Localization Thanks

I try and make a point of localizing all software I produce so that it can be used by as many different people as possible. Last year I wrote some articles (Translating WordPress Plugins and Localizing WordPress Plugins) detailing how to localize a plugin and theme from both a developers and translators point of view. Since then my plugins have been receiving a steady stream of translations and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who’s not only helped produce translation but also pointed out areas of my code that were not yet localized.

Adding a localization menu to WordPress

You may have noticed a small drop-down menu labelled ‘Localisation’ in the sidebar of this blog. It’s something I’ve been playing about with since localising the Giraffe theme and, while it doesn’t magically translate the entire blog, it does provide a viewer with a simple method to change the locale.

But what is a locale? In WordPress terms it refers to the framework around which your posts are displayed. That is, the words, phrases, dates, and times, that surround your posts. For example:

ItalianSpanishChinese

Try the live version now, if you want. You’ll need a Chinese font to display the Chinese localisation, but the others should work fine.