Languages and localisation#
Two different things. A language is the language of the texts. A localisation is how numbers, dates and currency are written.
Find them under Systém → Jazyky and Systém → Lokalizace.
Language#
| Field | Note |
|---|---|
| Name | Czech, English |
| Code | cs, en — used in addresses |
| Flag | optional image, see Language flag |
Language flag#
A language can have a flag. It is shown next to the name in the language dropdown on the site. A language without a flag looks as before, with the name only.
Procedure: upload a flag#
- Open Systém → Jazyky (Languages) and edit the language (or create a new one).
- In the Vlajka (flag) field choose an image in JPG, PNG, WebP or SVG format.
- Click Uložit (save). The language list now has a flag column with a preview.
- Open the site and expand the language dropdown. The flag appears next to the name.
Replace the flag by uploading another image. Remove it with the remove option in the flag field and save; the image is then also deleted from the image library.
Without a variant plan the flag is not saved
The image is stored like other images in the system and resized copies are made per the plan for the usage Jazyk — vlajka (language flag), see Image variants. If the plan is missing, the administration reports that the flag cannot be saved and the language is not saved either. The previous flag stays. Ask the administrator to add the plan.
Only the dropdown shows the flag
The switcher variant with language abbreviations (cs, en) does not show flags.
Procedure: turn flags off on the site#
Flags appear in the dropdown by themselves. To turn them off in a specific place of a
template, add the flags: false parameter to the switcher call:
Uploaded flags do not disappear, they are just not drawn in that switcher. The template change is made by a developer or the site administrator.
Localisation#
| Field | Note |
|---|---|
| Name | the designation |
| Language | which language it belongs to |
| Currency | the default currency |
| Locale code | cs_CZ, en_GB |
| Date format | long and short |
| Thousands and decimal separator | |
| Decimal places | |
| Currency symbol position | before or after the amount |
| Negative sign position | |
| Region and payment region | |
| Main | the website's default localisation; URLs without a language prefix are in its language (see below) |
| Active | a disabled localisation is not offered on the website, see Disabling a language |
Why this is not part of the language
The same English is written with different dates and a different currency in Britain and in the United States. One language may therefore have several localisations.
URLs without a prefix = the main language#
Website URLs without a language prefix (/, /inzerce) are in the language of the
main localisation. Other languages carry a prefix with the language code (/en/,
/sk/inzerce).
| Main localisation | / |
/cs/ |
/en/ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Czech | Czech | redirects to / |
English |
| English | English | Czech | redirects to / |
By changing which localisation is marked Hlavní (main) you change the language the website opens in at its home URL. Links on the website adjust on their own.
Changing the main localisation changes content URLs
Pages of the previous main language gain a prefix and pages of the new main language lose theirs. Search engines and visitors' saved links take a while to catch up — change the main localisation only rarely.
A new language#
The order of the steps matters — the first two unlock everything else:
- Create the language with its code and a localisation for it.
- Arrange it with your administrator — without a change on the server a new language only takes effect partially (see below).
- Translate the pages — the ones that form the address: the e-shop, the classifieds, sign-in. Do this before anything else.
- Only then categories, products and the rest of the content.
- Check the administration and email texts.
An untranslated page brings down the whole branch of addresses beneath it
The address /en/eshop/… is composed of two layers: the first segment comes from a
page, the further segments from categories. Without a translated page the whole
path 404s, even if every category beneath it is translated. Hence step 3 before step
4 — there are far fewer pages and they unblock everything else.
Adding a language needs your administrator's involvement
For a new language to take effect, the system's internal state has to be rebuilt. Without that it behaves unpredictably: some things are translated and some are not, depending on what happened to be regenerated. Arrange it with your administrator in advance.
🔴 A missing translation can bring down a whole language version#
The gravest trap in the whole business of translating.
It is not merely an empty space
Where a translation is missing from something an address is built from, you do not get emptiness — the page errors out. For labels and body text it is only missing text; what decides is whether a link is composed from it.
For e-shop, classifieds, company directory and blog categories this is already handled
When a translation is missing there, the system falls back to another language and the
page works — the address will carry the Czech form under /en/ until you fill the
translation in. It does not hold universally, though: with a new or less common
content type, expect it and walk the main page types after adding a language, not just
the home page.
An empty translation is worse than none
Save an empty text and the system treats it as valid and does not fall back to the other language. The element then comes out with no name. Either translate it, or leave the field entirely untouched.
Number formats#
The difference between 1 234,50 Kč and 1,234.50 lies exactly here.
Check the format on a real document
The settings look right until you see them on an invoice. Issue a test one and go through the amounts.
A document remembers its format
An invoice records how it was formatted. Changing the localisation therefore does not change how old documents look — and that is right.
Disabling a language#
A localisation can be deactivated with the Aktivní (active) toggle. It disappears
from the language switcher on the website and its URLs (for example /en/…) end in a
404 error.
Switching off does not apply to the main localisation — the website keeps working in it and it always stays in the language switcher.
The content in that language does not disappear
It stays stored, merely inaccessible. Switch it back on and it is visible again.