Learn how to add and manage multiple languages in Booking Website Pro to support a multilingual website for visitors.
Increase your website's reach and engage a broader audience by configuring a multilingual site. This feature allows you to provide translations of your content in multiple languages. When you add a new language, a duplicate version of your site is created to host the translation. You have the option to translate your site manually or utilize the convenient built-in Google Translate feature. However, it's essential to review the entire translation before publishing to ensure accuracy.
We use ISO 639 to represent our languages.
Warning
Once a site has been translated, any content added to a specific language version will not sync with other language versions. Therefore, we recommend adding multiple languages as the final step, once you have finished building your site.
The following features are currently not available in multi-language configurations:
- Personalization Rules.
- Blog Posts.
- Page SEO titles, descriptions, and keywords are not automatically translated; you can manually translate them. These fields are important for SEO, so make sure you translate them manually for each language. For more information on page information, see Page SEO.
- Alt-text (on images).
- Dynamic business content. Text connected via Connect Data will not be automatically translated. To translate this text, disconnect the widgets from the Content Library and translate them manually.
- Language flag. The language flag cannot be changed directly. To use a different flag, you must delete the current language and add the language with the desired flag.
- Google Calendar widget cannot be translated. The calendar structure, including months and days, will remain in the site's default language. Ensure that the selected calendar appears in the language specified in its Google Calendar settings.
- Adding external navigation links. Once you add a language to a site, you cannot add external links to the navigation.
Considerations
- The total number of pages a site with multiple languages can have is around 200, so if a site has 100 pages, only a single language can be added.
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Adding multiple languages to your site can enhance its accessibility, but it's crucial to be cautious about the quantity. Excessive language may lead to the following:
- Performance Impact: Too many languages might slow down your site and affect user experience.
- Possible Errors: Such as editor error messages, page rendering issues, and/or broken links.
- Maintenance Challenges: Managing content for numerous languages can be time-consuming.
- The language flag cannot be changed directly. To use a different flag, you must delete the current language and add the language with the desired flag.
- By default, the multi-language feature uses Google Translate to automatically translate your site content into the new language. While this service is free, Google Translate may not always provide the most accurate translations. Therefore, it's important to review and edit the translated content on your site. If you prefer to manually translate your entire site, disable the Use automatic translation toggle when adding languages. Note that once languages are added, automatic translation cannot be undone.
- When translating content in Accordion and Tabs widgets, certain styles, such as rich text, are not preserved after being translated and need to be added again.
- Folders added to the Pages area after languages are enabled can not be translated.
- Hyperlinked text is translated, but the link is removed.
- In the side panel, click More, then click Settings.
- Click Site Languages. Or, if you already have additional languages enabled, click the flag icon on the top navigation bar and click Manage Languages.
- Click + Add language, and choose one or more languages from the available options. Please note that some languages may have multiple country flags (e.g., Spanish).
- Click Done when finished.
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(Optional) By default, the Use automatic translation toggle is on. Automatic translation uses Google Translate to automatically translate your site content. While this service is free, Google Translate may not always provide the most accurate translations.
If you prefer to manually translate your entire site, disable the Use automatic translation toggle when adding languages. Note that once languages are added, automatic translation cannot be undone. - Click Save.
- The language selector widget will be added to the header along with the new languages. No further action is needed, unless you would like to customize the widget or its location.
- Any changes made to the location or design of the language selector widget must be applied separately to each language.
To select a different language version, click on the flag of your default language in the top bar and select the language you would like to edit from the drop-down.
Any changes you make to any language version (for example, changing text, images, or adding/removing widgets) will not be reflected in the other versions of your site.
To manage languages:
- In the side panel, click More, then click Settings.
- Click Site Languages.
- Click Manage Languages.
- The following options are available:
- Disable languages. To disable a language, toggle the switch next to the language.
- Delete languages. Click the X next to the toggle and then click Delete to confirm.
- Add additional languages. Click + Add Language
- Change the default language. Open the dropdown menu next to the default language and select a new default. Only previously added languages appear in the dropdown.
- If a secondary language does not have the same pages as the default language, you cannot switch the default language to the secondary language.
If you update the default language, the following will also update to reflect the new default language:
- Language selector in the SEO manager
- Language dropdown on the top bar of the editor
- The left panel shows the selected default language pages first
When languages are initially added, a language selector widget is placed in the header of all language versions, allowing visitors to switch between languages.
On mobile, the widget will be located in the expandable menu rather than the header (Classic Editor).
This language selector functions like any other widget, meaning it can be deleted or replaced with additional widgets as needed.
In the widget's design editor, there are several layout options to select from (with Classic Editor, only available on desktop). Including options with and without a flag.
Click the element to open the floating menu, then click the option to edit design.
During re-translation, the updated page will automatically inherit the content and design from the default language's page. If re-translating from the default language, all site languages will be updated. However, re-translating from a secondary language will only update that specific language version.
When re-translating a page, the header and footer content are not translated. You need to remove and re-add the language for new content in the header or footer to be translated.
To re-translate a page:
- In the side panel, click Pages
- Click the gear icon next to the desired page and select Redo Translations. If you are updating from a secondary language, the button copy is Update this Translation.
- Confirm that you want to proceed.
A backup version of your site is created automatically in case you need to revert your changes.
New pages can be added from the default language only. If you want to display a specific page in a specific language, add it to the default language first and then hide the page in the navigation menu.
Personalization rules are not supported in Multi-Language sites.
To add a page to other languages:
- Add the page to the default language and configure the design and content as desired.
- Once the page is complete, switch to each of the site's languages separately.
- In the side panel, click Pages
- Click into the drop-down menu at the top (it should say Translate another page) and select the page you want to translate.
The following is important information related to using dynamic pages on multi-language sites:
- Dynamic Pages on multi-language sites are managed from the primary language.
- Creating a dynamic page or converting a regular page to dynamic is only available from the primary language.
- Converting a dynamic page to a regular page from the primary language converts all pages to regular pages in all languages.
- Converting a dynamic page to a regular page from a language other than the primary one only affects the specific language page.
The following are some best practices:
- Add a dynamic page or convert a page to dynamic in the primary language. After connecting all the widgets, add that page to the other languages by clicking Translate in the settings menu, or by going to the other languages and clicking Translate Another Page on each one.
- This will add the dynamic page to the other languages, but it will remain connected to the same collection. Click the settings icon and select Replace Collection. This allows you to replace the connected collection but keep all the fields connected.
Unfortunately, this is a known issue. Due to a limitation of the API we are using for Google Translate, the multi-language feature does not always translate all site pages.
Solution: You can manually translate the site page or section that was not successfully translated. Google's translation tool is available as an option.
When you add a new language, a duplicate version of your site is created for each language to host the translation. This means any changes you make to any language version (for example, changing text, images, or adding/removing widgets) will not be reflected in the other versions of your site.
To make changes in other languages, select a different language version by clicking on the flag of the current language in the top toolbar and selecting the language you would like to edit from the drop-down.