next-export-i18n

TL;DR: This npm module provides a simple solution for Internationalization (i18n) of projects using next export.

Since v10.0.0 Next.js already has support for internationalized (i18n) routing out-of-the-box. You can provide a list of locales, a default as well as domain-specific locales and Next.js automatically handles the routing. It streamlines the touring and locale parsing for nearly all existing l18n library solutions available for Next.js such as react-intl, react-i18next, lingui, rosetta, next-intl.

Unfortunately, Next.js i18n-routing does not supports next export.

Note that Internationalized Routing does not integrate with next export as next export does not leverage the Next.js routing layer. Hybrid Next.js applications that do not use next export are fully supported.

This means that none of the i18n-libraries (which are utilizing the build in i18n-routing) is able to support fully static sites which are generated with next export.

Wait, what is going on here, they explicitly mention support for server-side rendering!

react-i18next is optimally suited for server-side rendering

https://react.i18next.com

To complement this, next-i18next provides the remaining functionality – management of translation content, and components/hooks to translate your React components – while fully supporting SSG/SSR, multiple namespaces, codesplitting, etc.

https://github.com/isaachinman/next-i18next

They all support pre-rendered sites which are served with Next.js - where as next export creates a truly static page which can be served with any webserver (e.g. nginx, apache etc).

For the different types of pre-rendering in Next.js, take a look at my article The two and a half + one flavors of Next.js's pre-rendering which explains and summarizes the different options.

next-export-i18n overview

next-export-i18n will add a query-parameter lang to your urls and use this for setting the correct content for the selected language. The interface for the i18n-content is similar to react-i18next / next-i18next. You add get the content with t(key.to.translation) from the useTranslation-hook. There are a few things you need to keep in mind:

• you need to set the translations files as json. If you prefer a more human friendly format, use yaml and yamljs and their cli yaml2json for easy conversion.
• you refer nested keys with a dot: "nested.key" (see example below). Please no not use dots in your keys unless you use nested keys.
• if there is no translation for the given key, the module renders the key back to the site.
• you need to update the query parameters on your internal links to pass the selected language query-parameter. Use the query state from the useLanguageQuery-hook and add it as query-object to your next/link-components (<Link href={{ query: query … }}>…). The useLanguageQuery-hook will preserve your existing query-parameters.
• it requires JavaScript being enabled on the client side.

Quick start

1. Run yarn add next-export-i18n or npm install next-export-i18n.
2. Create a top-level-folder i18n and Add your json translation files .

translations.en.json

{
  "myKey": "en translation",
  "nested": {
    "key": "nested en translation"
  }
}

translations.de.json

{
  "myKey": "de translation",
  "nested": {
    "key": "nested en translation"
  }
}

3. Create i18n/index.js, require your translation files and export them.

var en = require("./translations.en.json");
var de = require("./translations.de.json");

const i18n = {
  translations: {
    en,
    de,
  },
  defaultLang: "en",
  useBrowserDefault: true,
};

module.exports = i18n;

In case there is a default language set in the browser and this language is available in the translations, and useBrowserDefault is set to true it overrides the default language setting in the config file. Relevant is the primary subtag, e.g.: a default language of en-US from the will be read as en. Set useBrowserDefault to false if you want to forcefully override the browser language.

4. import { useTranslation, useLanguageQuery, LanguageSwitcher } from 'next-export-i18n' in your pages and get the required hooks.

import {
  useTranslation,
  useLanguageQuery,
  LanguageSwitcher,
} from "next-export-i18n";

const { t } = useTranslation();
const [query] = useLanguageQuery();

4. Add the <LanguageSwitcher lang={string}> component to change the language (or create your own language switcher).
5. Add the query from useLanguageQuery to your internal links to enhance them with the language parameter (<Link href={{ query: query … }}>…).
6. Add the translations with t(key) from useTranslation to your elements. They will be automatically update as soon as the language change.

Module.js

const { t } = useTranslation();
const key = "myKey";
let string = t(key);
// string will be "en translation" or "de translation
const nestedKey = "nested.key";
let nestedString = t(key);
// nestedString will be "nested en translation" or "nested de translation

Working with template strings in translation files

You can also provide a mustache template in your translation.json and render it dynamically:

translation.json

{
  "myTemplate": "{{count}} times"
}

Module.js

 import { useTranslation} from 'next-export-i18n'
 const { t } = useTranslation();
 const key = 'myTemplate';
 let string = t(key, { count: 2 }))
 // string will be "2 times"

Sample implementation

You can also take a look at the example implementation next-export-i18n-example.vercel.app and its source code at github: https://github.com/martinkr/next-export-i18n-example.

Getting Started with Next.js

Well, you are looking for a very specific solution related to Next.js, so I assume you already know about Next.js. But anyway …

Run the development server

npm run dev
# or
yarn dev

and open http://localhost:3000 with your browser to see the result.

Export the project

npm run export
# or
yarn export

and serve the ./out directory with your favorite web server.

Tech Stack

• next.js: 12.1.5
• react.js: 18.0.0
• jest: 27.5.1
• typescript: 4.6.3

License

Licensed under the MIT license. MIT - http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php