for a bilingual (or multilingual) website an automatic selection of language (.mo) in theme according to the language of current post(s) or page. Theme’s behaviour can be fully personalized through settings, hooks and api. Ready for CMS developers and designers.

W A R N I N G – see tab and chapters in changelog – further versions are in github repository
xili-language plugin provides an automatic selection of language in theme according to the language of displayed post, series of posts, page or articles. If the post is in gaelic, the texts of the theme will be in gaelic if the author checks the post as gaelic and if the theme contains the right .mo file for this target language.
A very readable interface with a list of titles (and links) to help you write/edit/modify articles and their translations.
To help authoring, current user can choose language of his dashboard.
xili-language select on the fly the multilingual .mo files present in the theme’s folder (no cookies, no redirections like “301”).
xili-language uses a custom taxonomy to specify language of post, page and custom post. Full compatible with WP JSON REST API
xili-language plugin works on WordPress installation in mono (standalone) or on one site belonging to a multisite (network) install.
xili-language plugin works on WordPress installation for WebApp with JSON REST API – see changelog because WP JSON REST API 1.2.1 in under full development but yet powerful.
As educational plateform in constant changing since 2009, xili-language trilogy tries to use most of the WordPress Core functions and features (Custom taxonomy, API, metabox, pointer, help, pomo libraries, …). The options are adjustable.

TESTERS WANTED

According some users, current versions can be stable with recent WP versions. BUT since 2 years, a new version is fully rewritten and tested in few websites. These new versions are available in Github and here in WP repository in tag Advanced View. Your feedback will be very valuable.

Version 2.21.3

fixes issues (thanks to patchstack.com)

Version 2.21.2

Last Updated 2017-04-17 (readme for new look of plugins repository – tested in websites with WP 4.7.3), further versions are in github
W A R N I N G – see tab and chapters in changelog

For bbPress users, xili xl-bbp-addon plugin is no more a plugin. Components are optionally (if bbPress active) included. An option is also added in Experts tab of settings.

Prequisite

A project of a website with articles in different languages.
A localizable theme : Every themes with localization (or translation-ready like twentyfourteen) can be easily used (and improved) for realtime multilingual sites.
A tool to translate .po files of the theme and built .mo files (poEdit or better xili-dictionary – see below ).
see this page in wiki.xiligroup.org.

What to prepare before and during installation before activating

verify that your theme is translation-ready. Collect .po files of theme for target languages.
if rtl languages are used, verify that theme contains rtl.css file.

Links and documentation to read before activating

Check out the screenshots to see it in action and other tabs here.
latest news inside twentyfourteen-xili example,
latest bundled child theme of twentyfifteen: twentyfifteen-xili example,
xili wiki,
news and history,
forum to read experience of users and obtain some support,
For webmaster: Before to be moved in wiki, table summarizes all the technical features (widgets, template tags, functions and hooks) of this powerful plugin for personalized CMS created by webmaster,
For german speaking webmaster some documentations and posts are written by YogieAnamCara of sensorgrafie
and finally the source code of the plugin itself if you read php!

Themes provided as examples

Since WordPress 4.1, the default theme named twentyfifteen can be used without php coding for a multilingual site as shown here twentyfifteen-xili.
Other child theme examples of bundled parent themes: twentyeleven twentyeleven-xili, twentytwelve twentytwelve-xili, twentythirteen twentythirteen-xili, twentyfourteen twentyfourteen-xili, twentyfifteen twentyfifteen-xili.

Other compatible plugins by xiligroup dev

TRILOGY FOR MULTILINGUAL CMS WEBSITE
including xili-language plugin

Please verify that you have installed the latest versions of:

xili-dictionary plugin: With xili-dictionary, it is easier to create or update online, via admin/dashboard UI, the files .mo of each language.
xili-tidy-tags plugin: With xili-tidy-tags, it is now possible to display sub-selection (cloud) of tags according language and semantic trans-language group (trademark,…).

That this plugin does not

With around 8000 php lines, xili-language is not everything…

xili-language plugin does not create additional tables in the database, do not create cookies and only use 4 lines in Options table. xili-language simply makes proper use of the taxonomy tables and postmeta table offered by WordPress to define language and link items between them. Because xili-language plugin does not modify deeply the post edit UI, it is possible to use iPhone / iPod Touch WordPress app to prepare and draft the post.
xili-language plugin does not replace the author or the editor. No automatic translation. Content strategist is the master of the languages, the contents and the navigation inside the website. With xili-dictionary, webmaster can translate the theme’s items and when .mo files are in place, xili-dictionary can be deactivated. For design, the creator is free to choose text or graphic. xili-language does not provide flags (or few as example in child-theme example like twentytwelve-xili )!

Newbie, WP user, Developer,…

Dear Newbie: originally built for webmaster and developer, the plugin trilogy progress since 6 years to be more and more plug and play for newbies who can read and spend a little time mainly for translation.
xili-language is also dedicated for theme’s creator or webmaster with knowledges in CMS and WP and having (or not) tools to create .mo language files. Through API (hook), the plugin add automatic tools (or links or filters) for sidebar or top menus. Categories or Archives lists are translated also.
xili-language provides also series of functions which can be hooked in the functions.php file of the theme that you create i.e. for a cms like multilingual website.

Licence, donation, services, “as is”, …

Contrary to popular belief, GPL doesn’t say that everything must be zero-cost, just that when you receive the software (plugin or theme) that it not restrict your freedoms in how you use it. Free open source plugin does not mean free services

Texts of licence: GPLv2
Donation link via paypal in sidebar of dev.xiligroup site
Services : As authors of plugin, dev.xiligroup team is able to provide services (consulting, training, support) with affordable prices for WP multilingual contexts in corporate or commercial websites.
Plugin is shipped as is : see no warranty chapter in license GPLv2.

Roadmap

Improved documentation for getting starts, template tags and functions – here in news or here by Vladimir.
Delivery of a premium services kit (with powerful features and attractive fees) packaged with professional training and support.
Updating sources (parts are 6 years old) with new libraries provided since WP 4.2.
Contributions are welcome 😉

More infos

Technical infos
1.1. Prerequisite
1.2. CMS
1.3. Documentation for developers
1.4. More infos and docs
Flags
Compatibility

1. Technical infos

REMEMBER : xili-language follows the WordPress story since more than 6 years. Initially designed for webmasters with knowledge in WP, PHP,… step by step the plugin will improved to be more and more plug and play. So don’t forget to visit this latest demo and news, see this other demo and Forum.

1.1. Prerequisite

Verify that your theme is international (translation ready) compatible (translatable terms like _e('the term','mythemedomaine') and no displayed texts ‘hardcoded’ (example in default bundled themes of WP named twentyfourteen or twentyfifteen ).

This latest version works with WP 4.0+ in mono or multisite.

1.2. CMS

CMS = Content Management System
Contains features dedicated to multilingual theme’s creators and webmasters. Don’t forget to read documented source code.

1.3. Documentation for developers

A table summarizes all the technical features (widgets, template tags, functions and hooks) of this powerful plugin for personalized CMS created by webmaster.

Provides infos about text direction ltr ou rtl of languages (arabic, hebraic,…) of theme and of each post in loop
unique id for category link hook see expert’s corner posts
hooks to define header metas or language attributes in html tag.

1.4. More infos and docs

Other posts, articles and more descriptions here and here in action.
Visit also Forum to obtain more support or contribute to others by publishing reports about your experience.

2. Flags

Default flags provided in bundled child themes like TwentyFourteen-xili 2014 came from famfamfam. To be compliant to the design and look, choose your own series of flags. Be aware of size and file naming.

3. Compatibility

xili-language is compatible with the plugin xili-dictionary which is able to deliver .mo files on the fly through the WP admin UI (and .po files translatable by other translators). xili-dictionary used a specific taxonomy without adding tables in WP database.

xili-language is compatible with the plugin xili-tidy-tags. xili-tidy-tags lets you create multiple group of tags. That way, you can have a tag cloud for tags in English, another cloud for French tags, another for Spanish ones, and so on. You can also use the plugin for more than multilingual blogs. Basically, you can create any group of tags you want.

xili-language is full compatible with the plugin xilitheme-select to be used with iPhone, iPod Touch or other mobiles. Also with xili re/un-attach media !

More informations about other plugins in the website dev.xiligroup.com or in WP Repository

The plugin is frequently updated. Visit Other versions.
See also the dev.xiligroup Forum.
* Tags from previous readme : theme, post, plugin,posts,page,category,admin, bilingual, dictionary,.po file, widget,international, i18n, l10n, WP network, multisite, blogroll, japanese, khmer, rtl, translation-ready, bbpress, jetpack, polylang

READ CAREFULLY ALL THE README FILE AND PREREQUISITES

Read this recent page and also wiki for older versions and features.

Upload the folder containing xili-language.php and language files to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory,
Verify that your theme is international compatible – translatable terms like _e('the term','mytheme') and no text hardcoded – and contains .mo and .po files for each target language – (application poEdit and/or plugin xili-dictionary can be used)
Verify that a domain name is defined in your theme – see note at end list below,
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress,
Go to the dashboard settings tab – languages – and adapt default values if necessary by adding your languages in the catalog. You can set the order (1,2,3…) of the series. (used in language_attributes() template_tag).
Modify each post by setting (checking) the language in xili-language box (under the content box) before publishing.
Other settings and parts (Browser detection, widgets, shortcode, template tags) see below… and examples.

Some steps to prepare a rich installation:

Tabs of settings

Settings are progressively reorganized in 6 tabs:

Languages list: Where you define the list of languages needed in your multilingual website.
Languages front-end settings: Where you define some rules and behaviour when visitor arrives in the website or navigates inside.
Settings for experts: Where experts are able to set and recovers previous sets. (backwards compatibility)
Managing language files: To import .mo files for theme or dashboard (if available in GlotPress or Automattic servers).
Managing Authoring rules: To define rules and settings in the dashboard side and help authoring.
xili-language support: A form to send an email to xiligroup support.

(online help on the top right tab for each settings page)

Additional infos

Before using your own theme, to understand how xili-language works, install the example child theme of one of the bundled themes like TwentyFourteen shown in this commented demo site.
Child of bundled themes include a navigation menu – see links in FAQ -. In xili-language settings, it is possible to insert automatically languages list in the menu previously set by you.
If you are webmaster and want to add lot of personalizations in your theme, read source and visit latest news.

Browser detection for visitors or authors

To change the language of the frontpage according to the language of the visitor’s browser, check the popup in right small box in settings.
To change the default language of a new post according to the language of the author’s browser, check the popup in right small box in settings.

xili-language and widgets

Three widgets are created to enrich sidebar : list of languages, recent posts and recent comments with sub-selection according current language.

xili-language and shortcode

SHORTCODE to add a link to other language inside content of a post like:

[linked-post-in lang="fr_fr"]Voir cet article[/linked-post-in]

by default use context ‘linktitle’ for translation ‘A similar post in %s’ text of link title attribut.

SHORTCODE to display only content if current language:

[xili-show-if lang=fr_FR ]contenu de la page boutique multilingue[/xili-show-if]

param lang can be ISO or slug.

SHORTCODE to insert translated msgid content according current language

Easy to insert .mo item in your current content.
[xili18n msgid=’yes’]
domain by default is here theme textdomain
[xili18n msgid=’yes’ ctxt=’front’ textdomain=’default’]
above it is the WP core textdomain

SHORTCODE to insert URL of flag set with a language:
[xili-flag lang=’fr_FR’] returns url of french flag

xili-language and template tags

xili-language “translates” template tags and permits some variations for webmasters:

The most current template tags don’t need special work: wp_list_categories(), wp_title(),…

wp_get_archives

Possible that very special permalinks need to use hook named xiliml_get_archives_link. –
Sub selection of archives for wp_get_archives() with &lang= (see § below)

wp_list_pages() with optional query tag &lang=

xili-language “provides” new template tags (or widgets) to solve issues from WP core or add new features for CMS:

xili_language_list() – outside loop (sidebar) display the languages of the site (used also by widget)

xiliml_the_category() – replace the_category() template tag of WP Core

improved xiliml_the_others_posts() function and theme tag to be used in multilingual category loop and by option (array) to return an array of linked posts in other languages (useful for CMS webmasters) (array of lang and id ) – the id is easily transformable in permalink with function get_permalink() when using this array.

xili-language and specific functions

Requires knowledges in php and WP !
After class in sources files, some functions are available – see sources for details.

the_curlang() returns by default the slug of the current language of the displayed webpage (alias xili_curlang() since 2.11+). If param is specified, return ISO, Full Name or alias of current webpage – see sources –
is_xili_curlang( $lang ) tests (returns true or false) after testing language of current webpage. Param can be a language slug (as string) or a list of slugs (as an array). Example: is_xili_curlang( 'fr_fr' ) returns true if webpage is in french – since 2.11+
widget for recent comments that can subselect those for current language. (a function xiliml_recent_comments() is also available if you want to create a template tag with resulting objects array).

Archives selection

Archives tags is a very complex template tag in his background and not very easy source hookable. So we decided to add few features : by adding query in vars of the function, it will be possible to display a monthly list of archives for a selected language – wp_get_archives('..your.vars..&lang=fr_fr') – or the current the theme language – wp_get_archives('..your.vars..&lang=') -. The displayed list of links will be translated and link restrited to display only archives of this language.

سوالات متداول

What is menus insertion point in navigation menus ?

It is the most recent way to add multilingual menus at a location in a theme. This method uses insertion point that will live choose the menu structure according current targeted language.

see this howto page

XL version > 2.9.10 : In appareance/menus, I do not see the boxes of insertion point (languages list, sub-selection pages or sub-selection menus) ?

To show insertion point metaboxes, remember to check them inside Screen Options. (top right tab near Help tab)

What about WP Network (previous WPMU) and the trilogy ?

xili-language, xili-tidy-tags, xili-dictionary
Since WP 3.0-alpha, if multisite is activated, the trilogy is now compatible and will include progressively some improvements dedicaded especially for WP Network context. Future specific docs will be available for registered webmasters.

How to see post or page ID in dashbord ?

IDs of all types of post (post, page, CPT) are listed in Translation box (second column) under the content.

What about rtl languages ?

If your theme follow the WP core rules (like in Twenty Twelve) with rtl.css file, RTL languages are well displayed.

Where can I see websites using this plugin ?

Twenty Fifteen 2015

Twenty Fourteen 2014

Twenty Thirteen 2013

Responsive responsive

Twenty Twelve 2012

Twenty Eleven 2011

Twenty Ten 2010

dev.xiligroup.com here and examples child theme below:

And as you can see in stats, thousand of sites use xili-language (Stats in March 2015 are not good and must be fixed due to bad versioning sorting).

For commercial websites, is it possible to buy support ?

Yes, use contact form here. Multiple commercial theme were customized for clients using multilingual CMS.

What is gold functions ?, is it possible to buy them ?

Some gold functions (in xilidev-libraries) are explained here and some belong to pro services for commercial websites.
Yes, use contact form here.

Support Forum or contact form ?

Effectively, prefer forum to obtain some support.

Does xiligroup provide free themes ?

Yes, example child themes of official themes like Twenty Twelve or Twenty Thirteen – see list above in previous question.

Is poEdit mandatory to edit .po and to build .mo file ?

xili-dictionary avoids to use poEdit to update .mo files with contents of terms of your database (categories, …)

What about plugin admin settings UI localization ?

It is simple, if you have translated the settings UI of plugin in your mother language, you send us a message through the contact form that contains the link to your site where you have add the .po and .mo files. Don’t forget to fill the header of the .po file with your name and email. If all is ok, the files will be added to the xili-language WP plugins repository. Because I am not able to verify the content, you remain responsible of your translation.

What about bookmarks and sub-selection according current language of displayed loop ?

Since version 1.8.5, xili-language has inside his class filters and actions to permit displaying sub-selection of links and bookmarks.

case of default widget-links : in xili-language settings, only check link categories where sub-selection is wanted.
case of template tags : <?php wp_list_bookmarks( array( 'lang'=>the_curlang() ) ; ?> here this new arg named lang is set to the current language.

Visit links list editor settings page and set for each link the language.

What happens if frontpage is a page ?

The page as frontpage must have its clones in each other languages. Like for posts, if the user’s browser is not in the default language, xili-language will display the page in the corresponding language if set by the editor. home page of website dev.xiligroup.com uses this feature.

How to enlarge languages list of the dashboard ?

Since version 2.8, the current user (author) can choose language of his dashboard. To enlarge list of available languages, you must upload the xx_YY.mo files of other localized WP installs in the folder wp-content/languages/. For example, here a list for a trilingual website (english, french, german : fr_FR.mo, de_DE.mo.
See this codex page about WP in your language to find kit containing wanted files.

Since 2.8.8, xili-language is able to help you to download admin translation files from Automattic and GlotPress site. See the 4th tab in settings. For official embedded themes ( Twentyten and others), the .mo files can also be downloaded.