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Adding Languages

The template supports multiple languages. By default, it includes English and Hindi.

How it works

  • Each language has its own string file in _data/strings/
  • Content pages are duplicated per language (e.g., _pages/ for English, hi/ for Hindi)
  • The language switcher auto-discovers available languages from the strings files

Adding a new language

Step 1: Create strings file

Copy _data/strings/en.yml to _data/strings/[code].yml:

cp _data/strings/en.yml _data/strings/es.yml

Edit the new file and translate all strings:

# _data/strings/es.yml
nav:
  home: "Inicio"
  schedule: "Programa"
  people: "Personas"
  register: "Registrarse"
  # ... translate all sections

Add your language to the language_switcher section:

language_switcher:
  label: "Idioma"
  en: "English"
  hi: "हिन्दी"
  es: "Español"  # Add your language

Step 2: Create content folder

Create a folder for your language:

mkdir es

Step 3: Create content pages

For each page in _pages/, create a translated version in your language folder.

Each page needs this front matter:

---
layout: home
title: "Bienvenidos"
lang: es
permalink: /es/
alternate:
  en: /
  hi: /hi/
---

Tu contenido traducido aquí.

The alternate field maps language codes to their page URLs. This enables the language switcher to link between translations.

Step 4: Update existing pages

Add your new language to the alternate field on existing pages:

# In _pages/index.md (English)
alternate:
  en: /
  hi: /hi/
  es: /es/  # Add this

Do this for all pages that have translations.

Speaker translations

For translated speaker information, create language-specific files:

_data/content/speakers/
├── en.yml
├── hi.yml
└── es.yml

Tips

  • Start with the most important pages
  • Keep the same file structure across languages
  • Test all language switcher links
  • Some content doesn’t need translation (dates, times, names)

Disabling multi-language

If you only need one language, disable i18n in _config.yml:

features:
  i18n: false

This hides the language switcher. See Feature Toggles.

Next steps