i18next-browser-languageDetector VS i18next-http-backend

Install i18next-browser-languagedetector to simplify language detection in the frontend

There are many other options which you can pass for language detection which you can find in the documentation

The following package will detect the language automatically for us. So don’t have to worry about determining the currently selected language

I wish language selection in OS and Browser were easier to access... but your browser does send a language header with your request, which generally matches your browser.

Location based is and can be a pain. I live in a border state and often get spanish versions of sites... I also follow a couple prominent youtubers who post english and foreign language content, so sometimes get results in those languages, that I don't read.

That said, using the default for the browser, and allowing override isn't a bad thing... I usually look for something that looks like a flag in the upper right, for language selection. And the few times I've written multi-language sites/apps that's the UX I prefer to use. I would default to browser/header, I would respond to the change event, and if the user selects a preference, set a cookie and use that first.

Again, I do wish it were easier to switch for the browser itself.

1. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Ac...

2. https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector/...

3. https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector

4. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/lang...

import i18n from "i18next"; import { initReactI18next } from "react-i18next"; import LanguageDetector from "i18next-browser-languagedetector"; i18n // detect user language // learn more: https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector .use(LanguageDetector) // pass the i18n instance to react-i18next. .use(initReactI18next) // init i18next // for all options read: https://www.i18next.com/overview/configuration-options .init({ debug: true, fallbackLng: "en", interpolation: { escapeValue: false, // not needed for react as it escapes by default }, resources: { en: { translation: { title: "i18n React project", english: "English", spanish: "Spanish", }, }, es: { translation: { title: "Proyecto i18n en React", english: "Ingles", spanish: "Español", }, }, }, }); export default i18n;

import I18NextVue from 'i18next-vue' import i18next from 'i18next' import Backend from 'i18next-locize-backend' import LanguageDetector from 'i18next-browser-languagedetector' import LastUsed from 'locize-lastused' import { locizePlugin } from 'locize' const isProduction = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' const locizeOptions = { projectId: process.env.VUE_APP_LOCIZE_PROJECTID, apiKey: process.env.VUE_APP_LOCIZE_APIKEY, // YOU should not expose your apps API key to production!!! version: process.env.VUE_APP_LOCIZE_VERSION } if (!isProduction) { // locize-lastused // sets a timestamp of last access on every translation segment on locize // -> safely remove the ones not being touched for weeks/months // https://github.com/locize/locize-lastused i18next.use(LastUsed); } export const i18nextPromise = i18next // locize-editor // InContext Editor of locize .use(locizePlugin) // i18next-locize-backend // loads translations from your project, saves new keys to it (saveMissing: true) // https://github.com/locize/i18next-locize-backend .use(Backend) // detect user language // learn more: https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector .use(LanguageDetector) // init i18next // for all options read: https://www.i18next.com/overview/configuration-options .init({ debug: !isProduction, fallbackLng: 'en', saveMissing: !isProduction, backend: locizeOptions, locizeLastUsed: locizeOptions }) export default function (app) { app.use(I18NextVue, { i18next }) return app }

import { hydrate } from 'react-dom' import { RemixBrowser } from 'remix' import i18next from 'i18next' import LanguageDetector from 'i18next-browser-languagedetector' import { initReactI18next } from 'react-i18next' import Backend from 'i18next-locize-backend' import LastUsed from 'locize-lastused' import { locizePlugin } from 'locize' import i18nextOptions from './i18nextOptions' const isProduction = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' const locizeOptions = { projectId: 'f6d74b76-9677-4a0d-b400-86e1507397ab', apiKey: !isProduction ? '1c2bbc21-027d-4f41-995a-e8beb451cdef' : undefined, // YOU should not expose your apps API key to production!!! version: isProduction ? 'production' : 'latest' } if (!isProduction) { // locize-lastused // sets a timestamp of last access on every translation segment on locize // -> safely remove the ones not being touched for weeks/months // https://github.com/locize/locize-lastused i18next.use(LastUsed) } // initialize i18next using initReactI18next and configuring it if (!i18next.isInitialized) { // prevent i18next to be initialized multiple times i18next // locize-editor // InContext Editor of locize .use(locizePlugin) // i18next-locize-backend // loads translations from your project, saves new keys to it (saveMissing: true) // https://github.com/locize/i18next-locize-backend .use(Backend) // detect user language // learn more: https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector .use(LanguageDetector) // pass the i18n instance to react-i18next. .use(initReactI18next) // init i18next // for all options read: https://www.i18next.com/overview/configuration-options .init({ ...i18nextOptions, detection: { caches: ['cookie'], lookupCookie: 'i18next' }, backend: locizeOptions, locizeLastUsed: locizeOptions, saveMissing: !isProduction // you should not use saveMissing in production }) .then(() => { // then hydrate your app wrapped in the RemixI18NextProvider return hydrate( , document ) }) }

const getGreetingTime = () => { const split_afternoon = 12; // 24hr time to split the afternoon const split_evening = 17; // 24hr time to split the evening const currentHour = moment().hour(); if (currentHour >= split_afternoon && currentHour <= split_evening) { return 'afternoon'; } else if (currentHour >= split_evening) { return 'evening'; } return 'morning'; } const rerender = () => { // start localizing, details: // https://github.com/i18next/jquery-i18next#usage-of-selector-function $('body').localize(); $('#footerMessage').localize({ context: getGreetingTime() }); $('title').text($.t('head.title')) $('meta[name=description]').attr('content', $.t('head.description')) } const locizeOptions = { projectId: '8d751621-323e-4bda-94c8-7d2368102e62', apiKey: '302aca54-2ea8-4b9f-b5f0-df1369c59427' // YOU should not expose your apps API key to production!!! }; i18next.on('editorSaved', rerender); // used for the inContext editor $(function () { const locizeBackend = new i18nextLocizeBackend(locizeOptions, (err, opts, lngs) => { if (err) return console.error(err); // use plugins and options as needed, for options, detail see // https://www.i18next.com i18next // locize-editor // InContext Editor of locize .use(locize.locizePlugin) // locize-lastused (do not use this in production) // sets a timestamp of last access on every translation segment on locize // -> safely remove the ones not being touched for weeks/months // https://github.com/locize/locize-lastused .use(locizeLastUsed) // i18next-locize-backend // loads translations from your project, saves new keys to it (saveMissing: true) // https://github.com/locize/i18next-locize-backend .use(locizeBackend) // detect user language // learn more: https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector .use(i18nextBrowserLanguageDetector) // init i18next // for all options read: https://www.i18next.com/overview/configuration-options .init({ ...opts, debug: true, fallbackLng: 'en', backend: locizeOptions, locizeLastUsed: locizeOptions, saveMissing: true // interpolation: { // // legacy usage // format: (value, format, lng) => { // if (value instanceof Date) { // return moment(value).locale(lng).format(format); // } // return value; // } // } }, (err, t) => { if (err) return console.error(err); // new usage i18next.services.formatter.add('LLLL', (value, lng, options) => { return moment(value).locale(lng).format('LLLL'); }); // for options see // https://github.com/i18next/jquery-i18next#initialize-the-plugin jqueryI18next.init(i18next, $, { useOptionsAttr: true }); // fill language switcher Object.keys(lngs).map((lng) => { const opt = new Option(lngs[lng].nativeName, lng); if (lng === i18next.resolvedLanguage) { opt.setAttribute("selected", "selected"); } $('#languageSwitcher').append(opt); }); let languageChangedCounter = 0; $('#languageSwitcher').change((a, b, c) => { const chosenLng = $(this).find("option:selected").attr('value'); i18next.changeLanguage(chosenLng, () => { rerender(); // language changed message languageChangedCounter++; $('#languageChangedNotification').localize({ count: languageChangedCounter }) if (languageChangedCounter === 1) { $('#languageChangedNotification').show(); } }); }); rerender(); $('#loader').hide(); $('#content').show(); }); }); });

In addition, we need to install i18next-http-backend which allows us to fetch translations from a directory, and i18next-browser-languagedetector which allows us to detect the user's language:

my go-to localization package is this: https://react.i18next.com/ used with https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector

A React.js based i18next setup with in-memory translation resources could also look very similar to the above example, so let's raise the bar a little bit and see what a setup with lazy loading translations like with i18next-http-backend looks like:

The next package will load the values depending on the language returned by the language detector.

import i18next from 'i18next' import I18NextVue from 'i18next-vue' import LanguageDetector from 'i18next-browser-languagedetector' import Backend from 'i18next-http-backend' export const i18nextPromise = i18next // i18next-http-backend // loads translations from your server // https://github.com/i18next/i18next-http-backend .use(Backend) // detect user language // learn more: https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector .use(LanguageDetector) // init i18next // for all options read: https://www.i18next.com/overview/configuration-options .init({ debug: true, fallbackLng: 'en' }); export default function (app) { app.use(I18NextVue, { i18next }) return app }

// ... $(function () { // use plugins and options as needed, for options, detail see // https://www.i18next.com i18next // i18next-http-backend // loads translations from your server // https://github.com/i18next/i18next-http-backend .use(i18nextHttpBackend) // detect user language // learn more: https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector .use(i18nextBrowserLanguageDetector) // init i18next // for all options read: https://www.i18next.com/overview/configuration-options .init({ debug: true, fallbackLng: 'en' }, (err, t) => { if (err) return console.error(err); // ... }); });

In addition, we need to install i18next-http-backend which allows us to fetch translations from a directory, and i18next-browser-languagedetector which allows us to detect the user's language:

import i18n from 'i18next'; import { initReactI18next } from 'react-i18next'; import LanguageDetector from 'i18next-browser-languagedetector'; import Backend from 'i18next-http-backend'; import { DateTime } from 'luxon'; i18n // i18next-http-backend // loads translations from your server // https://github.com/i18next/i18next-http-backend .use(Backend) // detect user language // learn more: https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector .use(LanguageDetector) // pass the i18n instance to react-i18next. .use(initReactI18next) // init i18next // for all options read: https://www.i18next.com/overview/configuration-options .init({ debug: true, fallbackLng: 'en', interpolation: { escapeValue: false, // not needed for react as it escapes by default format: (value, format, lng) => { if (value instanceof Date) { return DateTime.fromJSDate(value).setLocale(lng).toLocaleString(DateTime[format]) } return value; } }, resources: { en: { translation: { description: { part1: 'Edit <1>src/App.js and save to reload.', part2: 'Learn React' }, counter: 'Changed language just once', counter_plural: 'Changed language already {{count}} times', footer: { date: 'Today is {{date, DATE_HUGE}}', date_morning: 'Good morning! Today is {{date, DATE_HUGE}} | Have a nice day!', date_afternoon: 'Good afternoon! It\'s {{date, DATE_HUGE}}', date_evening: 'Good evening! Today was the {{date, DATE_HUGE}}' } } }, de: { translation: { description: { part1: 'Ändere <1>src/App.js und speichere um neu zu laden.', part2: 'Lerne React' }, counter: 'Die Sprache wurde erst ein mal gewechselt', counter_plural: 'Die Sprache wurde {{count}} mal gewechselt', footer: { date: 'Heute ist {{date, DATE_HUGE}}', date_morning: 'Guten Morgen! Heute ist {{date, DATE_HUGE}} | Wünsche einen schönen Tag!', date_afternoon: 'Guten Tag! Es ist {{date, DATE_HUGE}}', date_evening: 'Guten Abend! Heute war {{date, DATE_HUGE}}' } } } } }); export default i18n;