Creating Start Center templates in multiple languages

The Start Center that users see when they log in depends on their security group. By default, Start Center templates are in English. An administrator can create a Start Center template that can be viewed in multiple languages. Then, the administrator can assign the template to the security group whose users require non-English languages.

Before you begin

You must have an administrator account whose default language is the language that you want to use in the Start Center. If you require templates in several languages, you must have an administrator account for each language.

About this task

The content and structure of Start Center templates are stored in .xml files. However, any editable description labels are stored in a separate database table and are referenced in the .xml files by using the contentuid attribute. The description labels in English are stored in the MAXLABELS table, and description labels in other languages are stored with their language codes in L_MAXLABELS table.

To reduce the number of changes that are required in Start Center templates, create the template after you verify that all portlets and content are required.

Procedure

  1. Log in as an administrator whose default language is English and create a Start Center template.
  2. In the new English-language template, add portlets.
  3. Configure the portlets to include the necessary content and provide labels for the editable descriptions.
  4. Save the template.
    The template is saved in English. The labels in the XML are inserted into the MAXLABELS table.
  5. In the Security Groups application, open the relevant group for your users and specify the new template as the Start Center template.
  6. Save the record and log out.
  7. Log in as an administrator whose default language is not English, click Modify Existing Template, and select the English-language template that you created.
    All editable description labels are in English. If a portlet does not provide editable description labels, then those labels are shown in the default language. For example, your default language is Russian and your template includes the KPI Graph portlet and the Inbox portlet. The KPI Graph portlet is entirely in English, but the labels for the Inbox portlet are in Russian.
  8. Edit each portlet to include editable description fields in the non-English language.
  9. Save the template.
  10. To apply the changes for the non-English language, update the Start Center.
    The editable description labels are now shown in the non-English language. The description labels are also saved in the L_MAXLABELS table with the language code.

Results

Any user whose default language is the same as the language code in the L_MAXLABELS table can log in and see that language used in the Start Center labels. Users whose default language is English can see the English version of the Start Center.

If the Start Center template requires the addition or removal of portals, you must log in as an administrator whose default language is English and change the English language version of the template.