Both Joomla and Drupal offer strong native multilingual support, making them popular choices for sites needing to serve content in multiple languages. This guide covers configuring multilingual content in each.
Joomla: Setting Up Multilingual Content
Step 1 — Enable the Required Core Plugins
Under System → Plugins, enable "System - Language Filter" and ensure the language switcher module is available.
Step 2 — Install Additional Languages
Under System → Install → Languages, install the language packs for each language you want to support.
Step 3 — Create Content Language Associations
Under System → Content Language, define each language you'll use as a distinct Content Language.
Step 4 — Create Translated Versions of Content
For each article, create a language-specific version and associate it with its translations under the article's language association settings.
Step 5 — Add a Language Switcher Module
Under Content → Site Modules, add the "Language Switcher" module to display a language selector on the front end.
Drupal: Setting Up Multilingual Content
Step 1 — Enable Core Multilingual Modules
Under Extend, enable: Language, Content Translation, Configuration Translation, and Interface Translation.
Step 2 — Add Languages
Under Configuration → Regional and Language → Languages, add each language your site will support.
Step 3 — Enable Translation for Content Types
Under Configuration → Regional and Language → Content Language, enable translation for each content type (Article, Page, etc.) that needs multilingual versions.
Step 4 — Translate Content
Edit any content node and use the "Translate" tab to add translations for each enabled language.
Step 5 — Configure URL Language Detection
Under Configuration → Regional and Language → Languages → Detection and Selection, configure whether language is determined by URL path prefix, domain, or another method.
SEO Considerations for Multilingual Sites
Ensure proper hreflang tags are generated for each language variant, helping search engines correctly associate translated versions of the same content — both platforms handle this automatically once multilingual features are properly configured, but verify the generated markup is correct.
Translation Workflow Considerations
For sites with substantial ongoing translation needs, consider whether professional translation management tooling (either platform-native extensions or external translation management systems integrated via API) would streamline the ongoing translation workflow better than manual entry.
Common Errors
Language switcher shows but doesn't actually change content — verify content translations were actually created for each language, not just the language itself being enabled at the system level.
URLs don't include the expected language prefix — verify language detection/URL configuration matches your intended URL structure (path prefix vs domain-based).
Continue Reading
- How to Install Joomla on a VPS
- How to Install Drupal on a VPS
- How to Secure a Drupal or Joomla Installation
Browse more articles in CMS Platforms Beyond WordPress.
