Drupaltools Translations

Drupal Translations Guide

Comprehensive guide for Drupal multilingual websites, translation workflows, and localization best practices.

Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/theodorosploumis/notes/refs/heads/master/drupal/translations.md

Overview

Drupal translations involve multiple layers:

• Interface translation: UI strings (t(), trans())
• Configuration translation: Settings, labels, descriptions
• Content translation: Nodes, taxonomy terms, blocks
• Entity translation: Custom entities with multilingual support

Translation Steps for Drupal Projects

Initial Setup

1. Install profile with required modules
2. Enable additional languages (non-English)
3. Configure language negotiation at /admin/config/regional/language

Translation Workflow

1. Interface Translation UI (/admin/config/regional/translate)

   • Add translations for interface strings
   • Search and translate individual strings

2. Configuration Translation (/admin/config/regional/config-translation)

   • Translate settings forms and configuration
   • Also accessible via "Translate" tab on each config form

3. Export Translations

   • Export PO files per language: drush locale:export LANGCODE
   • Store in mymodule/translations/mymodule.LANGCODE.po
   • Define path in mymodule.info.yml: translation path: translations/mymodule.LANGCODE.po

4. Config Translation Export

   • Export config YML files with translations
   • Copy files from config/sync/language/* to module's config/install/language/*

5. Entity/Content Translation

   • Use CSV import for bulk content translation
   • Manual translation through UI for menu items, blocks, nodes, taxonomy

Translation Storage Matrix

Essential Drush Commands

# Install profile with specific language
drush si MYPROFILE --locale de -y

# Core locale commands
drush locale:check
drush locale:update
drush locale:export LANGCODE
drush locale:import LANGCODE PATH_TO_PO_FILE

# Examples
drush locale:import de modules/custom/MY_MODULE/translations/MY_MODULE.de.po
drush locale:import nl modules/custom/MY_MODULE/translations/MY_MODULE.nl.po

# Config language negotiation
drush cget system.site
drush config:set language.negotiation url.prefixes.el el

Recommended Translation Modules

Essential

• tmgmt - Translation Management Tool (comprehensive workflow)
• potx - Translation template extractor (PO/POT generation)
• l10n_client - On-page translation interface
• babel - Content translation workflow enhancement

Specialized

• config_import_locale - Config translation import
• config_translation_access - Access control for config translation
• potion - Drush-based PO file management
• multilingual_audit - Audit multilingual setup
• tmgmt_spreadsheet - Spreadsheet-based translation workflow
• translation_extractor - Automated string extraction

Utilities

• interface_string_stats - Translation statistics
• l10n_tools - Localization helper tools
• locale_override - Override specific translations
• simple_entity_translations - Simplified entity translation UI

Translation Workflow with External Services

Process A: Translate via Spreadsheet

Translator → Google Sheets (XLS) → CSV → PO (for non-entities)

Process B: Translate via Translation Service

Translator → l10n_server (or Service) → Translate (manual or API) → Export PO → Import to /translations/PROJECT.LANGCODE.po

Translation Spreadsheet Columns

Standard columns for collaborative translation (e.g., Google Sheets):

Key API Hooks and Functions

1. locale.api.php - Interface translation hooks
2. hook_locale_translation_projects_alter - Alter translation projects
3. config_translation.api.php - Config translation API
4. hook_config_translation_info_alter - Alter config translation metadata
5. i18n group - Internationalization utilities
6. Translation class - Core translation handling

Complete Solution Requirements

When evaluating translation solutions, check for:

1. Export/import formats (PO, CSV, XLIFF, YML, XLSX, MO, REST)
2. Sync/update capabilities
3. Bulk translation cleanup options
4. Template export (POTX)
5. Translation status reports
6. On-page/in-place editing
7. Fuzzy suggestions
8. Translation user roles
9. Database storage for translation metadata
10. Translation merging capabilities
11. Context-based overrides
12. SEO validation for multilingual
13. Admin language toggle per user

External Tools & Services

Translation Services

• localize.drupal.org - Official Drupal localization server
• drupal.org/project/l10n_server - Self-hosted translation server
• poeditor.com - Online translation management
• weblate.org - Open source translation platform
• localizejs.com - JavaScript/on-the-fly translation

Desktop & Online Utilities

• poedit.net - Desktop PO file editor
• mlocati.github.io/jsgettext - Online PO/POT/MO converter

Common Translation Issues

Known Core Issues

• Configuration language overwritten during module install (#2905295)
• Translated Config Override default behavior (#2993984)
• String context and location filters (#2123543)
• Cannot delete source strings in D8+ (#2503893)
• META: Modernize Locale module (#3215707)

Best Practices

1. Structure

   • Plan multilingual architecture early
   • Define content vs interface translation needs
   • Set up language negotiation strategies

2. Development

   • Use t() consistently in code
   • Provide context for ambiguous strings
   • Extract templates regularly with potx

3. Workflow

   • Separate interface and content translation workflows
   • Use CSV for bulk content translation
   • Keep PO files in version control

4. Deployment

   • Export/import translations before deployment
   • Test with all enabled languages
   • Verify RTL support if needed