README.md

Loki

Laravel localization done right.

Overview

If you are building a multilingual website and you need URL management then this is the package for you. It integrates into existing Laravel functionality to support translated URLs and custom locales.

It supports route caching out of the box.

Before, I was using mcamara/laravel-localization to handle this, but I really really needed route caching to work. So, I created this package and simplified the whole setup and integration process.

Whatever mcamara/laravel-localization package can do, Loki can do too, but better.

Features

• Simple installation
• Easy configuration
• Custom locales
• Hide default locale
• Translated routes
• Language selector
• Route caching
• Native Laravel helper functions (route and url)
• Support for non localized routes (in progress)

Installation

From the command line:

composer require laravelista/loki

Then, add the Bifrost trait to your RouteServiceProvider class:

use Laravelista\Loki\Bifrost;

class RouteServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
    use Bifrost;
}

Finally, delete the method mapWebRoutes() from RouteServiceProvider.

That's it! View the configuration chapter bellow to configure your preferences.

Configuration

Publish the config file with:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Laravelista\Loki\ServiceProvider"

You will find it under config/loki.php.

supportedLocales [array]

Locale names (codes) can be whatever you want.

example. en-GB, hr-HR, en-US, english, croatian, german, de, fr, ...

'supportedLocales' => ['hr', 'en'],

defaultLocale [string]

The default application locale must be from one of the locales defined in supportedLocales.

'defaultLocale' => 'en',

hideDefaultLocale [boolean]

If you want to hide the default locale in your URL set this to true. (The default is true.)

example. If your default locale is set to en then requests to URLs starting with /en will be redirected to /.

'hideDefaultLocale' => true,

useTranslatedUrls [boolean]

This enables you to use localized routes. (The default is false.)

If you are using translated URLs for each locale then set this to true.

example. /en/about-us on en locale will be /hr/o-nama on hr locale.

'useTranslatedUrls' => true,

Once this option is set to true you have to create a routes file for each locale with the prefix of the locale.

routes/en.web.php:

<?php

Route::get('/', 'SampleController@home')->name('home');
Route::get('contact', 'SampleController@contact')->name('contact');
Route::get('about', 'SampleController@about')->name('about');

routes/hr.web.php:

<?php

Route::get('/', 'SampleController@home')->name('home');
Route::get('kontakt', 'SampleController@contact')->name('contact');
Route::get('o-nama', 'SampleController@about')->name('about');

Helpers

The default Laravel helper functions route and url have been changed to support URL localization. So you can use those as you normally would. This enables you to easily swap the mcamara/laravel-localization package with this one.

Use these helpers in your view files if you need to get current route in the specific locale or the current URL in the specific locale.

__url($locale)

This helper localizes the current URL into the given locale.

<a href="{{ __url('hr') }}">O nama</a>
<a href="{{ __url('en') }}">About us</a>

__route($locale)

This helper localizes the current route into the given locale.

Use this if you have set useTranslatedUrls config option to true.

I suggest giving all your routes a name and using this helper.

Be sure to give all your routes a name.

<a href="{{ __route('hr') }}">O nama</a>
<a href="{{ __route('en') }}">About us</a>

Language switcher

Use this blade template snippet to enable users to change the language:

<ul>
    @foreach(config('loki.supportedLocales') as $locale)
        <li>
            <a rel="alternate" hreflang="{{ $locale }}" href="{{ __route($locale) }}">
                {{ $locale }}
            </a>
        </li>
    @endforeach
</ul>

You can modify the template however you want.