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How Do I Add a Language Switcher to Squarespace?

Last updated on December 15, 2022 @ 2:31 am

Adding a language switcher to your Squarespace website is a great way to reach a wider audience. By allowing visitors to select their preferred language, you can ensure that they have a positive experience on your site. There are a few different ways to add a language switcher to Squarespace, so we’ll go over each method in turn.

The first method is to use the built-in language switcher tool. To do this, simply go to the Design tab and click on the Language Switcher icon.

From here, you can select which languages you want to offer and customize the look of the language switcher. Once you’re happy with your settings, click Save and your language switcher will be live on your site.

If you want more control over where your language switcher appears on your site, you can use the Code Injection tool. To do this, go to the Settings tab and click on Code Injection. In the header code injection box, paste the following code:

<script>

function googleTranslateElementInit() {
new google.translate.TranslateElement({pageLanguage: ‘en’, layout: google.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.SIMPLE}, ‘google_translate_element’);
}
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”//translate.google.com/translate_a/element.js?cb=googleTranslateElementInit”></script>

PRO TIP: Please be aware that adding a language switcher to your Squarespace website may result in some unintended consequences. For example, if you have a page with multiple language versions, the language switcher may cause the page to load slowly or display incorrectly. Additionally, if you use a third-party service to manage your website’s content, the language switcher may not work as intended.

Replace “en” with the two-letter code for your default language (e.g., “de” for German or “es” for Spanish). Once you’ve added this code, your language switcher will appear wherever you’ve placed the code injection box on your page. You can move it around by clicking and dragging the box into place.

The last method we’ll cover is adding a language switcher using a third-party plugin or widget. While Squarespace doesn’t officially support any plugins or widgets, there are a few that have been designed specifically for Squarespace websites. One such plugin is the WPML Multilingual CMS plugin, which you can find here: https://WordPress.org/plugins/wpml-multilingual-cms/.

Once you’ve installed and activated the plugin, go to WPML -> Languages in your WordPress dashboard and select which languages you want to offer on your site. Then, go to WPML -> String Translation and translate any strings that you want to appear in a different language (e., your site title or tagline). Finally, go to WPML -> Widgets in your WordPress dashboard and add the Language Switcher widget to one of your sidebars or footer areas.

And that’s it! These are just a few of the ways that you can add a language switcher to Squarespace website

Drew Clemente

Drew Clemente

Devops & Sysadmin engineer. I basically build infrastructure online.