A site with several languages keeps one copy of every page, product, course and form, written in the default language, and lays the other languages over it as translations. This article explains the addresses that result and how a visitor lands in a language.
The address says the language
| Clean URLs on | Clean URLs off | |
|---|---|---|
| Default language (English) | /about |
/en/about |
| A second language (Persian) | /fa/about |
/fa/about |
| Home page, default / second | / and /fa |
/en and /fa |
An address with a language in it always shows that language. This holds for pages, the blog, the store, courses, booking and community alike: /fa/store/products is the Persian store, /fa/checkout the Persian checkout.
How a visitor gets a language
- An address that carries a language shows it. A link to
/fa/aboutalways opens Persian. - Clean URLs on, an address with no language (
/about) is the default language. A visitor who wants another language follows a link that carries it, which is what the Language Switcher offers. - Clean URLs off, an address with no language is sent on to one that carries it. The site picks the language the visitor last used (it is remembered in their browser), then the language their browser asks for if the site offers it, then the default language.
- A built-in theme written in one language keeps the address with no language in that language, whatever the visitor's browser says.
- Old links keep working. On a Clean URLs site the default language's old prefixed address (
/en/about) redirects to the clean one (/about).
Where a language is not in the address
A few pages never carry a language, because they are reached from an email, a payment gateway or a signed-in area, and they take the language from the person or the record instead: the customer account (/portal), the student area (/learn), download links, unsubscribe links, and forms embedded on other sites (they take ?locale= instead, see the form's embed code). The admin panel has its own language, set per user.
Adding a language needs the plan to allow it
Adding a second language, a third and so on is a feature of your plan. If it is not included, saving the languages shows: "Your plan does not include more than one language for the public site. Upgrade it to add a language." A site that already lists several languages keeps them.
Pages that are not translated yet
They are not hidden. A visitor in Persian sees the English text inside Persian menus and buttons, and search engines are told the page has no Persian version. See What is translated and what is not.