2. Management of language versions
Managing language versions is an essential feature in Magnolia CMS to efficiently organise and present multilingual content. Here we explain three variants of language management that authors can use in Magnolia, including their advantages and disadvantages.
1. Use of Magnolia for language management
Magnolia CMS makes it possible to manage content in different languages by ensuring that all pages are always translated into all languages.
Advantages:
- The content is consistent in all languages, as every page is available in every language.
- The structured integration of languages makes it very easy to integrate a hreflang tag concept that allows search engines to understand which language version of a page is relevant for which region. This significantly improves SEO performance.
Disadvantages:
- With a large number of languages, it can be difficult to translate new content into all languages in a timely manner. This can lead to delays in publication. As a result, scalability suffers.
- The need to maintain content for each language requires significant editorial resources.
2. Organising language-specific page trees
Each language has its own independent page tree, which means that the page structures are organised completely independently for each language.
Advantages:
- Editors can customise content and structure in each language, which is particularly useful for cultural and regional differences.
- It enables a deeper localisation of the content.
Disadvantages:
- It will be difficult to guarantee an even offer across all languages.
- Increased maintenance effort, as changes in one language have to be manually updated in other languages.
3. Live Copy Feature
The Live Copy feature in Magnolia CMS makes it possible to copy content from a master page to different language versions while maintaining a connection.
Advantages:
- Reduces the work involved in translation, as the basic content is taken from the master page and only language-specific adaptations are necessary.
- Helps to maintain consistency between language versions, as changes to the master page can be propagated to linked pages.
Disadvantages:
- Less flexibility in customising content per language.
- Managing the connections between pages can become complex, especially if exceptions and specific customisations are frequent.
More Information here: Create a flexible international pages with a single data pool
Official Magnolia Page: https://docs.magnolia-cms.com/live-copy/latest/
Decision support
Magnolia offers a decision tree that is very helpful to find out if livecopy is the right approach for you:
Graphic courtesy of Magnolia. All rights reserved.
Conclusion
Choosing the right method for managing language versions depends on several factors:
- Using Magnolia for language management is ideal for organisations that need to ensure a high level of consistency across all languages and have the resources to update content regularly.
- Organising language-specific page trees is a good idea if the content is highly localised and requires a high degree of adaptation to cultural particularities.
- Live Copy Feature is particularly effective for organisations looking for a balance between consistency and localisation while minimising the effort involved in content maintenance.
The decision should be made based on the specific requirements of the company and the available resources.
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