[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #58326: Separate WordPress Back-end language from front-end language

[WordPress Trac]

#58326: Separate WordPress Back-end language from front-end language
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 Reporter:  Marc4            |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  feature request  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal           |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  I18N             |     Version:  trunk
 Severity:  normal           |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                   |     Focuses:  accessibility, administration
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Description changed by SergeyBiryukov:

Old description:

> WordPress should offer the native option to have a back-end in a
> different language than the front-end language.
>
> == Level 2 Context of the proposal
>
> Many people write in WordPress for a different language audience than
> their native or preferred language. These people would appreciate being
> able to have the back-end in their native or preferred language, without
> affecting the front-end language, which is who the content is intended
> for.
>
> == Level 2 Its not currently allowed in WordPress?
>
> Yes, but it is not accessible and confuses the user, and can cause
> problems with search engine indexing, etc. In addition, the user must
> request permission from an administrator in order to use WordPress in
> their language.
>
> == Level 2 Why?
>
> Currently, when an administrator user selects a language from "Site
> Language" (Settings > General), the selected language affects the front-
> end of the site and the back-end. So if the website owner, who is
> Spanish, decides to set the "Site Language" to Spanish, but his website
> is focused on an English audience, we have a problem. The texts and the
> html lang tag of the site change to es_ES indicating to crawlers and
> search engines that the content is Spanish, when in fact the content is
> in English. In addition it will have mixed content in Spanish and
> English, because the theme texts will change to Spanish.
>
> == Level 2 How is it currently solved?
>
> If the owner of this website wants the back-end language to be different
> from the front-end language he has to change the language for his user in
> "Users > Your user > Language". But he can only do this autonomously if
> he is an administrator user.
>
> A non-admin user can only select a language if he has previously been
> logged in (Settings > General) by an admin user, as only admin users can
> access (Settings).
>
> == Level 2 Does having separate languages solve all this?
>
> Yes. Having separate languages would allow any non-admin role to select
> their language for the back-end without having to ask an admin to
> activate the language. Although you will probably have to wait for
> packages to be downloaded, manually or automatically. perhaps this could
> be improved?
>
> For accessibility reasons it makes more sense to have the language
> settings in one place, rather than having one in "Settings > General" and
> another in "Users > Your user > Language".
>
> Making it clear that one language affects the front-end and another
> affects the back-end is logical, clear and avoids problems and confusion,
> both for experienced and inexperienced users.
>
> == Level 2 What would this look like?
>
> In the attached image.
>
> ----
>
> I have created this ticket separately from
> https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/58105 and from
> https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/49971 because although both
> tickets have the same purpose, which is to separate languages for back-
> end and front-end, I think the approach is different and deserves a new
> approach. Especially in accessibility issues.

New description:

 WordPress should offer the native option to have a back-end in a different
 language than the front-end language.

 == Level 2 Context of the proposal

 Many people write in WordPress for a different language audience than
 their native or preferred language. These people would appreciate being
 able to have the back-end in their native or preferred language, without
 affecting the front-end language, which is who the content is intended
 for.

 == Level 2 Its not currently allowed in WordPress?

 Yes, but it is not accessible and confuses the user, and can cause
 problems with search engine indexing, etc. In addition, the user must
 request permission from an administrator in order to use WordPress in
 their language.

 == Level 2 Why?

 Currently, when an administrator user selects a language from "Site
 Language" (Settings > General), the selected language affects the front-
 end of the site and the back-end. So if the website owner, who is Spanish,
 decides to set the "Site Language" to Spanish, but his website is focused
 on an English audience, we have a problem. The texts and the html lang tag
 of the site change to es_ES indicating to crawlers and search engines that
 the content is Spanish, when in fact the content is in English. In
 addition it will have mixed content in Spanish and English, because the
 theme texts will change to Spanish.

 == Level 2 How is it currently solved?

 If the owner of this website wants the back-end language to be different
 from the front-end language he has to change the language for his user in
 "Users > Your user > Language". But he can only do this autonomously if he
 is an administrator user.

 A non-admin user can only select a language if he has previously been
 logged in (Settings > General) by an admin user, as only admin users can
 access (Settings).

 == Level 2 Does having separate languages solve all this?

 Yes. Having separate languages would allow any non-admin role to select
 their language for the back-end without having to ask an admin to activate
 the language. Although you will probably have to wait for packages to be
 downloaded, manually or automatically. perhaps this could be improved?

 For accessibility reasons it makes more sense to have the language
 settings in one place, rather than having one in "Settings > General" and
 another in "Users > Your user > Language".

 Making it clear that one language affects the front-end and another
 affects the back-end is logical, clear and avoids problems and confusion,
 both for experienced and inexperienced users.

 == Level 2 What would this look like?

 In the attached image.

 ----

 I have created this ticket separately from #58105 and from #49971 because
 although both tickets have the same purpose, which is to separate
 languages for back-end and front-end, I think the approach is different
 and deserves a new approach. Especially in accessibility issues.

--

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/58326#comment:1>
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