Language strings | Kartris User Guide

15.2. Language strings

The text throughout Kartris for routine features such as field labels, button text, titles of functional pages such as the basket and checkout is all stored in the database by means of records we refer to as 'language strings'. This system is built on top of the built-in ASP.NET localization features (which normally run from XML files), replacing that with an SQL database-driven system.

Having the system database-driven makes it far easier to search for, edit and update the string values, essential because of the volume of text in Kartris which can be customized in this way. This system is used in both the front and back end, and so there are several thousand strings for each language. The values pulled out are also cached for performance reasons.

15.2.1. Finding the appropriate string to edit

The general back end search box includes language strings within the scope of the search. You can find language strings with a partial text match on either the name of the string or the value. For example, searching for 'street' will find any language string that includes the word 'street' within its value (the visible text you see on the front of the site) or its name (for example, ContentText_StreetAddress).

If you navigate to the language strings page, you have more powerful search tools. Go to 'Regional Settings > Language Strings'. You can filter the search to a particular language, or to only search for the submitted text within the value, name or class. You can also filter by whether a string is used on the front or back end of Kartris.

15.2.2. Editing language strings

When editing language strings, we strongly suggest you only edit the 'value' field and the 'description' field. Changing the name of a language string will mean that any page which includes that language string will no longer be able to find it.

15.2.3. Caching of language strings

Being database-driven, the Kartris language provider is very efficient. However, to improve performance even more, language strings are cached because in most cases they change very rarely. If you change a language string, you may find that the change does not appear immediately, even if you rebuild the caches with the button above the left hand category menu. In this case, you can force the language strings to be rebuilt by restarting the site. This can be done from the back end home page.

15.2.4. Language string translation

The easiest way to add a new language is to import it through the Data Tool. See @10.4. Importing language packs‍ for more information.

If you later upgrade Kartris, you may find that new English language strings were added, but that your other languages lack these records. This can be addressed through the languages page - see @15.1. Languages and email setup‍

Once you have 'fixed' the other languages so that they have the same number of strings, you may need to translate those new English strings into the desired language. This can be done from this section. You can choose the target langauges, and filter records to find the strings you need to translate, then enter the new values.