By default, Joomla requires you to edit the language files by hand. Fortunately, there's another option: an extension called Translations Manager. With this extension, you can even create new language translations based off of existing ones, this is a lot of work, so you should only create one if it hasn't been done already

There are dozens of ready-made translations available on the Joomla Extensions Directory. For help finding and installing a language pack, watch the first two tutorials of the series

As with all extensions we'll be showing you, start by going to extensions.joomla.org then, navigate to the Languages/ Multi-lingual Content category and find the Translations Manager page. Once there, click the Download button. Right-click on the file and copy the link. Install the package in Joomla as shown in the second tutorial of this series

• After installation, please go to Joomla back-end via this url: "your_site/administrator" (e.g: http://vinaora.com/joomla/administrator/)
• Go to Components. Click Translation Manager. This is the Translation Manager. As you can see, we only have the default language installed - English
• Let's create a new translation. Look to the right. Click [New]
• As with most parts of the Joomla admin panel, hovering the mouse over an option's title will clarity its purpose and help you determine what should be entered in the field
• Scroll down
• First specify a Client, or where your language is meant to be used. We're going to be creating a new Site language, so leave that as the default
• Next you must specify a Language ISO Tag. This field helps identify the language using the format described in this field's hover description. For help finding the codes you need, to to Wikipedia.org and check out the articles entitled *List of ISO 639-1 codes* and "ISO 3166-1". Once you've determine the correct tag, type it here
• Choose a descriptive Name
• A Description is optional
• Type a Legacy Name. If this language pack isn't going to be exported to Joomla 1.0, this field should not matter
• Language Locales help identify your language to the server on which Joomla is running. Separate each locale code by a comma
• When in doubt entering ISO tag from above as well as just the language code part should be sufficient
• Windows Code Page: Enter an encoding for the language. The default should be fine for most western languages. A good alternative would be UTF-8
• Right-to-Left: If your language is read from right to left, change this to Yes
• Next, enter an author name and, optionally, an e-mail address
• Scroll down. Update Version to the version of Joomla for which this translation is intended
• Creation Date should automatically reflect today's date
• Scroll up and right. Click [Save]. Our new site language has been created!
• To begin editing the translation files, click here
• This column shows how many phrases are in each file
• Click here to begin editing the phrases contained in the first file
• Whichever language is set to the default becomes the Reference Language. Phrases in the column come from that language
• Work your way through the entire file and translate every phrase. If you miss a phrase, it will remain in the default language
• When you're completely finished translating this file, click this check-box to mark it as complete
• Look to the right. Click [Save]
• This file has been saved, its status updated
• You should be able to tell from this brief demonstration that translating every pharse Joomla uses could take many hours. With luck, you''ll be able to find an existing translation to fit your needs
• Click here to return to the language list
• When you've completely finished your translations, you can export the files in the proper format to be installed by the Extension Manager
• Choose the language you wish to export. Click Package. This file has been created at the path shown on the screen
• Lastly, if you want to delete a language, choose the language… Look right. Click Delete. This language has been deleted
• This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to use the Translations Manager extension for Joomla

See Tutorial Video with VOICE (step by step):

Video - How to translate a language using the Translations Manager in Joomla

Keyword:

• joomla, joomla 1.5, tutorial, tutorials, video, voice, how to, translate, language, translations manager, new language, multilingual, download, components, english, site, iso tag, legacy, language locales, utf-8, reference, package