Translation
Moodle has been designed for internationalisation. Each 'string' or 'page' of text that is displayed as part of the interface is drawn from a set of language files.
Directory structure of lang
Each language is a subdirectory of the directory lang.
lang/en is the directory containing all files for English.
- moodle.php - strings for main interface
- assignment.php - strings for assignment module
- choice.php - strings for choice module
- forum.php - strings for forum module
- quiz.php - strings for quiz module
- resource.php - strings for resource module
- survey.php - strings for survey module
- .... plus other modules if any.
A string is called from these files using the get_string() or print_string() functions. Each string supports variable substitution, to support variable ordering in different languages.
e.g. $strdueby = get_string("assignmentdueby", "assignment", userdate($date));
If a string doesn't exist in a particular language, then the equivalent in English will automatically be used instead.
- lang/en/help contains whole help pages for pop-up context-sensitive help.
Main help pages are situated here, while help pages specific to each module are located in subdirectories with the module's name.
Help buttons
You may insert a help button in a page with the helpbutton function.
e.g. helpbutton("text", "Click here for help about text"); , and for modules, helpbutton("forumtypes", "Forum types", "forum");
Language editing
Please note that you may edit languages via Administration >> Configuration >> Language. This makes it easy to not only create new languages but to refine existing ones. If you are starting a new language, please contact Martin Dougiamas. You may also like to post in the Using Moodle: Languages forum.
