Localization

Localization lets you publish your site in more than one language. Each language has its own page version, address, and search-engine data.

You can translate a page yourself, or ask the agent to translate it.

How Splitleaf handles languages

Splitleaf stores each language as a separate version of your content.

A French page is a complete page with its own file. A translated content item is the same item with French field values.

You or the agent can edit each language directly, just as you edit the default language.

Why Splitleaf uses separate page versions

Some website tools store text as named keys, such as hero.title, in one file per language. The page then loads text from the file for the visitor's language.

Splitleaf does not use this key-based model today.

A key-based system is rigid. Every new key needs a matching entry in every language file. You cannot add, remove, or reorder content for one language alone because every language uses the same template and key set.

Splitleaf gives each language its own page instead.

You can add a section to a French page only. You can also arrange Norwegian content differently from English content. Changes in one language do not break another language.

This approach uses less shared content, but it gives each language more freedom. AI translation also makes it faster to create accurate translations.

Note: Splitleaf may add key-based localization later.

Add a language

  1. Open Site settings.
  2. Click Languages.
  3. Type a language name or code in the search field. For example, type Norwegian or no.
  4. Select the language from the list, or click Add to add the typed value directly.

The language appears as a card with a flag, display label, and BCP-47 code. Splitleaf writes this code into the page's language attribute.

Note: You can edit the display label or BCP-47 code on the card at any time.

Choose the default language and URL structure

Your site starts with one default language.

  • Click Make default on a language card to make it the default. You cannot remove the default language.
  • Turn on Prefix the default locale in URLs to give the default language its own URL prefix. For example: example.com/en/.
  • Leave Prefix the default locale in URLs off to keep the default language at the root URL. For example: example.com/ for the default language and example.com/no/ for Norwegian.
  • Set Auto-redirect by browser language to Redirect root by Accept-Language to send first-time visitors to the language that matches their browser.
  • Set Auto-redirect by browser language to Off to show the default language at the root URL first.

Set translation guidelines

  1. Open Site settings.
  2. Click Languages.
  3. Type your rules in the Translation guidelines field.

Use this field for brand names that must not change, or for a tone that every language should use.

The agent follows these guidelines when it translates your pages. Human translators should follow them too.

Translate a page

A new page exists only in the default language until you translate it.

  1. Open the page in the Design panel.
  2. Click the language picker in the top bar.
  3. Select the language you want to add.
  4. Ask the agent to translate the page, or edit the text yourself.

Note: Translating a page does not translate dynamic content. A dynamic list or CMS field gets its text from the content item, not from the page.

Each language can also have its own address, search-engine title, and search-engine description. Edit these in page settings while the language is active in the picker.

Note: Internal links stay written to the default-language address in every page version, including shared components. Splitleaf points each link to the correct language automatically when it publishes.

Translate CMS content

Content items follow the same pattern as pages.

  1. Open the item in the Content panel.
  2. Click the language picker in the item editor.
  3. Select the language you want to add.
  4. Edit the fields for that language.

Each language keeps its own field values for the item.

Pages do not need every language

A page does not need a version in every language. Splitleaf does not publish the page in a language where you have not created a translation.

Publish translations

A new translation stays a draft until you publish it, just like any other change.

See Publish your site for publishing instructions.

Search engines and languages

Splitleaf adds the language attribute, hreflang tags, and Open Graph language tag to every page automatically.

You do not write these tags by hand. The sitemap lists every published language version, so search engines can find them all.