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Translations — Speaking Every Language

Pytigon's internationalization (I18N) system builds on Django's proven translation framework, adding automatic translation discovery, menu item localization, and JavaScript-side translation support.

How It Works

Pytigon integrates with Django's gettext-based translation system:

  1. Mark translatable strings in Python code with _() or pgettext()
  2. Mark translatable strings in templates with {% translate %} or _("text")
  3. Generate .po files with make_i18n command
  4. Translate the .po files using any PO editor
  5. Compile to .mo — Django loads these at runtime

Python Code Translations

from django.utils.translation import gettext as _

class Album(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(_("Name"), max_length=128)
    artist = models.CharField(_("Artist"), max_length=128)

    class Meta:
        verbose_name = _("Album")
        verbose_name_plural = _("Albums")

Template Translations

In .ihtml templates:

[translate "Welcome to Pytigon"]
[blocktranslate with name=user.username]
    Hello, {{ name }}!

Auto-Discovery

Pytigon automatically scans for translatable strings in:

  • Model field verbose names and help texts
  • Menu item labels
  • Form field labels (FastForm generates translatable labels automatically)
  • View configurations
  • Template files

Generating Translation Files

python manage.py make_i18n

This command: 1. Scans all Python files for _() calls 2. Scans all .ihtml templates for {% translate %} tags 3. Generates .po files in locale/[lang]/LC_MESSAGES/ 4. Updates existing .po files with new strings (preserving existing translations)

JavaScript Translations

Pytigon provides client-side translation support through the frontend library:

// JavaScript
ptig.i18n.gettext("Save");
ptig.i18n.pgettext("Button label", "Save");

The JavaScript translation catalog is served automatically and cached in the browser.

Menu Localization

Menu items defined in the developer tools are automatically localized. The "Name" field is converted to a translation key by lowercasing and replacing spaces with underscores. Translation files contain entries like:

msgid "user_management"
msgstr "Benutzerverwaltung"

Language Detection

Pytigon detects the user's language from: 1. URL prefix (/en/, /de/, /pl/) 2. User's browser Accept-Language header 3. User profile setting (if the user is logged in) 4. Default language from settings_app.py

Configure available languages in settings:

LANGUAGES = [
    ('en', 'English'),
    ('pl', 'Polski'),
    ('de', 'Deutsch'),
]
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