Add a Translated Channel

Overview

This guide explains how to add a translated channel in Bloomreach Content. You will translate an existing channel's content into a new language and configure a new channel that reuses the original channel's pages and templates to render the translated content.

When to Use

Use this procedure when you need to provide a localized version of an existing channel, reusing the same page structure and templates, but serving content in a different language.

Prerequisites

  • A Bloomreach Content project created with the Maven archetype.
  • The News feature added.
  • An English channel named "My Project" available at:
    • http://localhost:8080/site/
  • English content stored at:
    • /content/documents/myproject

Implementation Steps

1. Translate the Content

1.1 Create the French Root Folder

  1. Log in to the CMS as admin.

  2. Open the Content application.

  3. Add a new root folder named Mon Projet.

    • Set the folder type to translated folder.
    • Set the language to French.

    New root folder dialog with translated folder and French language

    Note: To add more language options to the dropdown, see Add a Translatable Language.

  4. Open the context menu for the new Mon Projet folder and select Translations....

    Context menu on Mon Projet folder with Translations option selected

  5. In the Translations dialog, link the Mon Projet folder to the My Project folder by selecting myproject in the Translation folders section.

    Translations dialog linking Mon Projet folder to My Project

    After linking, you can translate documents between the two folders.

1.2 Translate News Documents

  1. Navigate to an English news document, for example:
    My Project > news > 2018 > 12 > The medusa news.

  2. In the top menu, select English, then choose French... from the dropdown.

    Language dropdown showing English and French translation option

  3. In the Translate document dialog:

    • Translate the document's name.
    • Translate the folder names in the hierarchy.
      The system duplicates the hierarchy in the French folder and links each folder as a translation to its English counterpart.

    Translating folder and document names ensures that URLs and menu items are localized for French users.

  4. Enter French names for the folders and document, for example:
    Actualités > 2018 > 12 > Actualités medusa.

    Translate document dialog showing English and French folder names

  5. Click OK. Bloomreach Content creates the translated folders, copies and renames the English document, and opens the translated document in the editor.

  6. Translate the content as needed (for this example, change the title to "Actualités medusa").

  7. Save, close, and publish the document.

  8. Repeat this process for any additional news documents you want to translate.

2. Configure the Delivery Tier

2.1 Add Configuration for the French Channel

Configure the delivery tier so that both English and French channels share pages, components, and templates. Only the sitemaps and workspaces (including sitemenus) are unique per channel.

The default configuration uses a common configuration, with myproject (English) inheriting from common:

/hst:myproject/hst:configurations:
  /common:
  /hst:default:
  /myproject:
    hst:inheritsfrom: [../common]
    /hst:abstractpages:
    /hst:catalog:
    /hst:components:
    /hst:pages:
    /hst:prototypepages:
    /hst:sitemap:
    /hst:sitemenus:
    /hst:templates:
    /hst:workspace:
      /hst:containers:
      /hst:sitemap:
      /hst:pages:
      /hst:sitemenus:
      /hst:channel:
        /hst:channelinfo:

Currently, all configuration settings are in myproject. The common configuration is empty.

  1. Move all shared configuration nodes from myproject to common:
    • hst:abstractpages
    • hst:catalog
    • hst:components
    • hst:pages
    • hst:prototypepages
    • hst:templates
  2. Copy the myproject configuration and name it mon-projet.

After these changes, the structure should look like:

/hst:myproject/hst:configurations:
  /common:
    /hst:abstractpages:
    /hst:catalog:
    /hst:components:
    /hst:pages:
    /hst:prototypepages:
    /hst:sitemap:
    /hst:sitemapitemhandlers:
    /hst:sitemenus:
    /hst:templates:
  /hst:default:
  /mon-projet:
    hst:inheritsfrom: [../common]
    /hst:workspace:
      /hst:containers:
      /hst:sitemap:
      /hst:pages:
      /hst:sitemenus:
      /hst:channel:
        /hst:channelinfo:
  /myproject:
    hst:inheritsfrom: [../common]
    /hst:workspace:
      /hst:containers:
      /hst:sitemap:
      /hst:pages:
      /hst:sitemenus:
      /hst:channel:
        /hst:channelinfo:
  1. In the French channel's sitemap, rename the news sitemap item to actualites and set its relative content path to the French folder:
/hst:myproject/hst:configurations/mon-projet/hst:sitemap:
  /actualites:
    jcr:primaryType: hst:sitemapitem
    hst:componentconfigurationid: hst:pages/newslist
    hst:relativecontentpath: actualites
  1. Translate the menu items for the French channel. Ensure the actualités menu item points to the correct sitemap item (actualites):
/hst:myproject/hst:configurations/mon-projet/hst:workspace/hst:sitemenus:
  /main:
    jcr:primaryType: hst:sitemenu
    /accueil:
      jcr:primaryType: hst:sitemenuitem
      hst:referencesitemapitem: root
    /actualités:
      jcr:primaryType: hst:sitemenuitem
      hst:referencesitemapitem: actualites

Note: Use accents in menu item labels (e.g., actualités) for display text, but avoid accents in sitemap item names (e.g., actualites) as they are used in URLs.

2.2 Link the French Channel to the French Content Root

  1. Copy /hst:myproject/hst:sites/myproject and name the copy mon-projet.
  2. Set the hst:content property for mon-projet to /content/documents/mon-projet:
/hst:myproject/hst:sites:
  /mon-project:
    jcr:primaryType: hst:site
    hst:content: /content/documents/mon-projet
  /myproject:
    jcr:primaryType: hst:site
    hst:content: /content/documents/myproject

2.3 Configure the French Channel

  1. At /hst:myproject/hst:configurations/mon-projet/hst:workspace/hst:channel, set the hst:name property to Mon Projet:
/hst:myproject/hst:configurations/mon-projet/hst:workspace/hst:channel:
  hst:name: Mon Projet

2.4 Create a Mount for the French Channel

To make the French channel available at http://localhost:8080/site/fr, configure a mount:

  1. Add a child hst:mount node named fr under /hst:myproject/hst:hosts/dev-localhost/localhost/hst:root:
/hst:myproject/hst:hosts:
  /dev-localhost:
    jcr:primaryType: hst:virtualhostgroup
    /localhost:
      jcr:primaryType: hst:virtualhost
      /hst:root:
        jcr:primaryType: hst:mount
        /fr:
          jcr:primaryType: hst:mount
          hst:mountpoint: /hst:myproject/hst:sites/mon-projet

Note: For production environment configuration, see Configure Virtual Hosts in an Environment.

Verification

  1. Open your browser and go to http://localhost:8080/site/fr.
  2. Click on actualités in the menu.
  3. Confirm that the French news content is displayed.

French site page with actualités article selected

Troubleshooting

  • If the French channel does not appear at the expected URL, verify the mount configuration.
  • If menu items or content are not translated, check the translation links and folder names in the CMS.
  • Ensure that all configuration changes are published and that the repository is refreshed.
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Add a Translated Channel | Bloomreach Content Documentation