Cartum sites include all the features you need to easily enable multiple language versions.
On sites created in January 2024 or later, customers can manage site languages on their own. On older sites, you need to contact the support team to manage language versions.
You can customize the available languages and add new ones in Settings → Languages.
Switching language versions
The language version switcher is displayed in the header of the site. You can see examples of different organization of elements in the header in the Cartum template gallery.
Main language version
The main language version of the site is the one that opens by default when you visit the site. Usually, the main language version, unlike other languages, does not have a prefix in the domain name.
In the admin panel, the main language will always be in the first place in the languages table.
To change the main language version:
Find the language you want and click Set as main next to it.
In the pop-up window, read the warning about changing the language and confirm your actions.
If necessary, set the appropriate language prefixes for other languages and save your changes.
Please note that when you change the main language version:
links to products and categories will change;
the language of content in product feeds generated in the main language version will change;
the language of the content in export files (for example, XML) generated in the main language version will change.
Warning: If your site is already up and running, do not change the main language version unless absolutely necessary and without first consulting your SEO and advertising settings specialists.
Setting up the language version
There are several settings for each language version in the admin panel:
Site title — the abbreviated name of the language version that will be displayed in the language switcher on the site.
Show on storefront — if this checkbox is enabled, the language version is available to site visitors.
Display in control panel — if this checkbox is enabled, fields for the corresponding language version will be available in the admin panel of the site: product names and descriptions, categories, text pages, banners, etc.
Currency — the default currency to display.
No index — if this checkbox is enabled, the language version will not be indexed by search engines.
Please note: If you are still working on uploading content for a particular language version, but it is not ready yet, you can enable the display of this language in the admin panel, but not enable it on the site.
Indexing of language versions
By default, all language versions of the site are available for indexing. If necessary, you can disable the indexing of a particular language version of your site. In this case, all pages of this language version are closed from indexing. A language version that is closed for indexing can remain open to users.
You can close a particular language version for indexing in its settings by enabling the No index checkbox.
Default language versions
For the language versions that are available in the Cartum admin panel, the site interface elements have already been translated and pre-set.
You can enable and disable the display of the language versions you need both on the website and in the admin panel.
Creating a new language version
If the language you need is not among the installed language versions, you can contact support to create it.
To create a new language version:
Go to Settings→ Languages and click the + Send a request to add a language button.
A chat window will open where you can write a request for the language version you need.
In the request, specify the required language and settings — language version prefix, currency, and title.
Please note: for languages that are not in the admin panel, you will need to translate the site interface elements yourself using the Interface translation function.
Add a new language to the interface
For all the languages set by default in the admin panel, the translation of the interface has already been done by our specialists.
After adding a new language to the site interface, you need to download the translation values in the admin panel, translate them in the table, and import the new language to the site.
To create a new translation:
Go to the Site → Interface Translation.
Click the Export button and select the language to download the translation table.
The table you receive contains two columns:
key — keys for translation: these values are used to match translations with interface elements;
value — the value of the translation into a particular language.
Replace the entries in the value column with the translations in the new language and save the table.
In the admin panel, click Import, select the language for which you want to upload the translation and the file you want to import in the pop-up window.
Upload the translation.