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Last updated: 29 Jan 2025

Add support for a new translation in Whitehall

Before starting, it’s worth checking the language tag that is being added is correct: it should be compatible with the IETF Language Tag syntax and use correct ISO 639 codes (with optional ISO 15924 or ISO 3166 subtags where appropriate). This is important to ensure maximum compatibility with accessibility features such as screen readers. Some other useful reading includes Rails Translation Manager and Whitehall Internationalisation guide.

1. Update Government Frontend

Example PR

In Government Frontend:

  1. Add the new locale to config/application.rb and config/locales/en.yml in alphabetical order

  2. Run the following commands to generate the locale files from the English template:

    $ echo "foo: bar" >> config/locales/<new_locale>.yml
$ # the contents will get overwritten below
$ rake translation:add_missing

  3. In config/locales/<new_locale>.yml add the language translation under the language_names key.

    For example:

     it:
   language_names:
     it: italiano

2. Update Whitehall

Example PR

You will need the language’s:

  • English name (e.g. Welsh)
  • Native name (e.g. Cymraeg)
  • Text direction (ltr or rtl)

3. Update Publishing API

Example PR

  1. Edit content_schemas/formats/shared/definitions/locale.jsonnet and config/application.rb in alphabetical order
  2. Run rake build_schemas to generate all the schemas

4. Update Content Store

Example PR

  • Add the locale key to config/application.rb in alphabetical order

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