Note: This feature is available only in the Multi-Language Editions of PHPKB software.
You can now support customers across geographies and in the language they speak with the help of a multilingual knowledge base.
Multi-Language Support
PHPKB Knowledge Management Software comes with Multilanguage support. Also called localization, this means a single knowledge base can have multiple translations of the articles in different languages. The Multi-Language (ML) Edition of PHPKB knowledge base software allows you to set up your knowledge base in multiple languages. It fully supports languages with multi-byte character sets such as UTF-8 (Unicode), KOI8-R (Russian), BIG5 (Traditional Chinese), or Shift-JIS (Japanese). Non-Latin character sets including non-UTF-8 encodings and special characters are supported. Right-To-Left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew are also supported.
A knowledge base software that supports multiple languages for their users, becomes highly engaging as they help optimize user experience by localizing the process and putting an end to geographical boundaries. PHPKB came up with a multilingual knowledge management platform with localization that offers the perfect customer support in multi-languages depending on the user preferences or location.
RTL Fully Supported
PHPKB knowledge base software fully supports RTL (Right To Left) direction languages. You can see the RTL layout for the Arabic Langauge in the screenshot below.
With PHPKB software, you can have a multilingual knowledge base system with the ability to create language files from the admin control panel. The multi-language edition of PHPKB allows you to create new language files, manage languages, edit language variables, save them, create language translator accounts, assign translators to selected languages, manage translators, etc.
The multilingual edition of PHPKB software comes with the English language file by default, however, you have the facility to create other language files of your choice and translate the language file variables from the admin control panel of PHPKB knowledge base software.
Default Locales and Language Detection
The multi-language edition has the support for automatic detection of end-users system language so that the knowledge base content can be displayed in the auto-detected language. Every web browser has a language setting that is automatically detected when a user visits the knowledge base. If a matching language exists, the knowledge base will display in that language. If not, the default language is used in the absence of other languages.
For example, if someone has their browser language settings set to French and your knowledge base does not have French as a supported language, they will be taken to the default language set in admin area. Alternatively, if English is your default language, but you also have German as a supported locale, any user with German Language set as their browser language will be taken to the German version of the knowledge base.
Multi-Language Features
- The multi-language edition of PHPKB knowledge base software has full support for languages with multibyte characters such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
- Non-Latin character sets including non-UTF-8 encodings and special characters are supported.
- Full support for RTL languages and ability to specify the language direction i.e. LTR or RTL.
- You can have an unlimited number of languages for your knowledge base.
- Languages can be made active/inactive for visibility in the public area of your knowledge base.
- Special user accounts for language translators so that they can log in to the admin area and translate the language file(s) assigned to them.
- Ability to set a default language for the public area.
- Reports and Knowledge Base Statistics based on the selected language.
- Ability to see who recently made changes to the language file and when.
- Facility for the knowledge base users (readers) to access the content under various active languages via an easily accessible language selection menu.
- PHPKB multi-language edition also offers the facility to associate different language versions of an article so that when an article is being viewed in one language, the user can switch to another language version of the same article via the language switch menu.
The multi-language support feature is highly dependent on your target market. You may not ever need to translate out of English if you don’t plan on going global. But if you do, you’ll need to make absolutely sure your support content can handle many language versions.
