Change Language Files

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Language Files

Phoenix Cart is U.S. English by default but other Language Packs are available to download.

Changes to the text shown in the shop can easily be made to localise and personalise the shop to suit you.

Let's first explain a little about the basic working mechanics of Phoenix Cart.

Using a new installation and the main page (home page) as an example, in your browser go to your website to see similar to this:

Look in your browser address bar and you will see the page as yoursite.com/index.php (if it only shows yoursite.com, click the shop logo to refresh the page) so this page is named index.php.

Note that most everything in CE Phoenix Cart is modularised so a lot of the text showing on the page will be in language files associated with those modules.

As seen in the example, the page could be described in groups of modules.

So, on this page, from the top, there are:

• navbar modules shown in the navigation bar at the top of the page.
• content/header modules shown just below the navigation bar.
• content/index modules shown in the central page contents specific to this page i.e. index
• content/footer modules shown at the base of the page.
• content/footer-suffix modules shown below the footer at the bottom of the page.

There are more modules in other groups on other pages.

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Example

As an example, change the text that shows in the About Us section at the base of the page.

To identify the module, first go to Modules and look in the list there.

It is in the footer so look in the Group column list for files in the footer group.

The About Us section is sorted to show last in the footer.

Text Block can be seen as sorted last in the list of modules in the footer Group.

So, on the server navigate to the /includes/languages/english/modules/content/footer/ folder/directory.

The file, cm_footer_text.php, can be seen there.

In a multi language store, the same file will also be in other language directories, for example, at:

/includes/languages/yourLanguage/modules/content/footer/cm_footer_text.php

Open the language file to see the constants and their values:

The value will be output wherever the constant is used in a file.

Note: Some language files might have the constants and values written slightly differently like:

Problems finding which file to change? Have a look at How to Change Text

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Edit Example

Changes to any language file for the Store side are made to a copy which is saved in a new location in the template set in Configuration → My Store → Template Selection.

This prevents them being overwritten in updates.

Changes to any language file for the Admin side are saved in the original location, they cannot be overridden.

If making a change to an Admin side language file, backup that file before and after making changes to the file on the server.

In every case, backup files before and after editing.

Making a change to a Store side language file:

• In this example, in your backup folder/directory go to the file /includes/languages/yourLanguage/modules/content/footer/cm_footer_text.php
• Using your host server control panel or FTP software, upload a copy to /templates/override/includes/languages/yourLanguage/modules/content/footer/
• Note the folder structure after /templates/override/ must be the same as the original file.
• New folders might need to be created in the template folder/directory to create this folder structure.
• Note that override is the template set in a new installation. Ensure to upload to the template set in Configuration → My Store → Template Selection
• NOTE: In recent CE Phoenix cart versions, the previous steps have been simplified by using Tools > Language Explorer
• Open the new file /templates/override/includes/languages/yourLanguage/modules/content/footer/cm_footer_text.php
• See the constant MODULE_CONTENT_FOOTER_TEXT_TEXT has a value set as

  <p>Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry\'s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.</p>

• In this case, the text is formatted as a paragraph by being wrapped in HTML tags -

  <p>

  to start and

  </p>

  to end.
• The value is also wrapped in single quotes.
• Change the text as required.
• If you enter any more single quotes in your text, you must use a backslash before the single quote, for example, don\'t.
• Check and test the changes in the store. Remember to refresh/reload the page to see changes. Back up the file.

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Policy Pages

It is important to enter your own text for the pages that customers will use before and after buying.

These are the Policy pages, such as the Privacy & Cookie Policy, Terms & Conditions and Shipping & Returns pages.

Links to these pages can be seen in the footer of the shop.

The text for the content of these pages are handled in an alternative way.

The content text is not changed in Language files but is changed from admin - go to Tools → Info Pages

For example, go to Tools → Info Pages and double click Privacy & Cookie Policy in the list to edit.

Change the text Put here your Privacy/Cookie Policies Text. to your required text and click Save.

The text for the module title, Information and the text for links to these pages are shown in a module in the footer and are changed in Language files.

For example, to change the text that shows Information, find the file /includes/languages/yourLanguage/modules/content/footer/cm_footer_information_links.php

Follow steps similarly to the Example above to copy into your template folder.

Open the new file to see:

const MODULE_CONTENT_FOOTER_INFORMATION_HEADING_TITLE = 'Information';

Change Information to your required text and save.

Open the website page again to see your changes or if you still have the page open, refresh or reload the page to see the changes.

Back up the file.

The text for the links is in the same file.

For example, see the lines:

  const MODULE_CONTENT_FOOTER_INFORMATION_DATA = [
    'privacy.php' => 'Privacy & Cookie Policy',
    'conditions.php' => 'Terms & Conditions',
    'shipping.php' => 'Delivery & Returns',
    'contact_us.php' => 'Contact Us',
  ];

Change Privacy & Cookie Policy as required.

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Addons

Other Language Packs are published in the Addons Library where the .zip files can be downloaded.

• Language Packs

Language Packs are created by and maintained by volunteers so support for them is only available from the author.

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Many Addons and Extensions available in the CE Phoenix Cart Addons Library

If help is needed, support is available in the CE Phoenix Cart Support Forum

Phoenix Cart User Guide, like CE Phoenix Cart, is free to use but is maintained by unpaid volunteers.

Code references are licensed under a Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
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