HYBRID METHOD TO DESIGN MULTI-LANGUAGE

WEB SITES

Mihai Bîzoi, Ana-Maria Suduc and Gabriel Gorghiu

Valahia University of Targoviste, Unirii Bv., No. 18-22, Targoviste, Romania

Keywords: Web design, Multi-languages, Educational Comenius project 2.1.

Abstract: Language promotes the most suitable way for expressing ideas, habits and values. For a multinational

educational project (Comenius 2.1.) with a widespread European target group, it is very important to

provide the online educational resources (courses, virtual instruments, etc.) through the project website, in

several languages: English (as a worldwide spoken language) and partners’ languages. This paper briefly

presents three methods to create multi-language web sites and proposes a new architecture – the hybrid

method architecture. In addition an example of a multi-language web site implementation is illustrated.

1 INTRODUCTION

Communication is based on language even it

involves a mixture of verbal and nonverbal messages

or a blend of written and spoken messages. The huge

development of telecommunications - including

television, radio and the Internet - has led (in the last

years) to increasingly sophisticated combinations of

visual, spoken, and written “texts” (Tiscali, 2008).

The European Union, had, from the very

beginning, as heart of its policies, the preservation of

the linguistic diversity. The EU policy of

multilingualism as a deliberate tool of government is

unique in the world and the use of EU citizens’

languages is one of the factors which make it more

transparent, more legitimate and more efficient.

2 METHODS TO CREATE

MULTI-LANGUAGE

WEB SITES

In the Consideration in the Design of Multi-

language Websites paper, Zev Itzkowitz and David

Grunwald propose four architectures for a multi-

language web site development. The basic ideas of

these methods consist of common operations such as

replication and dynamic content generation.

First method, site replication is the most

common method used to create multi-language web

sites. Virtually, the web site consists of architecture

of directories, each directory containing the same

web site, but in other language. One of these sites is

the default site and to access it, in the root of the

web, a file that generates a redirection is used. To

change the default language, only the redirection file

from the root site must be changed.

The European Union web site is the most

representative one for the multi-language web site

category, mainly due to the fact that it is the most

translated site – at present, its translation is available

in 23 languages. This web site is built based on the

replication method but with different architecture of

directories– the directories represent topics and each

of them contains HTML files, translated in each

language with a particular name.

The main advantage of this method is offered by

the possibility to add a new translation without

major changes on the web site infrastructure.

However, there are many disadvantages that make

this method not very attractive: difficult web site

maintenance, possible differences between the site

versions (in different languages); lose of the uniform

image worldwide (for example a 10 web pages site

will become a web site with 70 pages when it is

translated in 6 languages). Any update or change

must be done in each site in each language.

The selective replication method uses the same

principle as the replication method. This method

consists of partial replication of the web content. A

pattern file is created for each web page. This file

imports data from files with generic names and the

427

Bizoi M., Suduc A. and Gorghiu G. (2009).

HYBRID METHOD TO DESIGN MULTI-LANGUAGE WEB SITES.

In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Computer Supported Education, pages 427-430

DOI: 10.5220/0001973304270430

 SciTePress

data is stored in a structure of directories based on

the available languages. This method provides the

preservation of the web site uniformity but still

remains the site maintenance problem.

Dynamic Content Generation using Database is

a method that can be implemented in certain

conditions: (a) the web site host server must be fast,

(b) the site shouldn’t be too large and it will be

translated only in a few languages (usually 2-3), (c)

the graphical elements are few. The data is stored in

tables; every message is identified by a unique ID.

The disadvantages of this method are presented

in Table 1.

The last method, Dynamic Content Generation

using XML Files, combines elements of the previous

presented methods. In the frame of this method, a

template is designed for each web page. This

template generates the format for the web page

displayed to the client. The texts and images for

each language are maintained in a separate XML

file. The XML files are stored in a structure of

subdirectories according to the languages associated.

The template file imports messages from XML files

and generates the content displayed on the client.

Thus, this method is similar, in principle, with

the previous method; the main difference is that the

data is stored in XML files, not in a database.

Storing data in XML files offers many advantages

(see Table 1). This method requires a good initial

strategy and organization plan. If this strategy is

optimal developed, the site maintenance will not

cause problems and adding a new language will not

change in a great extent the site infrastructure.

2.1 Hybrid Method Architecture

The hybrid method architecture emerges elements

from all the methods presented before. This new

method proposes to valorise the advantages of the

methods presented above and reduce their

disadvantages. Table 1 explains how the

disadvantages of one method can be eliminated,

using the powerful characteristics of another one.

The disadvantages of the hybrid method can be

eliminated by creating several web instruments for

information uploading on the server and the web site

maintain. The programming language selected to

create the script and the server performances are also

very important.

According to this method, a template file will be

created for each web page. The template can be

created using any programming language for CGI

interfaces.

The template file will generate the web page

format using the data extracted from the database

and XML files.

Table 1: Hybrid method versus other methods.

Method Advantages Disadvantages

Replication

(Site /

Selective)

Increased number of

languages;

High performance - low

server overhead.

The uniformity of the

site is not preserved;

Large number of web

files to maintain.

Dynamic

Content

Generation

using

Database

Maintain the site

uniformity using a web

template;

It is a good choice for

small sites with reduced

multimedia content.

Reduced number of

languages;

Slow performance on

server;

Difficult to load

information in the

database.

Dynamic

Content

Generation

using

XML Files

Better performance on

server unlike dynamic

content using database;

It is a good choice for

larger sites.

Can be implemented

only at the initial

phase of the design.

Difficult to store

information on site.

Hybrid

method

There is no limit for

numbers of languages;

Better performance on

server (use files on disk

and database);

The uniformity of the site

is preserved;

The web site is easy to

maintain.

It is difficult to

maintain the

information on site

without any

additional

instruments;

Medium server

overhead.

All the messages to be translated are stored in

XML files and the database contains only general

information used by the template script. In addition,

the XML files are stored using a subdirectories-

based architecture, in order to be easily accessed.

The method architecture is presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Hybrid method architecture.

The XML files are created using a web

instrument - Translation tool. This instrument cannot

CSEDU 2009 - International Conference on Computer Supported Education

428

make the translation itself; it is used only by the

translators to on-line introduce the translated web

page content. Using this procedure, the web master

doesn’t interact with the translation web page

content. In this case, the role of the persons involved

in translation activities and site maintenance is

clearly defined.

2.2 VccSSe Web Site Architecture

VccSSe (Virtual Community Collaborating Space

for Science Education) - http://vccsse.ssai.valahia.ro

- is a Comenius 2.1. Project funded by the European

Commission. The project is aimed to adapt, develop,

test, implement and disseminate training modules,

teaching methodologies and pedagogical strategies

based on the use of Virtual Instruments, with the

view to their implementation in the classroom,

through Information and Communication

Technology tools. In this sense, the partnership

assumes to build various pedagogical approaches in

a virtual space able to offer efficient ways of using

specific tools for logical understanding of the

fundamental concepts in sciences. The target groups

are formed by approximately 180 in-service teachers

from primary and secondary schools involved in

Sciences teaching areas in the partner countries

(Romania, Spain, Poland, Finland and Greece),

institutions’ local coordinators, tutors, researchers,

local educational authorities and over 3500 pupils

who become indirect beneficiaries. In addition,

teachers and trainers from Europe will benefit from

the project outputs consisting of a number of on-line

simulating laboratories.

Having in view the huge amount of transnational

work and outputs, the main channel of dissemination

is represented by the project web page. In this

context, the whole on-line content - first created in

English - had to be translated in other 5 languages:

Romanian, Spanish, Polish, Finnish and Greek. The

increased number of translation languages eliminates

the possibility to implement the Dynamic Content

Generation using Database method.

Using the hybrid method architecture described

before, the translation process is simplified. The web

masters developed for each web page a template

using a powerful programming language: Perl. The

web template is used only to generate the web page

format and, in general, it doesn’t contain any text

that can be displayed in the web page. The web

template queries a MySQL database to obtain any

information needed to generate the web page or

useful for other operations. The content stored in the

database is not intended to be translated. All the

messages that will be displayed in the web page are

stored by in a XML file, created for the English

version of the web site. The XML files are stored in

the subdirectories architecture based on languages

acronym.

When a user accesses the web page, the web

template is executed on the server. The Perl script

contains a subroutine (presented below) that verifies

the existence of the XML files for each language and

creates a list with these languages.

sub langs {

my $tran;

my @flags =

("en","ro","es","pl","fi","gr");

my $altlg =

{en=>"English",ro=>"Română",e

s=>"Español",pl=>"Polski",fi=>"Suomi",

gr=>"Ελλην&#95

3;κά"};

foreach (@flags) {

if (-e

"../langs/".$_."/".basename($0).".xml")

{$tran = $tran." ".$q->a({-

href=>"/main/".basename($0)."?lang=$_"}

, $q->img({-src=>"/images/$_.gif",-

border=>"0",-alt=>"$altlg->{$_}"})); }}

return $q->div({-

id=>"langs"},"$mmsg->{al}$tran");}

Based on this list, an image of the flag and a link

to the web page in that language is displayed. If the

XML file, for a specific language, is missing, the

associated flag is not displayed and the web page (in

that language) cannot be accessed.

2.3 Results

To translate a web page from English in other

language, the person in charge, must access the

translation tool, available on the web page. For

example, if a Romanian translator wants to translate

the Introduction web page, he must access the

Translation tool button, located on the English

Introduction web page. After an authentication

process, he is forced by the translation interface to

translate only for the Romanian version of the page

(this is accomplished by the authentication

information stored in the MySQL database). The

translation tool dynamically generates an interface

based on the English messages stored in the XML

file; the fields dimension where the Romanian

messages will be written are proportionally

calculated by the numbers of characters of the

HYBRID METHOD TO DESIGN MULTI-LANGUAGE WEB SITES

429

English messages. These dimensions are only visual

and don’t restrict the translated messages size.

The translation tool has two purposes: to create

the XML files that contain messages in specified

language when it is used for the first time on a web

page and to update messages on specified web page.

The translators use the keyboard in their languages

and the specials characters are dynamically

converted by the CGI script in web codes; as a result

of this feature the problem of the character set is

eliminated – it is not necessary to generate web

pages with a specific character set declaration.

The translation tool is the only instrument used

by the partners to translate and update the web

content in their languages. This Perl script (partially

presented below) is very small - 4.1 Kbytes and

contains only 345 words, being executed very fast

by the server (a Dual Core CPU server).

print $q->b("Language: $lang");

print $q->start_form(-name=>

"translate",-method=>"POST"),$q-

>start_table;

my $count = 0, $bgcolor = '';

foreach (keys %{$en}) {

$count++;

if ( $count/2 == int($count/2) ) {

$bgcolor = "bgcolor='#CCCCCC'"; } else

{ $bgcolor = ""; }

my $lines = (length $en->{$_})/50;

print $q->Tr({$bgcolor},[$q-

>td(["$en->{$_}",

$q->textarea(-name=>"$_",-

rows=>"$lines",-columns=>"50",-

value=>"$olang->{$_}")])]);}

print $q->end_table,$q->hidden(-

name=>'op',-default=>'s'),

$q->hidden(-name=>'page',-

default=>$page),

$q->submit(-name=>"",-

value=>"Save"),$q->end_form;

print $q->start_form(-

name=>"authen",-method=>"POST"),

$q->hidden(-name=>'page',-

default=>$page),

$q->hidden(-name=>'logout',-

default=>'yes'),

$q->submit(-name=>"authen",-

value=>"Logout"),$q->end_form;

Using this hybrid method, the web site

uniformity is preserved. The persons that translate

the web content are forced to translate phrase by

phrase; the text is presented in a random list. The

number of people involved in this action is reduced

and the possibility to appear errors is insignificant.

3 CONCLUSIONS

The hybrid method architecture for designing multi-

language web sites was implemented in the

Comenius 2.1 Project VccSSe (Virtual Community

Collaborating Space for Science Education). The

website is available since the beginning of the year

2007 and it can be accessed at:

http://vccsse.ssai.valahia.ro. The web site is under

development until the end of the project. It is easy to

add new web pages or new languages for translation

without making changes in the site architecture.

The English content posted on the site has been

translated in all five languages of the project

partners (Romanian, Spanish, Polish, Finnish and

Greek) using only the translation tool. The

translation tool – a very small and fast script - can be

used to create new web pages in other languages or

to update the online-content for a specific language.

This tool cannot be used to change the English

content. To fulfil this action, another web tool is

developed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was funded through Project 128989-CP-

1-2006-1-RO-COMENIUS-C21 from European

Commission, Education and Training, School

Education: Socrates: Comenius. We thank all Project

institutions and all the participants for their

cooperation and work.

REFERENCES

Itzkowitz, Z., Grunwald, D., link verified in 2008.

Considerations in the Design of Multi-Language

Websites, http://www.global-translation-

services.com/download/Design_of_Multi-

Language_Websites.pdf

Stylusinc, 2005, How can your website speak multiple

languages to your customers?, StylusInc Pvt. Ltd.,

http://www.stylusinc.com/Common/whitepapers/Whit

ePapers/Multi-Language%20Support.pdf

Tiscali, 2008. Tiscali Encyclopaedia:

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/

VccSSe, 2008. Virtual Community Collaborating Space

for Science Education – VccSSe European Project

web site, http://www.vccsse.ssai.valahia.ro

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