multilingual product description

[mauro e]

Hi, i was looking for an update

 

I've seen a lot of people on this forum asking for it. I've seen a lot of workarounds suggested by users that don't work anymore in the current version.

 

there was about 1,5 years ago a very promising post by brian! about a new tool to allow that, but nothing since.

 

is anyone aware of a way to do this for version 5.3.10, which won't get overridden by the next release?

 

thanks

Mauro

[Kian]

Hi,

 

If you have enough patience few weeks ago I was developing a module about it (see attached screenshots). It allows you to translate titles and descriptions very easily. No hacks or workarounds. It's just a module how it's meant to be made - the addon even has its own Smarty templates and /lang files.

 

 

 

 

Once you have all your translations, you simply have to include a file in your header.tpl file. This file overwrites all {$products.name} and {$products.description} automatically based on current language of your clients/visitors. If there's no available translation it will show the default one (WHMCS default language).

Edited November 3, 2014 by Kian

[brian!]

there was about 1,5 years ago a very promising post by brian! about a new tool to allow that, but nothing since.

I doubt it was that long ago... I hope not anyway!

 

the problem for me was that I don't have any clients not using English, so there was no immediate need for me to spend any great time on this... I knew how to do it (there are a number of ways), and I have provided working solutions for a few whmcs users on this, but I never got around to releasing it as an addon.

 

if memory serves, one of the solutions just required one minor smarty line change in one of the order-form templates - along the lines suggested by Kian.

 

is anyone aware of a way to do this for version 5.3.10, which won't get overridden by the next release?

I don't think you can guarantee the next version of WHMCS won't break any solution for any problem you can fix now - we all just have to wait and see!

[mauro e]

Hi,

 

If you have enough patience few weeks ago I was developing a module about it

 

thanks Kian, i'll definitely wait

[mauro e]

I doubt it was that long ago... I hope not anyway!

 

the problem for me was that I don't have any clients not using English, so there was no immediate need for me to spend any great time on this...

 

i didn't mean to imply you're lazy or something ;-)

i appreciate your help

[Kian]

Ok mauro visit this link and try change languages. You should be able to see name and description of products changing accordingly. Also try to set "Arabic" as language. I've intentionally left this language without a translation You should see "Italian" language since it's the default language on WHMCS.

 

I'm looking for suggestions and feedbacks.

[mauro e]

HI Kian, looks very good. few doubts

 

if i understand correctly you can translate every language, and you can leave some, so they'll get the standard language? right? so if i want to have italian for italy and english for everything else i just set italy and leave everything standard? if that's so i think it's great

 

i noticed that when you select your product and go to the next screen, you get "Hosting - Dedicated Server" for every language. i take the multi language hack does not affect this page. no big deal, just to understand how it works

 

thanks a lot. i like it

Mauro

[Kian]

if i understand correctly you can translate every language, and you can leave some, so they'll get the standard language? right? so if i want to have italian for italy and english for everything else i just set italy and leave everything standard? if that's so i think it's great

Yes. See the screenshow below for details.

 

 

In my WHMCS default language is Italian. Since I have no translation available for Hungarian, the module is going to display title & description in Italian (default language). Now look at Norwegian. In this case I only have a title but no description for this language. In this case the module is going to display the Norwegian title and Italian description since it's still the default language.

 

I think that this feature was necessary because let's suppose that you are selling a product named "Server". I don't think that you want to translate the word "Server" in more than 20 languages. It sounds odd. So in this case you just need to leave blank all titles. The module will always use the title coming from the default language.

 

i noticed that when you select your product and go to the next screen, you get "Hosting - Dedicated Server" for every language. i take the multi language hack does not affect this page. no big deal, just to understand how it works

Oh my fault. I forgot to include the "override" script in that page. I'll do it later as soon as I can.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Kian

[mauro e]

thats a dream come true mate. how soon do you think it'll be available?

[Kian]

Oh nice

 

Are you willing to also try the backend of the module? I'm looking for feedback and suggestion for this part too. I could send you login credentials to that WHMCS so that you can try everything.

[brian!]

I'm looking for suggestions and feedbacks.

the real problem with adding multilingual options to whmcs is knowing when to stop!

 

it's simple enough to add it to the order-forms and translate the product name, descriptions and/or group names and then follow that through so it works in viewcart too... but that's where the fun begins!

 

using Kian's site as an example, let's say that i'm French and i've bought "French title"... aka (serveur dédié) - and assume that the override is in place in viewcart, it will say "French title" through the on-screen ordering process.

 

to be a thorough multilingual solution, it should also modify the emails too to replace "Hosting - Dedicated Server" with "French title" - and change the pdf invoice to do the same thing... otherwise, the user will seemingly be buying one product and being invoiced for another.

 

... and then having bought "French title", it should be referred to as that in their client area and not "Dedicated Server".

 

that's one of the reasons why I never bothered doing any tutorials on this topic... it would turn into a huge monster to explain all the options and methods...

 

The module will always use the title coming from the default language.

ok, that's one way to avoid a whole lot of hassle!

 

as the original question was only about translating product descriptions, and this module deals with that well, i'm not criticising you or the module.

 

it's just that in my opinion, if you are going to translate products etc in WHMCS, then you should follow it through to the end and use those translations at every stage (ordering, emails, invoices, client area etc).

[Kian]

as the original question was only about translating product descriptions, and this module deals with that well, i'm not criticising you or the module.

 

it's just that in my opinion, if you are going to translate products etc in WHMCS, then you should follow it through to the end and use those translations at every stage (ordering, emails, invoices, client area etc).

Thank you for your feedback. Just yesterday I was thinking about this and I verified that it's possible to give to every user the ability to decide where they want to stop with translations with few simple checkboxes like:

 

• Do you want to translate email messages? Y/N
  
• Do you want to translate cart? Y/N
  

In this way you can show "Serveur dédié" title in your cart and decide to use it also for email messages or keep the original "Dedicated Server" translation by simply selecting or deselecting a checkbox.

 

If you are "multi-language addicted" just turn on all features and everything (cart & notifications) will be multi-language for real. Not only the "Dear client" and "Regards" part but even all products variables that you can't change via Email Templates.

[brian!]

that's a nice idea on how to do it.

[mauro e]

Oh nice

 

Are you willing to also try the backend of the module? I'm looking for feedback and suggestion for this part too. I could send you login credentials to that WHMCS so that you can try everything.

 

sure thing!

[mauro e]

Hi Kian,

 

just one last doubt. do you think this will work with templates? I mean if i'm using a template, will it show or will ti get overridden?

[mauro e]

Hi Kian,

 

just one last doubt. do you think this will work with templates? I mean if i'm using a template, will it show or will ti get overridden?

[Kian]

sure thing!

Great I'll send you a PM as soon as I complete another feature (multi-language configurable options).

 

Hi Kian,

 

just one last doubt. do you think this will work with templates? I mean if i'm using a template, will it show or will ti get overridden?

Sure. The way how it works doesn't depend on template.

[mauro e]

Great I'll send you a PM as soon as I complete another feature (multi-language configurable options).

 

excellent!

[clicweb]

Hi,

 

Any update on a release date if any ?

[clicweb]

Hi again,

 

I would also like to test your module to give feedback, I am very interested in it as I live in Quebec and language regulation here is a real pain. I have to translate every bit of text on my website.

 

Here is my mail: info(at)clicwebsolutions.com

 

Thank you

[Kian]

I think that it's better if I just post here credentials.

 

Link: http://whmcs.revhosting.org/admin/

Username: james

Password: bond

 

The module is the first on the list - the one with the longest temporary name. For obvious reasons you can only use modules. Feel free to edit all things you want. It's a demo WHMCS so it's not a problem. Please notice that IMO the module is not completed so let me know what's missing, what's not working etc.

 

I was thinking to add an hook to automatically remove all multi-language texts as soon as you delete the related Product/Service from WHMCS.

[Kian]

I received some suggestions on Skype. Now I finished to add 2 new features.

 

Translations for invoices

With a checkbox you can choose to keep all the original products names on invoices (standard WHMCS) or to automatically generate translated invoices (and emails too) where products names depend on the language of your customers. It works in a "gentle" way. Let me explain with some examples:

 

• French client. His invoice is "Serveur Dédié (24/11/2014 - 23/12/2014)" instead of "Dedicated Server (24/11/2014 - 23/12/2014)" because you've translated "Dedicated Server" in French
  
• Arabic client. You have no translation available in Arabic so in this case the module shows the default language of your WHMCS
  
• Norwegian client. Let's suppose that even if you have translations available for other products, you have no translation available for the product "Dedicated Server". The module still shows the default language
  
• If there are no translations at all, the module keeps showing the default language
  

 

Auto deletions of translations

As soon as you delete a Product/Service from WHMCS, all related translations will be deleted automatically in the same time.

[Tapeix]

Any news about it? When can we get this module, and for how much? Looking forward to, maybe you could also develop a module to translate custom client fields (been waiting for this very long!) Thanks! (p.s. you're free to send me a beta, I'm happy to test it for you )

[Kian]

I'm already working on it. I want to let you translate not only "Products/Services" name but also "Products Groups" and of course "Configurable Options" and possibly even the values of Configurable Options. To make it short I want this final result (example):

 

English:

Dedicated Servers - Model XXL (01-01-2014 - 31-01-2014)

» Setup and configuration €10: Yes

» External backup €10 for every GB: 5 GB

 

Italian:

Server Dedicato - Modello XXL (01-01-2014 - 31-01-2014)

» Installazione e configurazione €10: Si

» Backup esterno €10 per ogni GB: 5 GB

 

French (I used Google Translate since I don't speak French):

Serveur Dédié - Modèle XXL (01-01-2014 - 31-01-2014)

» Installation et configuration €10: Oui

» Externe sauvegarde €10 pour chaque GB: 5 GB

 

The point is that of course I need time to complete it and I don't know if it's better to release the first version with just "Products/Services" translation available and let you get an update later or wait until I finish all stuff.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Kian

[brian!]

personally, i'd suggest releasing it when its finished with all features...

 

i've seen threads on this topic going back years, so those wanting such a module have waited a long time... a few more days/weeks won't make much difference.