PHP Fundamentals

The first thing we need to do is to create a couple of files that will contain the text for each of the languages that will be supported by the website. For demo purpose I have chosen English, Spanish and German. Make a directory named “directory”. In this directory create 3 files: lang.de.php, lang.en.php, and lang.es.php. In our main file (index.php) we will include a file (common.php) containing a piece of code that gets the requested language. Here’s the content of those 3 language files:

https://bc.anglican.ca/blog/2014/05/22/surprised-grace#comment-874

http://ageofstupid.tao.de/people/alvin_duvernay#comment-13021

http://www.stockholmradio.se/nyheter/2012/juni/20/stockholmradio-leverantoer-offshore-race#comment-9717

http://esto.tomsk.gov.ru/activity/14958/?MID=894&result=reply#message894

http://sas.scrippscollege.edu/sas-blog/welcome-back

http://mediamusings.dsc.rmit.edu.au/2013/10/18/sorry-to-the-world/comment-page-7/#comment-118562

http://newsservice.gordon.edu/2013/10/final-school-committee-forum-explores.html?showComment=1487311072219#c7295692958611639216

http://www.dc3.edu/mobile/athletics/mens-sports/rodeo/2012/06/22/conq-athletics-have-10-academic-all-americans

http://gahi.ntua.edu.tw/community/viewtopic.php?CID=4&Topic_ID=114

https://portfolio.cssd.ac.uk/view/artefact.php?view=21&artefact=179&offset=100

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kossykossy/e/70bfcbe26c7213b1397c47c999ad353e?st=0#comment-form

http://www.aliciasvigals.com/blog.php?category=&entry=4404#new_comment

http://www.artitude.eu/?p=articolo&categoria=news&id_pill=2286&#commenti

http://www.fiverdesign.co.uk/blog/drupal/drupal-advanced-forum-how-to-add-advertising/

http://camerondokey.com/blog/2012/11/12/coming-up-for-air

As you can notice, some constants are created using the define() function. In every file the defined constants have the same name, bu the values is different. We will output the values of the constants inside the index.php file. Therefore we will see different text every time we will call other language file.

Determine the right language

Let’s analyze the common.php file:

http://www.imaginecentralarkansas.org/news/pop-park-hill?page=3#comment-3760

http://www.fiverdesign.co.uk/blog/drupal/drupal-sciencecamp-cambridge-2012-recap/

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/office_integration__sharepoint/2015/04/20/office-2013-error-certificate-error-the-application-experienced-an-internal-error-loading-the-ssl-libraries-when-opening-files/#comment-7315

http://www.successfulblogging.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-blogging-but-no-ones-telling-you/#comment-247028

http://kikolani.com/social-distraction-aka-media-adventures.html

http://codes-sources.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-606342-upload-de-plusieurs-fichiers#p10073596

http://www.cds.edu/?attachment_id=1258#comment-364200

http://janu-herjanto.blog.ugm.ac.id/2012/06/24/hello-world/#comment-37358

http://china.uniongraduatecollege.edu/2012/12/more-shanghai-touring-happy-group-shot.html?showComment=1487356583104#c1212485099246969240

http://newsservice.gordon.edu/2010/01/local-band-sharing-spotlight-with-haiti.html?showComment=1487356654640#c463871985733499185

http://mediamusings.dsc.rmit.edu.au/2012/09/28/who-do-you-trust-reviews-in-the-online-world/comment-page-1/#comment-118645

http://portal.edu.ro/index.php/articles/19172?

http://beasiswa.mercubuana.ac.id/2010/11/meees-masters-scholarships-in.html?showComment=1487357385192#c5775888623494275525

http://gahi.ntua.edu.tw/community/viewtopic.php?CID=4&Topic_ID=112

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2262100939310697869&postID=8671808897589769833&isPopup=true


http://blog.mohe.gov.my/2012/11/pindah-kredit-maksimum.html?showComment=1487358200212#c1374801140296663084

After we determine the value of $lang, we use switch() to compare its value with some different values, and execute a different piece of code depending on which value it equals to. After the value of the $lang_file is determined, the script will include the necessary language file. As you can see I have used sessions to register the value of $lang. This way users can navigate through the whole site and see the content in the chosen language (lang=[language here] does not need to be passed in every URL). Additionally, I have used cookies to store the selected language in users computer for 30 days. When the visitor will come back he will see the site in the language that he previously selected.

How if the website’s language requested?

In this demo I have chosen to use some image flags, each image having a link to index.php?lang=[LANG HERE]. So, to see the site in german we will use the German image flag which links toindex.php?lang=de.

Lastly, the constants values should be outputted in the page. Examples