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Designing Image Galleries for Multilingual Sites
How to handle gallery captions, localized image descriptions, and output logic when one gallery must work across multiple languages.
Multilingual galleries are easy until captions and descriptions have to change with the active language. The hard part is not the images themselves; it is deciding where translated metadata should live and how the gallery output chooses the correct variant.
Two Common Patterns
- store one shared image set and keep language-specific captions in TVs or related data fields
- store separate gallery metadata per language context and switch output based on the current language
The first option is usually easier to maintain when the image files are the same in every language. The second is safer when each language requires fully independent editorial control.
What to Test
Before committing to one model, test captions, lightbox labels, alt text, and cached listing output in every language. Multilingual galleries often fail in the metadata layer long before the image files themselves become a problem.
Choosing a Practical Multilingual Architecture for Evolution CMS
How to decide between one tree, multiple trees, YAMS-style switching, and other multilingual patterns in Evolution CMS without overcomplicating editor workflows.
Keeping YAMS Pagination on the Current Language
How to stop Ditto pagination from sending multilingual visitors back to the default language when using YAMS.