Languages

Mordoc uses folders inside content/ to organize languages.

The starter project has one language:

content/
└── en/

That means the starter site is written in English.

Understand the default language

The default language is set in config/site.json:

{
  "defaultLanguage": "en"
}

Because en is the default language, pages inside content/en/ do not get a language prefix in their routes.

For example:

content/en/index.md          -> /
content/en/guides/index.md   -> /guides
content/en/guides/install.md -> /guides/install

Add another language folder

If you add another language, create another folder inside content/.

For example:

content/
├── en/
└── fr/

Pages in non-default languages use the language code as a route prefix.

content/fr/index.md          -> /fr
content/fr/guides/index.md   -> /fr/guides
content/fr/guides/install.md -> /fr/guides/install

Keep page structure the same

Keep the same folder and file structure in each language:

content/
├── en/
│   └── guides/
│       └── install.md
└── fr/
    └── guides/
        └── install.md

This is required because the site uses one navigation structure for all languages.

The side navigation and top navigation point to routes such as:

/guides/install

When a reader switches languages, Mordoc uses the matching route in the selected language.

For example:

content/en/guides/install.md -> /guides/install
content/fr/guides/install.md -> /fr/guides/install

Missing language content

If a language is listed in config/language.json but its content folder is missing or empty, Mordoc can fall back to the default language content at runtime.

For example, if fr is listed here:

{
  "languages": ["en", "fr"]
}

But this folder does not exist yet:

content/fr/

Mordoc can still use the default language content.

This fallback is helpful while translations are in progress, but translated content should still follow the same folder and file structure when you add it.

Add the language list

If your site has more than one language, create:

config/language.json

List the language codes your site supports:

{
  "languages": ["en", "fr"]
}

The languages value must be an array of language codes.

If you create config/language.json, the default language from config/site.json must be included in the list.

For example, if defaultLanguage is en, then en must appear in languages.

You do not need config/language.json for a one-language site.

Translate navigation labels

After adding another language, you may also want to translate navigation labels.

That is handled by files in:

config/navigation/translations/

See Navigation Translations when you are ready for that step.

Next step

Configure navigation translations.