After you've translated your content, you might be wondering: how do my visitors access the tour in the language that makes sense for them?
Circuit determines which language to use in a number of ways. We allow editors like yourselves to specify the language inside of links, we can map a custom domain to a specific language, we remember the choices that visitors make, and we ask your visitor's web browser which languages they prefer.
A language selector is also available on every screen, which gives your visitors the last word on which language to use.
Language is determined in the following order:
1. Is there a language parameter in the URL address?
When added to a URL, the language parameter will always take precedence over other methods.
This option is useful if you want to enforce a specific language.
Language | Language Code | Parameter (append to a URL) |
English | en | ?lng=en |
French | fr | ?lng=fr |
Arabic | ar | ?lng=ar |
Spanish | es | ?lng=es |
Japanese | ja | ?lng=ja |
Korean | ko | ?lng=ko |
Brazilian Portuguese | pt-br | ?lng=pt-br |
Russian | ru | ?lng=ru |
Turkish | tr | ?lng=tr |
Vietnamese | vi | ?lng=vi |
Simplified Chinese | zh-hans | ?lng=zh-hans |
Traditional Chinese | zh-hant | ?lng=zh-hant |
2. Is it a return visitor?
If a language has been set during a previous visit on the same browser, either by parameter or by a previous choice in a language selector, we'll use that.
In other words, Circuit saves the language you last used, and will use that language selection again until changed.
3. What domain are they accessing the tours from?
If you have multiple domain names for different languages, Circuit can support multiple custom domains, with different language defaults for each domain. For example, you may wish to have:
An English-first domain at virtualtour.exampleuniversity.com
A French-first domain at visitevirtuelle.universiteexample.com
Contact us to learn more about this option.
4. What language is the visitor's browser configured for?
When we visit web sites, our browsers announce our language preferences. Circuit will compare the visitor's browser settings with the languages that are available.
5. What is the default language?
After the above options have been exhausted, English will be selected.
💡 Need more help?
Send us a message and we will be happy to assist you.