+++
linktitle = "Multilingual"
title = "Multilingual and i18n"
weight = 4
+++

The Relearn theme is fully compatible with Hugo multilingual mode.

- Available languages: Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Turkish, Vietnamese. Feel free to contribute!
- Full support for languages written right to left
- Automatic menu generation from multilingual content
- In-browser language switching

![I18n menu](i18n-menu.gif?width=18.75rem)

## Basic configuration

After learning [how Hugo handle multilingual websites](https://gohugo.io/content-management/multilingual), define your languages in your `hugo.toml` file.

For example with current English and Piratized English website.

{{% notice note %}}
Make sure your default language is defined as the first one in the `[languages]` array, as the theme needs to make assumptions on it
{{% /notice %}}

{{< multiconfig file=hugo >}}
defaultContentLanguage = "en"

[languages]
[languages.en]
title = "Hugo Relearn Theme"
weight = 1
languageName = "English"

[languages.pir]
title = "Cap'n Hugo Relearrrn Theme"
weight = 2
languageName = "Arrr! Pirrrates"
{{< /multiconfig >}}

Then, for each new page, append the _id_ of the language to the file.

- Single file `my-page.md` is split in two files:
  - in English: `my-page.md`
  - in Piratized English: `my-page.pir.md`
- Single file `_index.md` is split in two files:
  - in English: `_index.md`
  - in Piratized English: `_index.pir.md`

{{% notice info %}}
Be aware that only translated pages are displayed in menu. It's not replaced with default language content.
{{% /notice %}}

{{% notice tip %}}
Use [slug](https://gohugo.io/content-management/multilingual/#translate-your-content) frontmatter parameter to translate urls too.
{{% /notice %}}

## Search

In case each page's content is written in one single language only, the above configuration will already configure the site's search functionality correctly.

{{% notice warning %}}
Although the theme supports a wide variety of supported languages, the site's search via the [Lunr](https://lunrjs.com) search library does not.
You'll see error reports in your browsers console log for each unsupported language. Currently unsupported are:

- Czech
- Indonesian
- Polish
- Swahili
{{% /notice %}}

### Search with mixed language support

In case your page's content contains text in multiple languages (e.g. you are writing a Russian documentation for your english API), you can add those languages to your `hugo.toml` to broaden search.

{{< multiconfig file=hugo >}}
[params]
  additionalContentLanguage = [ "en" ]
{{< /multiconfig >}}

As this is an array, you can add multiple additional languages.

{{% notice note %}}
Keep in mind that the language code required here, is the base language code. E.g. if you have additional content in `zh-CN`, you have to add just `zh` to this parameter.
{{% /notice %}}

## Overwrite translation strings

Translations strings are used for common default values used in the theme (_Edit_ button, _Search placeholder_ and so on). Translations are available in English and Piratized English but you may use another language or want to override default values.

To override these values, create a new file in your local i18n directory `i18n/<idlanguage>.toml` and inspire yourself from the theme `themes/hugo-theme-relearn/i18n/en.toml`

## Disable language switching

Switching the language in the browser is a great feature, but for some reasons you may want to disable it.

Just set `disableLanguageSwitchingButton=true` in your `hugo.toml`

{{< multiconfig file=hugo >}}
[params]
  disableLanguageSwitchingButton = true
{{< /multiconfig >}}