Forum Moderators: coopster
Also, I know it is not a question for the PHP forum
But I will need to figure if translation of same topic triggers a dupli content issue
checking for an IP range to serve the correct language
This could be better in my opinion, and a link clearly mentioning to click here to go to the english version or something similar. But this is just my opinion.
I would like to hear other ideas on this topic too.
Hab
I think that offering language options based on IP is a cool idea - perhaps couple this with an option to pick some other common languages (maybe Spanish, French etc) when a user first visits the site and save this in a cookie for future visits regardless of the geographic location of the IP.
You should also give the user the option to change their language preference after they have chosen initially - from a flag image etc.
With regards to the dupe content issue, you shouldn't have a problem serving up different translations of the same content as long as you follow the usual dupe content rules.
I have experience of several sites with translated content and never had a problem.
[edited by: Sagaris at 4:17 pm (utc) on July 18, 2007]
Gee, it sure would be nice if there was some kind of standard that made that info available.
Equating IP location to language is a bit tough. It seems like a general relationship at best. I'm in the US and I run into people everyday that don't speak English.
I think that offering language options based on IP is a cool idea - perhaps couple this with an option to pick some other common languages (maybe Spanish, French etc) when a user first visits the site and save this in a cookie for future visits regardless of the geographic location of the IP.
So far I think using the IP range, plus language choice and the cookie idea sound good.
I wonder if you can get right down to the user level by grabbing language settings from the browser/user-agent and serving content based on results.
I am not enough knowledgeable about browsers
Perhaps not yet.... ;) Better yet, it doesn't look like you have to be. It seems more a matter of negotiating content based on the brower's HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE call.
Are you running on Apache?
It seems like a pretty simple process and it also seems like the professional way to go. Pigeon-holing an entire IP range into a language category seems a little like carpet-bombing.
Check out Apache MultiViews language negotiation set up [w3.org].
I think the more experienced over in the Apache forum would be a great help on this topic.
Thanks for the pointers.
Good input I will learn more about it and look for implementing ways
“Carpet bombing” is probably a good analogy :)
Ultimately it is going to come down to your site structure and design, henry0. I have my personal reservations regarding IP targeting for content delivery but again, they are personal. For example ...
I love being in foreign countries and experiencing the culture. But I hate visiting Google from some of those countries (with my own laptop) because of the geographical assumptions being made in regards to the IP. Now, I have never gone as far as tracing the route and finding out if it was Google themselves, a proxy in between or something else, but when the search engine splash page comes up in that country's default langauge and that country's name at the top, it disappoints me. My browser is configured to a default language of English, which I prefer, and I expect a site to respect that decision. Don't use my IP to make a decision for me!
When I develop I often checked for a previous cookie setting, that is, when I have employed cookies to store a change in language. After that I'll check the browser setting. And you are correct, if you are going to offer different languages and you want to make that experience available to your end user, you are going to need a "Click Flag" as you have so mentioned. 1A flag is arguably not often the best approach [cs.tut.fi] so how you decide to implement that is a whole new decision.
I think you will enjoy working with multi-lingual sites. No, it is not for the faint of heart, but the finished work is very rewarding.
1As you start reading and researching Content Negotiation, sooner or later you are going to come across Jukka Korpela and some great notes. It is recommended reading.
I think you will enjoy working with multi-lingual sites. No, it is not for the faint of heart, but the finished work is very rewarding
thanks coopster you are very much correct!
aside that big first question
I am already concerned with the rendering and building my CMS while filtering and respecting accents, n tilde and other goodies
because everything will be built and fed from the US.
I need to perform tons of research
