Multilingual variables

Last updated September 25, 2008. Created by Jose Reyero on April 5, 2007.
Edited by add1sun, Ian Ward. Log in to edit this page.

Some text and settings are stored in Drupal as variables, and some site wide ones like 'site name' and 'site slogan,' along with module specific ones, can be edited through the administration pages. The Internationalization module makes it so these variables can be translatable.

To enable these variables to be translatable we need to identify the low level names Drupal uses for them. This can be done looking at the 'variable' table in the database or searching through the code. However, we'll show you how to translate the more common setting below.

Once you have identified the variables you want to be translated, they need to be added in the settings file as follows:

/**
 * Multilingual settings
 * 
 * This is a collection of variables that can be set up for each language when i18n enabled.
 * These are the basic ones for Drupal core, but you can add your own here.
 */
$conf['i18n_variables'] = array(
  'site_name',
  'site_slogan',
  'site_mission',
  'site_footer',
  'anonymous',
  'menu_primary_menu',
  'menu_secondary_menu',
);

The configuration file is usually under /sites/default/settings.php or another subfolder depending on the settings of your site. Also there may be more than one if you are using a multi-site set up.

Once you have the correct settings added to your configuration file, they'll be marked as 'multilingual variable' when you go to the corresponding administration pages. You must switch the site language while in the administration pages to set the value for each language

Figure 1 - Multilingual settings