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- Written by M. Kanev
- Last Updated: 13 June 2018
- Created: 16 July 2013
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How to use Language override functionality in Joomla to override Taxi Booking labels and text?
Joomla has set a beautiful practice to handle languages and multilingual content websites in its core since Joomla 2.5 got out.
Language strings defined by Language constants are stored in .ini language files arranged in language folders with specific language code naming. Sound a bit complicated? Read on to see how you can easily bypass minor language/text changes.
When you log in to your Joomla 2.5 backend and go to Extensions > Language manager > Overrides, you will be able to create New overrides for any language that you have installed on your website by selecting the language in the drop-down on the right-hand side of your screen.
In Joomla 3.x you have to select the language and the location (Site or Administrator) via the Filter in the Overrides list section. Then click on the New button in the top left corner.
The purpose of this tutorial is to demonstrate how you can change English text values for Taxi Booking component easily, without the need to access the language .ini file via FTP. Another advantage of this method is that the language overrides will not be lost on Taxi Booking update so you don't have to keep a copy (which is always a good idea to have though) of your language files and upload them each time to the server after component and/or module update.
Let's go back to the override system now.
If you click on New in the top right corner (top left corner on Joomla 3.x) you will see a screen that asks for a Language Constant and then corresponding Text to associate the language constant with.
Here is the explanation by Joomla regarding language constants and language strings:
"A language string is composed of two parts: a specific language constant and its value.
For example, in the string: COM_CONTENT_READ_MORE="Read more: "
'COM_CONTENT_READ_MORE' is the constant and 'Read more: ' is the value.
You have to use the specific language constant in order to create an override of the value.
Therefore, you can search for the constant or the value you want to change with the search field below.
By clicking on the desired result the correct constant will automatically be inserted into the form."
You can always look up the language constants in your .ini language files but the real trick here is to use the built-in Search functionality. You can choose what to search for: Constant or Value, but since you can see the values (text) displayed at your front end it is much easier to enter a value here.
Let's look at a real-world example:
If we search for a value: Vehicle
Some of the results will be:
COM_TAXIBOOKING_NO_VEHICLE
No vehicle found! please check your passengers and suitcases.
COM_TAXIBOOKING_NO_VEHICLE_DATETIME
No vehicles available for this DateTime, please change DateTime and try again.
Click on one of the results and Joomla will copy the language constant and the value text in the fields on the left hand side. You can now alter the text as you see fit and click on the Save & Close button.
Repeat for all texts that you need changed.