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🌍 Translation Guide for BentoPDF

This guide will help you add new languages or improve existing translations for BentoPDF.

Table of Contents

Overview

BentoPDF uses i18next for internationalization (i18n). Currently supported languages:

  • English (en) - Default
  • Belarusian (be)
  • German (de)
  • Spanish (es)
  • French (fr)
  • Italian (it)
  • Portuguese (pt)
  • Turkish (tr)
  • Vietnamese (vi)
  • Indonesian (id)
  • Chinese (zh)
  • Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) (zh-TW)

The app automatically detects the language from the URL path:

  • / or /en/ → English (default)
  • /de/ → German
  • /fr/ → French
  • etc.

Architecture

BentoPDF uses a static pre-rendering approach for SEO-optimized i18n:

  1. Build time: scripts/generate-i18n-pages.mjs generates localized HTML files in dist/{lang}/
  2. Dev/Preview: languageRouterPlugin in vite.config.ts handles URL rewriting
  3. Production: Nginx serves static files directly from language directories

Quick Start

To improve existing translations:

  1. Navigate to public/locales/{language}/common.json and public/locales/{language}/tools.json
  2. Find the key you want to update
  3. Change the translation value
  4. Save and test

To add a new language (e.g., Japanese ja):

  1. Copy public/locales/en/ to public/locales/ja/
  2. Translate all values in both ja/common.json and ja/tools.json
  3. Add Japanese to supportedLanguages and languageNames in src/js/i18n/i18n.ts
  4. Add 'ja' to SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES in vite.config.ts
  5. Restart the dev server
  6. Run npm run build to generate static language pages
  7. Test thoroughly

Adding a New Language

Let's add Spanish as an example:

Step 1: Create Translation Files

# Create the directory
mkdir -p public/locales/es

# Copy the English template
cp public/locales/en/common.json public/locales/es/common.json

Step 2: Translate the JSON Files

Open public/locales/es/common.json and translate all the values:

{
  "nav": {
    "home": "Inicio",
    "about": "Acerca de",
    "contact": "Contacto",
    "allTools": "Todas las herramientas"
  },
  "hero": {
    "title": "Tu conjunto de herramientas PDF gratuito y seguro",
    "subtitle": "Combina, divide, comprime y edita archivos PDF directamente en tu navegador."
  }
  // ... continue translating all keys
}

⚠️ Important: Only translate the values, NOT the keys!

✅ Correct:

"home": "Inicio"

❌ Wrong:

"inicio": "Inicio"

Then do the same for public/locales/fr/tools.json to translate all tool names and descriptions.

Step 3: Register the Language

Edit src/js/i18n/i18n.ts:

// Add 'fr' to supported languages
export const supportedLanguages = ['en', 'de', 'es', 'fr', 'zh', 'vi'] as const;
export type SupportedLanguage = (typeof supportedLanguages)[number];

// Add French display name
export const languageNames: Record<SupportedLanguage, string> = {
  en: 'English',
  de: 'Deutsch',
  fr: 'Français', // ← Add this
};

Step 4: Update Vite Configuration

In vite.config.ts, add your language to the SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES array:

const SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES = [
  'en',
  'de',
  'es',
  'zh',
  'zh-TW',
  'vi',
  'it',
  'id',
  'tr',
  'fr',
  'pt',
  'ja',
] as const;

Important: This is required for both dev server routing and the build-time i18n generation.

Step 5: Test Your Translation

# Restart the dev server
npm run dev

# Visit the Japanese version
# http://localhost:5173/ja/

Step 6: Build and Verify Static Files

# Run build (includes i18n page generation)
npm run build

# Verify files were created
ls dist/ja/
# Should show: index.html, merge-pdf.html, etc.

Translation File Structure

The common.json file is organized into logical sections:

{
  "nav": {
    // Navigation menu items
  },
  "hero": {
    // Homepage hero section
  },
  "features": {
    // Features section
  },
  "tools": {
    // Tool names and descriptions
  },
  "upload": {
    // File upload UI
  },
  "settings": {
    // Settings modal and keyboard shortcuts
  },
  "faq": {
    // FAQ section
  },
  "footer": {
    // Footer links and text
  },
  "compliance": {
    // Security compliance information
  },
  "testimonials": {
    // User testimonials
  },
  "support": {
    // Support section
  },
  "alert": {
    // Alert and error messages
  }
}

Key Naming Convention

  • Use camelCase for keys: "deletePage" not "delete_page"
  • Use nested objects for organization: "nav.home" is represented as: 
    {
  "nav": {
    "home": "Home"
  }
}
  • Be descriptive: "shortcutsWarning" is better than "warning1"

Where Translations Are Used

1. HTML Templates (data-i18n attribute)

<!-- Translation key: nav.home -->
<a href="/" data-i18n="nav.home">Home</a>

The data-i18n attribute tells i18next which translation to use.

2. Tool Definitions

Tool names and descriptions are defined in src/js/config/tools.ts and use a special namespace:

{
  name: 'Merge PDF',  // Used for shortcuts only
  subtitle: 'Combine multiple PDFs into one file.',
}

In translations:

{
  "tools": {
    "mergePdf": {
      "name": "PDF zusammenführen",
      "subtitle": "Mehrere PDFs in eine Datei kombinieren."
    }
  }
}

3. Dynamic JavaScript (t() function)

For translations that need to be applied dynamically:

import { t } from './i18n/i18n';

const message = t('alert.error');
console.log(message); // "Error" or "Fehler" depending on language

4. Placeholders

For input placeholders:

<input
  type="text"
  placeholder="Search for a tool..."
  data-i18n-placeholder="tools.searchPlaceholder"
/>

In common.json:

{
  "tools": {
    "searchPlaceholder": "Nach einem Tool suchen..."
  }
}

Testing Your Translations

Manual Testing

  1. Start development server:

    npm run dev

  2. Visit each language:

    • English: http://localhost:5173/en/
    • German: http://localhost:5173/de/
    • Vietnamese: http://localhost:5173/vi/
    • Indonesian: http://localhost:5173/id/
    • Chinese: http://localhost:5173/zh/
    • Traditional Chinese (Taiwan): http://localhost:5173/zh-TW/
    • French: http://localhost:5173/fr/
    • Your new language: http://localhost:5173/es/

  3. Check these pages:

    • Homepage (/)
    • About page (/about.html)
    • Contact page (/contact.html)
    • FAQ page (/faq.html)
    • Tool pages (e.g., /merge-pdf.html)

  4. Test these interactions:

    • Click the language switcher in the footer
    • Navigate between pages
    • Open the settings modal (click gear icon next to search)
    • Try a tool to see upload messages

Automated Checks

Check for missing translations:

# This will show any missing keys
node scripts/check-translations.js

(If this script doesn't exist, you may need to create it or manually compare JSON files)

Browser Testing

Test in different browsers:

  • Chrome/Edge
  • Firefox
  • Safari

Translation Guidelines

1. Keep the Tone Consistent

BentoPDF is friendly, clear, and professional. Match this tone in your translations.

✅ Good:

"hero.title": "Ihr kostenloses und sicheres PDF-Toolkit"

❌ Too formal:

"hero.title": "Ihr gebührenfreies und gesichertes Werkzeug für PDF-Dokumente"

2. Preserve Formatting

Some strings contain HTML or special characters:

{
  "faq.analytics.answer": "We care about your privacy. BentoPDF does not track personal information. We use <a href=\"https://simpleanalytics.com\" class=\"text-indigo-400 hover:underline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Simple Analytics</a> solely to see anonymous visit counts."
}

When translating, keep the HTML tags intact:

{
  "faq.analytics.answer": "Wir schätzen Ihre Privatsphäre. BentoPDF verfolgt keine persönlichen Informationen. Wir verwenden <a href=\"https://simpleanalytics.com\" class=\"text-indigo-400 hover:underline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Simple Analytics</a> ausschließlich, um anonyme Besucherzahlen zu sehen."
}

3. Handle Plurals and Gender

If your language has complex plural rules or gender distinctions, consult the i18next pluralization guide.

Example:

{
  "pages": "page",
  "pages_plural": "pages"
}

4. Don't Translate Brand Names or Legal Terms

Keep these as-is:

  • BentoPDF
  • PDF
  • GitHub
  • Discord
  • Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Licensing

5. Technical Terms

For technical terms, use commonly accepted translations in your language:

  • "Merge" → "Fusionner" (French), "Zusammenführen" (German)
  • "Split" → "Diviser" (French), "Teilen" (German)
  • "Compress" → "Compresser" (French), "Komprimieren" (German)

If unsure, check how other PDF tools translate these terms in your language.

6. String Length

Some UI elements have limited space. Try to keep translations similar in length to the English version.

If a translation is much longer, test it visually to ensure it doesn't break the layout.

Common Issues

Issue: Translations Not Showing Up

Solution:

  1. Clear your browser cache
  2. Hard refresh (Ctrl+F5 or Cmd+Shift+R)
  3. Check browser console for errors
  4. Verify the JSON file is valid (no syntax errors)

Issue: Some Text Still in English

Possible causes:

  1. Missing translation key in your language file
  2. Missing data-i18n attribute in HTML
  3. Hardcoded text in JavaScript

Solution:

  • Compare your language file with en/common.json to find missing keys
  • Search the codebase for hardcoded strings

Issue: JSON Syntax Error

Symptoms:

SyntaxError: Unexpected token } in JSON at position 1234

Solution:

  • Use a JSON validator: https://jsonlint.com/
  • Common mistakes:
    • Trailing comma after last item
    • Missing or extra quotes
    • Unescaped quotes inside strings (use \")

Issue: Language Switcher Not Showing New Language

Solution: Make sure you added the language to both arrays in i18n.ts:

export const supportedLanguages = ['en', 'de', 'es', 'fr', 'zh', 'vi']; // ← Add here
export const languageNames = {
  en: 'English',
  de: 'Deutsch',
  es: 'Español',
  fr: 'Français', // ← And here
  zh: '中文',
  vi: 'Tiếng Việt',
};

Issue: 404 Error When Accessing Language Pages

Symptoms: Visiting http://localhost:5173/ja/about.html shows a 404 error page.

Solution: You need to add your language code to SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES in vite.config.ts:

const SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES = [
  'en',
  'de',
  'es',
  'zh',
  'zh-TW',
  'vi',
  'it',
  'id',
  'tr',
  'fr',
  'pt',
  'ja',
] as const;

After updating, restart the dev server:

npm run dev

File Checklist

When adding a new language, make sure these files are updated:

  • public/locales/{lang}/common.json - Main translation file
  • public/locales/{lang}/tools.json - Tools translation file
  • src/js/i18n/i18n.ts - Add to supportedLanguages and languageNames
  • vite.config.ts - Add to SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES array
  • Test all pages: homepage, about, contact, FAQ, tool pages
  • Test settings modal and shortcuts
  • Test language switcher in footer
  • Verify URL routing works (/{lang}/)
  • Run npm run build and verify dist/{lang}/ folder is created
  • Test that all tools load correctly

Getting Help

If you have questions or need help:

  1. Check existing translations in public/locales/de/common.json for reference
  2. Open an issue on GitHub
  3. Join our Discord server

Contributing Your Translation

Once you've completed a translation:

  1. Test thoroughly (see Testing Your Translations)
  2. Fork the repository on GitHub
  3. Create a new branch: git checkout -b add-french-translation
  4. Commit your changes: git commit -m "Add French translation"
  5. Push to your fork: git push origin add-french-translation
  6. Open a Pull Request with:
    • Description of the language added
    • Screenshots showing the translation in action
    • Confirmation that you've tested all pages

Thank you for contributing to BentoPDF! 🎉

Translation Progress

Current translation coverage:

Language Code Status Maintainer
English en ✅ Complete Core team
German de ✅ Complete Community
Spanish es ✅ Complete Community
French fr ✅ Complete Community
Italian it ✅ Complete Community
Portuguese pt ✅ Complete Community
Turkish tr ✅ Complete Community
Vietnamese vi ✅ Complete Community
Indonesian id ✅ Complete Community
Chinese zh ✅ Complete Community
Traditional Chinese zh-TW ✅ Complete Community
Your Language ?? 🚧 In Progress You?

Last Updated: January 2026