You may not realize it, but people from other parts of the world may be accessing your site. Wouldn’t it be great if those people could read your site in their own language? Actually, they can! TNG has already been translated (at least in part) into almost 30 different languages. In just a few easy steps, you can configure your site to be readable in some or all of those. Here’s how:

1. Make sure you have dynamic language changing turned on. To do that, go to Admin >> Setup >> General Settings >> Language and make sure Dynamic Language Change is set to Allow, like so: http://www.tngsitebuilding.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-14-at-3.38.59 PM.png
2. Take note of your Language folder and Character set. Those are your default settings, and you’ll need them in the next step. And while we’re here, those two things should be compatible. In other words, if you’re using UTF-8 as your character set, then you should also be using the UTF-8 version of your preferred language folder. By the way, I recommend you all use UTF-8 if you can, especially if your data includes special characters, like à ê ǐ ö ů or similar.
3. Create language records for each language you’d like to support. You can do that under Admin >> Languages >> Add New. The first record you create should be for your default language. If you don’t add one for that, you won’t be able to switch back! Be sure to choose the same language folder and character set for your default language as you saw in the settings above, and give it a name that will be recognizable to speakers of that language (like “English” or “Norsk”).http://www.tngsitebuilding.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-14-at-4.00.36 PM.png
4. Repeat that process as needed. At the end, you should have a list of the records you created:http://www.tngsitebuilding.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-14-at-3.40.41 PM.png
5. Add translations for your template messages. This is optional, but if you also want to provide specific translations for each of the custom messages you’re using on your home page or in your custom header, you can do that from Admin >> Setup >> Template Settings. Each of the translatable messages there will have a “Create copy in” selection box to the right of the existing message. Choose a language (all the choices will be ones you created above), then click “Go”. Now you’ll see a new field right below that for the new translation, like this: http://www.tngsitebuilding.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-14-at-4.13.44 PM.pngJust add your translation there, then repeat this step for as many other languages as you’d like (if you skip one, the default language translation will be used for this language too). When you’r done, don’t forget to save!
6. Add translations for your Event & Attribute Types. Just like with the template messages, you can also provide translations for any of your custom event types. To do that, go to Admin >> Event & Attribute Types, then find and edit the type you want to translate. Now you should see a spot for “Other Languages”. Expand that area and add translations for this type for as many of your supported languages as you want. Any that you don’t supply will use the default translation.

When you’re done adding languages and translations, you should see a dropdown box on most public pages and on the Admin main menu that you can use to change the current language. When you choose a new language, that language is stored in a cookie so TNG can remember your preferred language the next time you visit.

That’s all! Be sure to let the users of your site know about this feature!

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