Shopping Cart Language Selection

Shopping cart language selection is accomplished by combining two functions.

Language Specific text and images (included in shopping cart pages and receipts).
Language Specific Categories (Each category can be set to open for a language.)

1. Language Specific Shopping Cart Text, Images and Receipts

For each language that is installed in the shopping cart, there is a set of language files, images and receipt templates. When a language preference is selected in the shopping cart, the software automatically displays standard page text and images for that language.

Shopping Cart Page Text - Page labels and comments that appear in the shopping cart pages are kept in language files. Each set of language files is kept in a subdirectory of the language directory and named with a two letter abbreviation. Each language inc.php file corresponds with a program file. The program uses the correct set of language files from de, en, fr, it, jp, sp, sv, etc. based on which language each customer selects. The language files are open source and editable.

Shopping Cart Button Images - Shopping cart button images are kept in the images directory. Language specific image files are named with a two letter language suffix. For example: filename-en.gif, filename-fr.gif, filename-it.gif, etc. Shopping cart button image sets are free to download from our site or you may create your own.

Receipt Templates - Each language has two receipt templates; one for html receipts and one for plain text receipts. The receipt template files are located in the admin directory and are named with a two letter suffix. For example: receipt-de.html, receipt-de.txt, receipt-sv.html, receipt-sv.txt, etc. Receipt templates can be customized for each language. The type of receipt (HTML or plain text) is set by the shop administrator through the admin panel.

Language Selection - Each customer may select a language preference by calling language.php with a language value. For example, the URL to select French language on this site is language.php?language=fr. Language selection links can be used in web pages and shopping cart page templates.

Shopping cart language preference for each visitor is stored in a cookie so that if a page in the shopping cart is bookmarked and returned to later, the language preference is preserved. Language preference is also stored in the database so that receipts and notices are sent in the selected language preference for each order.

2. Language Specific Shopping Cart Categories

Each product category can be set to open for a specified language. When a language preference is selected, the only categories that appear are the categories that are set for that language.

Add Products For Each Language - The category and products can be the same or they can be unique for each language. There is no limit to the number of categories. Only top categories have language selection. Subcategories fall under their parent category language. There is no limit to the number of categories or subcategories within 3 levels.

Custom Shop & Search Pages For Each Language - The product listing area and the category tree can be inserted into web pages as separate components. Buy buttons for individual products can also be inserted into web pages. Use the category tree or create your own navigation scheme. The possiblities are endless. An unlimited number of language specific pages can be created and the language redirect (below) can be used to direct to specific pages when a language preference is selected.

Language Selection Redirect - When a language is selected, the next page that the visitor sees may be specified for each language and also for each link.

Each language has a configuration file. If a value is set for the $langredirect parameter, it will be used when that language is selected.

The redirect value may also be specified in a link URL, which overrides the $langredirect value.

If a redirect is not specified in the conf.inc.php file or a link parameter, the redirect defaults to catalogue.php.

Shopping Cart Language Selection Demonstration

Select a language: