Languages

This page allows you to add additional language(s) in order to internationalize the output generated by Zen Cart.

New Language

To add a new language, click on the new language button. A form will appear. Enter the information, then click on the insert button to add the new language. Click on the cancel button if you change your mind.

Adding the new language also makes the following database changes:

  • populates the orders_status table with order statuses in the current language. Go to Admin > Localization > Orders Status and update them to the new language.
  • if POSM is installed, populates the products_options_stock_names table in the current language. Go to Localization >Out-of-Stock Labels and update them to the new language.

Name

This is the name of the language, probably best as expressed in itself, e.g. Francais for French, Español for Spanish, Deutsch for German, etc.

Code

This is the two-letter ISO 639 language code, e.g. en for English, fr for Francais, es for Español, etc. If you don’t know the code, you can find it on Wikipedia here.

Image

This would be a small icon used to identify the language. This would most likely be a gif image of the typical flag for some country commonly associated with that language. This should be located in the /includes/languages/YOURLANGUAGE/images folder.

Directory

This directory is where the translated php source files for this language are contained. For example, enter ‘english’ the directory for the English language is located at /includes/languages/english.

Sort order

This is the order that the languages are to appear in. Lower numbers are shown higher on the screen.

Set as default

Check this box if this is the default language for this site.

When you finish entering data, click on the insert button to add the new language. Click on the cancel button to discard this form.

If you have not yet installed the language pack’s files you will see the warning message

 MISSING LANGUAGE FILES OR DIRECTORIES ... YOURLANGUAGE YOURLANGUAGE

Edit Language

If you need to change the information about an existing language, click on the named language so that the right arrow appears in the Action column, then click on the edit button. The fields on the screen are the same for adding a language. When finished editing, click on the update button to save the changes, or click on cancel to discard them.

Delete Language

To remove a language, click on the named language so that the right arrow appears in the Action column, then click on the Delete button. If this is not the default language, you will be asked to confirm. Click on the delete button again to delete the language, or cancel if you do not wish to delete this language. If this is the default language, only the cancel button will appear, as you cannot delete the default language.

Installing A Language Pack’s Files

You can create a multi-language store by copying a language pack fileset to your cart and then using the Zen Cart admin to add the new Language as described above.

Language packs may be found in the Plugins Library.

Language packs are structured to correspond to your cart folders, so you can just rename the admin folder, if one exists, and then upload all the files.

If you’re not familiar with installing a Zen Cart plugin, follow the instructions on how to install a plugin.

Language File Help:



Still have questions? Use the Search box in the upper right, or try the full list of FAQs. If you can't find it there, head over to the Zen Cart support forum and ask there in the appropriate subforum. In your post, please include your Zen Cart and PHP versions, and a link to your site.

Is there an error or omission on this page? Please post to General Questions on the support forum. Or, if you'd like to open a pull request, just review the guidelines and get started. You can even PR right here.
Last modified September 4, 2024 by Scott Wilson (3d3df53f).