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
• Slug translation

Installation

From the command line:

composer require laravelista/loki

Then, add the Loki trait to your RouteServiceProvider class:

use Laravelista\Loki\Loki;

class RouteServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
    use Loki;
}

If you don't intend to use translated URLs (by default it is set to false) then publish the route file with the command bellow. Otherwise be sure to publish the config file, set useTranslatedUrls to true and create appropriate route files {locale}.web.php.

Publish the localized routes file loki.web.php to your /routes directory:

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

Now, add $this->mapLocalizedWebRoutes(); to the map method in the RouteServiceProvider.

Installation complete!

---

Put your localized routes in /routes/loki.web.php file. If you are using translated URLs create a route file for each locale {locale}.web.php (eg. en.web.php). Your non localized routes can remain in the /routes/web.php file. To access non localized routes use URL::getNonLocalizedRoute or URL::getNonLocalizedUrl. See the helpers chapter bellow to find out more.

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" --tag=config

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');

If you have this enabled, be sure to use route names otherwise it will not work correctly.

Resource routes

If you are using Route::resource and have set useTranslatedUrls to true you will have to set the names for the resource manually or stop using resource mapper and manually map resource routes.

Syntax for the show method, but you can apply the same to others.

en.web.php

Route::resource('news', 'NewsController')->only(['show']);

hr.web.php

Route::resource('novosti', 'NewsController')->only(['show'])->names([
    'show' => 'news.show'
]);

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. Also, you can install this package, configure your supported locales and your route and URL links will work without the need to change anything.

The bellow helper methods are for edge cases where you want to retrieve the URL for specific locale or just get the current URL in specific locale.

URL::getNonLocalizedRoute($name, $parameters = [], $absolute = true)

It will return the URL for the given route name to the route located in /routes/web.php file.

Don't use the same route names for routes in web.php and loki.web.php.

URL::getNonLocalizedUrl($path, $extra = [], $secure = null)

It will return the URL for the given path as is.

URL::getLocalizedRoute($locale, $name = null, $parameters = [], $absolute = true)

There are two ways of using this method:

1. Specify just the $locale - it will return the current route in the specified locale
2. Specify the $locale and the route $name - it will return the URL to the given route name for given locale

If you are using translated routes be sure to use this method if needed.

URL::getLocalizedUrl($locale, $path = null, $extra = [], $secure = null)

There are two ways of using this method:

1. Specify just the $locale - it will return the current URL in the specified locale
2. Specify the $locale and the $path - it will return the URL to the given path for given locale

URL::overrideParameters($locale, array|string $parameters)

This method will set the parameters for given locale, so that when method getLocalizedRoute is called it will use these parameters instead of the already present parameters.

Useful for translating slugs. Remember to include all parameters.

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="{{ $locale }}" href="{{ URL::getLocalizedRoute($locale) }}">
                {{ $locale }}
            </a>
        </li>
    @endforeach
</ul>

You can modify the template however you want.

Translating URL slugs/parameters

Add this code to your view file inside @php {your code here} @endphp block or inside a controller method where you want to translate slugs:

foreach (config('loki.supportedLocales') as  $locale) {
    URL::overrideParameters($locale, $model->{'slug_'.$locale});
}

Replace $model->{'slug_'.$locale} with whatever logic you use to get the translated slug for the model from database.

This method will override the route parameters for given locale, so that the language switcher will return correct URLs with translated slugs.

Sponsors & Backers

I would like to extend my thanks to the following sponsors & backers for funding my open-source journey. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or backer, please visit the Backers page.

Contributing

Thank you for considering contributing to Loki! The contribution guide can be found Here.

Code of Conduct

In order to ensure that the open-source community is welcoming to all, please review and abide by the Code of Conduct.

License

Loki is open-source software licensed under the MIT license.