Adding a Language

Liferay ships with over 50 languages out-of-the-box. Translation is complete for many of these languages, and some are still in the translation process. Each language has its own language properties file containing its language keys.

Adding a New Language

By default, the portal.properties file specifies all languages available in Liferay. To add a new language that is not specified,

1. Take note of the ISO 639-1 standard code for your language (e.g. the ISO code for Amharic would be am).

2. Take note of the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 two-letter country code for your language. (e.g. the ISO code for Ethiopia would be ET).

3. Modify and replace the web.xml file found in your Liferay installation: [LIFERAY_HOME]/tomcat-[version]/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/. Add your new language under <web-resource-name>. For example,

   <url-pattern>/am/c/portal/protected</url-pattern>
   <url-pattern>/am-ET/c/portal/protected</url-pattern>
   <url-pattern>/am_ET/c/portal/protected</url-pattern>
   

4. Modify and replace the shielded-container-web.xml file found in your Liferay installation: [LIFERAY_HOME]/tomcat-[version]/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/. Add your new language under <servlet-mapping>. For example,

   <servlet-mapping>
     <servlet-name>I18n Servlet</servlet-name>
     <url-pattern>/am/*</url-pattern>
   </servlet-mapping>
   <servlet-mapping>
     <servlet-name>I18n Servlet</servlet-name>
     <url-pattern>/am-ET/*</url-pattern>
   </servlet-mapping>
   <servlet-mapping>
     <servlet-name>I18n Servlet</servlet-name>
     <url-pattern>/am_ET/*</url-pattern>
   </servlet-mapping>
   

5. Create or modify your portal-ext.properties file in your installation’s Liferay Home folder. Note, this file overrides the enabled default locales defined in the portal.properties file. Therefore list all the languages you plan to use in the portal-ext.properties file. Define both locales and locales.enabled. For example:

   locales=am_ET,ar_SA,fa_IR,en_US,zh_CN,ja_JP
   locales.enabled=am_ET,ar_SA,fa_IR,en_US,zh_CN,ja_JP
   

6. Add the language keys for your new language. You can do this in two ways:

   • Use the Language Override tool. This is the recommended method of adding new language keys since Liferay DXP 7.4 U4/Portal 7.4 GA8..

   • Use a language module and write your language keys in a language.properties file. This method offers more control over the language settings such as directionality and name structure.

7. Navigate to Control Panel → Instance Settings → Localization. Verify and move the new language to the current languages. Click Save.

   

8. Change your default language to the new language and click Save. The new language is now used by the Liferay instance.

   

Adding Language Keys with the Language Override Tool

1. Navigate to the Language Override page.

2. Search for the language key you want to change and click it.

3. Enter the value you want to override.

   

Adding Language Keys with a Language Module

1. Create your language.properties file for your language and use the ISO code in your file name. For example Language_am.properties for Amharic:

   create-account=መለያ መፍጠር
   email-address=የ ኢሜል አድራሻ
   forgot-password=መክፈቻ ቁልፉን ረሳኽው
   home=መነሻ ገጽ
   password=ፕስወርድ
   powered-by-x=በ {0} የተጎላበተ
   remember-me=አስታወስከኝ
   search=የፍለጋ አሞሌ
   sign-in=ስግን እን
   

2. Create a language module with the language.properties file you created and deploy the module to your Liferay installation. See Overriding Global Language Translations with Language Properties to see a sample project and specific instructions on creating this module.

Changing the Directionality

When adding a language that writes from right to left, add this property to your language properties:

lang.dir=rtl

This could affect the site’s CSS in unexpected ways. You can prevent CSS rules from transforming (flipping) by placing the /* @noflip */ decoration to the left of the CSS rule you want to apply it to. This example gives a left margin of 20em to the body no matter the writing direction of the selected language:

/* @noflip */ body {
  margin-left: 20em;
}

You can also use the .rtl CSS selector to apply rules exclusively to RTL languages. For more information on customizing language settings, see Overriding Global Language Translations with Language Properties

Adding a Flag Icon

Liferay’s out-of-the-box languages have flag icons that appear on the language selector.

There are two ways to add a flag icon for your new language:

1. Use a theme sprite map client extension for user pages and an admin theme for admin pages.

2. Use a classic theme for user pages and an admin theme for admin pages.

The example below adds the Ethiopian flag to represent the Amharic language.

<symbol id="am-et" viewBox="0 0 1200 600">
    <path fill="#da121a" d="M0 0H1200V600H0z"/>
    <path fill="#fcdd09" d="M0 0H1200V400H0z"/>
    <path fill="#078930" d="M0 0H1200V200H0z"/>
    <g transform="matrix(1.6666667,0,0,1.6666667,600,300)">
        <circle r="120" fill="#0f47af"/>
        <g id="a">
            <path d="m 0,-96 -4.205849,12.944272 17.347494,53.390097 H -9.987258 l -2.599358,8 h 74.162668 l 11.011056,-8 H 21.553343 Z" fill="#fcdd09"/>
            <path d="M 0,44 V 96" transform="rotate(-144)" stroke="#fcdd09" stroke-width="4"/>
        </g>
        <use xlink:href="#a" transform="rotate(72)" width="100%" height="100%"/>
        <use xlink:href="#a" transform="rotate(144)" width="100%" height="100%"/>
        <use xlink:href="#a" transform="rotate(-144)" width="100%" height="100%"/>
        <use xlink:href="#a" transform="rotate(-72)" width="100%" height="100%"/>
    </g>
</symbol>

Adding a Flag Icon to User Pages Using a Theme Sprite Map Client Extension

Liferay 7.4

1. Create a theme sprite map client extension.

2. In your spritemap.svg, add your flag’s SVG inside a <symbol> tag. The id should be your language code.

3. Deploy your client extension to Liferay.

4. Create a new Blank Page and add a Language Selector fragment. Your language has no flag icon.

   

5. Add your client extension and publish the page. Your flag now appears on the Language Selector.

   

Use this client extension on every page or page template where you want your flag visible. For more information on Theme Sprite Map Client Extensions, see Using a Theme Sprite Map Client Extension.

Adding a Flag Icon to User Pages Using a Classic Theme

Note

The Liferay Themes Toolkit is deprecated as of Liferay 2024.Q4+ and is scheduled for removal in a future release. Instead, use client extensions to create themes or site initializers.

1. Create a theme using Liferay’s theme generator.

2. Modify src/images/clay/icons.svg and add your flag’s SVG inside a <symbol> tag. The id should be your language code.

3. Update package.json to use the appropriate version of each dependency.

4. Modify src/WEB-INF/liferay-look-and-feel.xml, following the example in the liferay-portal repository.

5. Run gulp deploy on your root module directory.

6. Add your theme to all pages or page templates where you want your flag icon. For more information on themes, see Themes.

Adding a Flag Icon to Admin Pages Using an Admin Theme

1. Create a theme using Liferay’s theme generator.

2. Modify src/images/clay/icons.svg and add your flag’s SVG inside a <symbol> tag. The id should be your language code.

3. Update package.json to use the appropriate version of each dependency.

4. Modify src/WEB-INF/liferay-look-and-feel.xml to make this an admin theme. Follow the example in the liferay-portal repository.

5. Run gulp deploy on your root module directory. Admin themes are applied automatically.

6. Refresh your page to apply the new changes.

For more information on themes, see Themes.

Related Topics

• Site Localization
• Using a Theme Sprite Map Client Extension
• Setting Up an Environment and Creating a Theme
• Upgrading Language Key Overrides