Getting the most from Laravel localization

Are you getting the most benefit from using Laravel localization? Taking your time to properly structure the language files will save you a lot of time and headaches in the long run.

I have developed many sites using Laravel 3 (L3) and have now begun migrating to Laravel 4 (L4). I am by no means an expert but I would like to share what I have learned about localization that has helped me to more effectively implement sites that use several languages. I am going to assume that you are familiar with the Laravel's localization system.

The Laravel documentation explains that you create a PHP file in the app/lang/{langage tag} directory. For example, for the English language it may be app/lang/en and for Spanish it may be app/lang/es.

I typically try to match the language file name to the controller name. Therefore, if I have a controller called app/controller/AuthController then I will have a matching language file called auth.php in all the language directories. English would be app/lang/en/auth.php and Spanish would be app/lang/es/auth.php.

So, for this example, lets say we have a sign in page that implements the AuthController. We need to support multiple languages. BTW, we are using twitter bootstrap which explains the extra markups.

here is the app/view/auth/signin.blade.php file (very basic):

....
<legend>{{ Lang::get( 'auth.signin.page.heading' ) }}</legend>
<p>{{ Lang::get( 'auth.signin.page.summary' ) }}</p>
<div class="center">
  <table>
    <tr>
       <th class="pull-right">{{ Lang::get( 'auth.signin.username.label }}</th>
       <td class="pull-left">
         {{ Form::text(
            'username',
            Input::old( 'username', '' ),
            array(
              'class' => '',
              'data-content' => Lang::get( 'auth.signin.username.help' ),
              'maxlength' => usermodel::$field_username_size,
              'placeholder' => Lang::get( 'signin.username.placeholder' ),
              'rel' => 'popover',
              'required' => 'required' )
         ) }}
       </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
       <th class="pull-right">{{ Lang::get( 'auth.signin.password.label }}</th>
       <td class="pull-left">
         {{ Form::password(
            'password',
            array(
              'class' => '',
              'data-content' => Lang::get( 'auth.signin.password.help' ),
              'maxlength' => usermodel::$field_password_size,
              'placeholder' => Lang::get( 'signin.password.placeholder' ),
              'rel' => 'popover',
              'required' => 'required' )
         ) }}
       </td>
    </tr>
  </table>
</div>
....

Here is the language file app/lang/en/auth.php structure:

<?php
return array(
  'signin' => array(
    'page' => array(
      'heading' => 'Sign In',
      'summary' => 'Please sign into this site using your credentials.',
      'meta' => array( 
        'keywords' => 'signin login',
      ), // meta
    ), // page 
    'password' => array(
      'help' => 'Please enter your password.',
      'hint' => 'Enter your password',
      'label' => 'Password',
      'placeholder' => 'Password', 
      'validation' => array(
        'required' => 'The password field is required.',
        'minlen' => 'The password must be at least eight characters.',
      ), // validation
    ), // password 
    'username' => array(
      'help' => 'Please enter your user name.',
      'hint' => 'Enter your user name',
      'label' => 'User name',
      'placeholder' => 'User Name', 
      'validation' => array(
        'required' => 'The user name field is required.',
        'minlen' => 'The user name must be at least eight characters.',
      ), // validation
    ), // username
  ), // signin 
);
?>

In our app/controller/AuthController.php signin() method, we can then use the validation messages like so:

....
  // Validation Messages
  $mMessages = array(
      'password.min' => Lang::get( 'auth.signin.password.validate.minlen' ),
      'password.required' => Lang::get( 'auth.signin.password.validate.required' ),
      'username.min' => Lang::get( 'auth.signin.password.validate.minlen' ),
      'username.required' => Lang::get( 'auth.signin.username.validate.required' ),
  );

  // Validate the form data.
  $mValidation = Validator::make( $mInput, $mRules, $mMessages );
  if ( $mValidation -> fails() )
  {
      // Validation failed.
      return Redirect::back()
        -> withErrors( $mValidation )
        -> withInput();
  }
....

As you can see, the depth at which you can go is very nice and you can properly customize each languages labels and messages.