Changing the Default Language¶
GeoNode’s default language is English, but GeoNode users can change the interface language with the pulldown menu at the top-right of most GeoNode pages. Once a user selects a language GeoNode remembers that language for subsequent pages.
GeoNode Configuration¶
As root edit the geonode config file /home/geonode/geonode/geonode/settings.py
(or /etc/geonode/settings.py
if GeoNode has been installed using apt-get) and change LANGUAGE_CODE
to the desired default language.
Note
A list of language codes can be found in the global django config file /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/django/conf/global_settings.py
(or /var/lib/geonode/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/conf/global_settings.py
if GeoNode has been installed using apt-get).
For example, to make French the default language use
LANGUAGE_CODE = 'fr'
Unfortunately Django overrides this setting, giving the language setting of a user’s browser priority. For example, if LANGUAGE_CODE
is set to French, but the user has configured their operating system for Spanish they may see the Spanish version when they first visit GeoNode.
Additional Steps¶
If this is not the desired behaviour, and all users should initially see the default LANGUAGE_CODE
, regardless of their browser’s settings, do the following steps to ensure Django ignores the browser language settings. (Users can always use the pulldown language menu to change the language at any time.)
As root create a new directory within GeoNode’s site packages
mkdir /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/setmydefaultlanguage
or
mkdir /var/lib/geonode/lib/python2.7/site-packages/setmydefaultlanguage
or
mkdir ~/.venvs/geonode/lib/python2.7/site-packages/setmydefaultlanguage
if GeoNode has been installed using apt-get as root create and edit a new file /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/setmydefaultlanguage/__init__.py
if GeoNode has been installed as a custom project dependency, ~/.venvs/geonode/lib/python2.7/site-packages/setmydefaultlanguage/__init__.py
Add the following lines
from django.conf import settings from django.utils import translation class ForceDefaultLanguageMiddleware(object): """ Ignore Accept-Language HTTP headers This will force the I18N machinery to always choose settings.LANGUAGE_CODE as the default initial language, unless another one is set via sessions or cookies Should be installed *before* any middleware that checks request.META['HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE'], namely django.middleware.locale.LocaleMiddleware """ def process_request(self, request): request.LANG = getattr(settings, 'LANGUAGE_CODE', settings.LANGUAGE_CODE) translation.activate(request.LANG) request.LANGUAGE_CODE = request.LANG
At the end of the GeoNode configuration file /home/geonode/geonode/geonode/settings.py
, /etc/geonode/settings.py
if GeoNode has been installed using apt-get or ~/.venvs/geonode/src/geonode/geonode/settings.py
if installed as a custom project dependency, add the following lines to ensure the above class is executed:
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES += (
'setmydefaultlanguage.ForceDefaultLanguageMiddleware',
)
Restart¶
Finally restart Apache2 as root with:
service apache2 restart
Please refer to Translating GeoNode for information on editing GeoNode pages in different languages and create new GeoNode Translations.