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i18n-setup-wizard

Included with Lifetime
$97 forever

Sets up complete internationalization infrastructure for React, Vue, Next.js, or vanilla JS with framework config, translation files, and language switching. Use when user asks to "setup i18n", "add translations", "multi-language support", or "internationalization setup".

Web Dev

What this skill does


# i18n Setup Wizard

Complete internationalization setup with framework configs, translation files, and language switching.

## When to Use

- "Setup i18n for React"
- "Add multi-language support"
- "Configure internationalization"
- "Setup translations"
- "Add language switcher"

## Instructions

### 1. Detect Framework

```bash
# Check framework
grep "react" package.json && echo "React"
grep "next" package.json && echo "Next.js"
grep "vue" package.json && echo "Vue"
```

### 2. Install i18n Library

## React (react-i18next)

```bash
npm install react-i18next i18next i18next-http-backend i18next-browser-languagedetector
```

**Setup i18n.js:**
```javascript
import i18n from 'i18next'
import { initReactI18next } from 'react-i18next'
import LanguageDetector from 'i18next-browser-languagedetector'
import Backend from 'i18next-http-backend'

i18n
  .use(Backend)
  .use(LanguageDetector)
  .use(initReactI18next)
  .init({
    fallbackLng: 'en',
    debug: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development',
    interpolation: {
      escapeValue: false, // React already escapes
    },
    backend: {
      loadPath: '/locales/{{lng}}/{{ns}}.json',
    },
  })

export default i18n
```

**App.jsx:**
```javascript
import './i18n'
import { Suspense } from 'react'

function App() {
  return (
    <Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
      <YourApp />
    </Suspense>
  )
}
```

**Component usage:**
```javascript
import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next'

function MyComponent() {
  const { t, i18n } = useTranslation()

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>{t('welcome.title')}</h1>
      <p>{t('welcome.description')}</p>

      <button onClick={() => i18n.changeLanguage('es')}>
        Español
      </button>
    </div>
  )
}
```

## Next.js (next-i18next)

```bash
npm install next-i18next react-i18next i18next
```

**next.config.js:**
```javascript
const { i18n } = require('./next-i18next.config')

module.exports = {
  i18n,
}
```

**next-i18next.config.js:**
```javascript
module.exports = {
  i18n: {
    defaultLocale: 'en',
    locales: ['en', 'es', 'fr', 'de'],
  },
}
```

**_app.js:**
```javascript
import { appWithTranslation } from 'next-i18next'

function MyApp({ Component, pageProps }) {
  return <Component {...pageProps} />
}

export default appWithTranslation(MyApp)
```

**Page:**
```javascript
import { useTranslation } from 'next-i18next'
import { serverSideTranslations } from 'next-i18next/serverSideTranslations'

export default function Home() {
  const { t } = useTranslation('common')

  return <h1>{t('welcome')}</h1>
}

export async function getStaticProps({ locale }) {
  return {
    props: {
      ...(await serverSideTranslations(locale, ['common'])),
    },
  }
}
```

## Vue (vue-i18n)

```bash
npm install vue-i18n@9
```

**i18n.js:**
```javascript
import { createI18n } from 'vue-i18n'
import en from './locales/en.json'
import es from './locales/es.json'

const i18n = createI18n({
  locale: 'en',
  fallbackLocale: 'en',
  messages: {
    en,
    es,
  },
})

export default i18n
```

**main.js:**
```javascript
import { createApp } from 'vue'
import App from './App.vue'
import i18n from './i18n'

createApp(App)
  .use(i18n)
  .mount('#app')
```

**Component:**
```vue
<template>
  <div>
    <h1>{{ $t('welcome.title') }}</h1>
    <p>{{ $t('welcome.description') }}</p>

    <select v-model="$i18n.locale">
      <option value="en">English</option>
      <option value="es">Español</option>
    </select>
  </div>
</template>
```

### 3. Create Translation Files

**Directory structure:**
```
public/
  locales/
    en/
      common.json
      home.json
      auth.json
    es/
      common.json
      home.json
      auth.json
    fr/
      common.json
      home.json
      auth.json
```

**en/common.json:**
```json
{
  "nav": {
    "home": "Home",
    "about": "About",
    "contact": "Contact"
  },
  "button": {
    "submit": "Submit",
    "cancel": "Cancel",
    "save": "Save",
    "delete": "Delete"
  },
  "message": {
    "success": "Operation successful",
    "error": "An error occurred",
    "loading": "Loading..."
  }
}
```

**en/home.json:**
```json
{
  "hero": {
    "title": "Welcome to Our App",
    "subtitle": "Build amazing things",
    "cta": "Get Started"
  },
  "features": {
    "title": "Features",
    "feature1": "Fast and reliable",
    "feature2": "Easy to use",
    "feature3": "Secure by default"
  }
}
```

### 4. Language Switcher Component

**React:**
```javascript
import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next'

const languages = {
  en: { name: 'English', flag: '🇬🇧' },
  es: { name: 'Español', flag: '🇪🇸' },
  fr: { name: 'Français', flag: '🇫🇷' },
  de: { name: 'Deutsch', flag: '🇩🇪' },
}

function LanguageSwitcher() {
  const { i18n } = useTranslation()

  return (
    <select
      value={i18n.language}
      onChange={(e) => i18n.changeLanguage(e.target.value)}
      className="language-select"
    >
      {Object.entries(languages).map(([code, { name, flag }]) => (
        <option key={code} value={code}>
          {flag} {name}
        </option>
      ))}
    </select>
  )
}
```

**Vue:**
```vue
<template>
  <div class="language-switcher">
    <button
      v-for="lang in languages"
      :key="lang.code"
      @click="$i18n.locale = lang.code"
      :class="{ active: $i18n.locale === lang.code }"
    >
      {{ lang.flag }} {{ lang.name }}
    </button>
  </div>
</template>

<script>
export default {
  data() {
    return {
      languages: [
        { code: 'en', name: 'English', flag: '🇬🇧' },
        { code: 'es', name: 'Español', flag: '🇪🇸' },
        { code: 'fr', name: 'Français', flag: '🇫🇷' },
      ],
    }
  },
}
</script>
```

### 5. Advanced Features

**Pluralization:**
```json
{
  "items": {
    "count_one": "{{count}} item",
    "count_other": "{{count}} items"
  }
}
```

```javascript
t('items.count', { count: 1 })  // "1 item"
t('items.count', { count: 5 })  // "5 items"
```

**Interpolation:**
```json
{
  "greeting": "Hello, {{name}}!",
  "welcome": "Welcome back, {{name}}. You have {{count}} messages."
}
```

```javascript
t('greeting', { name: 'John' })  // "Hello, John!"
t('welcome', { name: 'John', count: 5 })
```

**Date/Number Formatting:**
```javascript
import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next'

function Component() {
  const { t, i18n } = useTranslation()

  const date = new Date()
  const number = 1234.56

  return (
    <div>
      <p>{new Intl.DateTimeFormat(i18n.language).format(date)}</p>
      <p>{new Intl.NumberFormat(i18n.language).format(number)}</p>
      <p>
        {new Intl.NumberFormat(i18n.language, {
          style: 'currency',
          currency: 'USD',
        }).format(number)}
      </p>
    </div>
  )
}
```

### 6. RTL Support

**Detect RTL languages:**
```javascript
const RTL_LANGUAGES = ['ar', 'he', 'fa', 'ur']

function setDirection(language) {
  const isRTL = RTL_LANGUAGES.includes(language)
  document.dir = isRTL ? 'rtl' : 'ltr'
  document.documentElement.lang = language
}

// On language change
i18n.on('languageChanged', (lng) => {
  setDirection(lng)
})
```

**CSS for RTL:**
```css
[dir='rtl'] {
  text-align: right;
}

[dir='rtl'] .margin-left {
  margin-right: 1rem;
  margin-left: 0;
}

/* Or use logical properties */
.element {
  margin-inline-start: 1rem; /* Respects dir attribute */
  padding-inline-end: 0.5rem;
}
```

### 7. SEO Configuration

**Next.js:**
```javascript
import Head from 'next/head'
import { useTranslation } from 'next-i18next'

function MyPage() {
  const { t } = useTranslation()

  return (
    <>
      <Head>
        <title>{t('page.title')}</title>
        <meta name="description" content={t('page.description')} />
        <link rel="alternate" hrefLang="en" href="https://example.com/en" />
        <link rel="alternate" hrefLang="es" href="https://example.com/es" />
      </Head>
      {/* Page content */}
    </>
  )
}
```

### 8. Translation Management

**Scripts in package.json:**
```json
{
  "scripts": {
    "i18n:extract": "i18next-sca

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