Knowledgebase
How to manage languages and translations in PrestaShop 1.5-1.6
By installing language packs you can have your site displayed in different languages, both the frontend and the backend. You can install a language either by importing a localization pack for the country in which the language is spoken, or you can install just the language with the options in the admin panel for automatically importing languages. Another possibility is to do it manually.
You can modify the translations of all installed languages; you can disable/enable installed languages, delete them and edit their settings. You can also export installed languages.
In this article we'll briefly review all this. For more details and screenshots read the tutorial on how to install and manage languages and translations in PrestaShop 1.5-1.6.
Import Localization Packs
One way to automatically install a language is by installing a localization pack.
A localization pack contains content related to a country: language, currency, taxes, etc. So by importing a localization pack you also import the language(s) of that country. To import a localization pack, go to Localization menu>Localization sub-menu. There you'll find a panel labeled Import a Localization Pack. Select the country from the respective drop-down menu, choose the content that you want to import and click on the Import button.
Install and Update Languages Automatically
If you want to install a language automatically (and without importing a whole localization pack), or you want to update an installed language, you can do that from Localization menu>Translations sub-menu in the admin panel. On the page that's displayed find the panel Add/Update a Language; in that panel use the drop-down menu to select the language you want to install/update and click on the button Add or update a language.
Install Languages Manually
Another way to install a language is to do it manually. To do this you need to have a language pack downloaded to your local computer. You can find and download language packs from the translations section of the official PrestaShop site, or it can be a modified language pack exported from another PrestaShop installation.
After that go to Localization menu>Translations sub-menu in the admin panel of your PrestaShop. On the page that opens find the panel Import a Language Pack Manually and use the options there to find the language pack on your local computer and to select the themes to which you want to apply it. Then click on the Import button.
Create, Delete, Enable, Disable and Edit Languages
When you go to Localization menu>Languages sub-menu you'll see a table with all imported languages. By default, an imported language is automatically enabled which means that it can be selected by visitors on the frontend. In the table there's a column Enabled that indicates with green checkmarks the enabled languages. If you click on a checkmark it will turn into a red X sign and the language will be disabled; if you click on an X sign it will turn into a checkmark and the language will be enabled.
To edit the options of a language simply click on the Edit button in the table (in PrestaShop 1.5 it's an icon that looks like a pencil). You can change the ISO code for the language and country, the date format, the flag image, etc.
To delete a language, in the table with the installed languages click on the arrow next to the Edit button and then select Delete. In PrestaShop 1.5 the button for deleting is a trash can icon.
On the page that lists the installed languages there's a button for creating languages. This will add a language, but the language will be without any translations added. You have to translate the expressions manually, or import a language pack manually as described in the previous section of this article. To create a new language, click on the Add new language button that's above the table (in PrestaShop 1.5 the button is labeled Add new), and on the following page configure the options.
Modify Translations
There's a set of default expressions/text strings that appear on the frontend and backend. When you import a new language this adds translations for these expressions in the particular language. You can edit the translations of a language, and if some translations are missing you can add them yourself. To do this, go to Localization menu>Translations sub-menu in the admin panel, and on the page that's displayed you'll see at the top a panel Modify Translations. Select the type of translation that you want to modify, the theme and the language and click on the Modify button (in PrestaShop 1.5 just click on the flag for the particular language).
On the page that opens the expressions are organized into fieldsets. Click on the name of a fieldset to view and edit the expressions in that set. After you're done don't forget to click on the Save button to save the changes.
Export Languages
If you want to back up a language that you've customized, you can do that by exporting it to your local computer. Then you can also provide it to other people.
To do this, go to Localization menu>Translations sub-menu in the admin panel and find the panel Export a Language. Use the options there to export the language.
Copy Languages
You can copy data from one installed language to another. To do this, go to Localization menu>Translations sub-menu, scroll down to the panel Copy and use the options there.
For screenshots and more details check out the tutorial on how to manage languages and translations in PrestaShop 1.5-1.6.