Theme Development from Scratch: Internationalization and Localization of Themes
WordPress theme creation is a valuable skill for web developers who want to offer custom solutions to their clients or contribute to the open source community. When developing a theme from scratch, it is crucial to consider internationalization and localization, also known as i18n and L10n, respectively. These processes allow your theme to be easily translated and adapted into different languages and regions, making it accessible to a wider global audience.
Understanding Internationalization and Localization
Internationalization is the process of planning and implementing products in a way that makes them easier to localize. In terms of WordPress theme development, this means structuring the theme in such a way that texts can be extracted and translated without the need for changes to the source code.
Localization, on the other hand, is the process of translating and adapting the product for a specific market. For WordPress themes, this involves translating text strings and sometimes adjusting date formats, currency, and other regional settings.
Preparing the Theme for Internationalization
To prepare your theme for internationalization, you must use specific WordPress functions that allow string translation. The most common are:
__(): Returns the translated string._e(): Echoes the translated string._x(),_ex(): Similar to the previous ones, but with additional context for strings with the same text but different meanings._n(): Handles the pluralization of strings.
These functions look for translations in the theme's language file set. For each string you want to make translatable, wrap it with one of these functions and provide a text domain, which is a unique identifier for your theme's strings.
<?php _e('Hello, World!', 'my-theme'); ?>
Additionally, you must load the theme language file using the load_theme_textdomain() function in the functions.php file. The text domain and path to the language folder are passed as arguments.
Creating Language Files
Language files are PO (Portable Object) and MO (Machine Object) files that contain the translated strings. The PO file is editable and used for translation, while the MO is a compiled version optimized for WordPress use.
To create these files, you can use tools like Poedit or plugins like Loco Translate. With these tools, you can open your theme's Portable Object Template (POT) file, which is a catalog of all translatable strings, and start translating into the language you want.
Theme Location
After internationalization, localization becomes a simpler process. With the language files created, users can set the website language in WordPress, and the theme will display the strings in the corresponding language.
It is also important to consider aspects such as date and time formats, text direction (left to right or right to left) and other cultural peculiarities. WordPress offers functions to handle most of these aspects, ensuring your theme is not only translated but also culturally adapted.
Testing Internationalization and Localization
Once you've internationalized and localized your theme, it's crucial to test to ensure everything works as expected. Change the site language and browse all pages to check if the strings are displayed correctly in the selected language. Pay special attention to dynamic and plural strings to ensure they are being handled correctly.
Final Considerations
When developing a WordPress theme from scratch, internationalization and localization are essential steps to reach a wider audience and provide an inclusive user experience. By following best practices and utilizing available tools and functions, you can create themes that are easily adaptable to different languages and cultures, increasing the value and versatility of your product.
With a properly internationalized and localized theme, you will not only be improving usability for users from different regions, but also contributing to the accessibility and diversity of the global WordPress community.
