What is internationalization?

Internationalization (abbreviated as i18n — 18 letters between the "i" and the "n") is the process of designing and building a website so it can be adapted for multiple languages, regions, and locales. Localization (l10n) is the process of applying those adaptations for a specific locale, such as translating text, reformatting dates, and adjusting content for a particular audience.

Together, internationalization and localization enable multilingual websites. You internationalize your site once by structuring it to support translation, then localize it for each language you want to support.

CloudCannon supports internationalization and multilingual websites. You can add multiple languages to any static site hosted on CloudCannon — either by using your Static Site Generator's (SSG's) built-in i18n features, or by adding a dedicated tool to your build pipeline.

SSG-native internationalization#

Several popular SSGs include built-in i18n support that works with CloudCannon without additional tooling.

• Hugo has comprehensive built-in multilingual support. You can define multiple languages in your hugo.toml and organize content translations as separate files using language codes in filenames or directories. For more information, please read the official Hugo documentation about built-in multilingual support or CloudCannon's Hugo multilingual guide.
• Astro includes built-in i18n routing from v3.5. You can configure supported locales in astro.config.mjs and use Astro's routing to serve localized content from language-specific directory structures. For more information, please read the official Astro documentation on internationalization.
• Next.js includes internationalized routing that supports both subpath routing (⁠/fr/about⁠) and domain routing strategies. You configure supported locales in next.config.js and Next.js handles routing automatically. For more information, please read the official Next.js documentation on internationalization.

If you're using one of these SSGs, you may not need additional tooling to build a multilingual site.

Internationalization with Rosey#

Rosey is an open-source i18n tool for static sites, developed and maintained by CloudCannon. Rosey works with any SSG — you tag translatable HTML elements with data-rosey attributes, and Rosey generates complete locale-specific versions of your site from JSON translation files at build time.

Rosey is CloudCannon's recommended approach for teams that want a flexible, SSG-agnostic translation workflow. You can make your locale JSON files editable directly in CloudCannon, either as a Collection or a Dataset. The optional Rosey CloudCannon Connector extends this further, adding inline translation editing and a locale switcher in the Visual Editor.

For more information, please read our documentation on Add internationalization with Rosey.

Other tools#

Because CloudCannon is a git-backed platform, your translation content lives in your Git repository alongside your site files. This makes CloudCannon compatible with a wide range of translation tools and services — including subscription-based translation layers, CI/CD-integrated translation management systems, on-demand professional translation services, and AI-powered localization tools. Which tool is right for your team will depend on your workflow, translation volume, or existing tooling.

• Weglot adds a JavaScript-based translation layer to your site. It operates at the browser level rather than at build time, and requires a Weglot subscription.
• Crowdin and Lokalise are translation management platforms that integrate with your repository via CI/CD and help coordinate localization workflows across larger teams or where professional translation is involved.
• Smartling is a professional translation service that combines a translation management platform with on-demand access to human translators and reviewers. It suits teams that need high-quality, managed translation at scale without maintaining their own translation team.
• DeepL and Phrase offer AI-powered translation that can integrate into your build pipeline. DeepL provides high-quality neural machine translation via API, while Phrase is a translation management system with AI-assisted translation and quality assurance built in.