Language selectors and visitor language preferences

Documentation / Languages and translations

The public language selector connects versions of the current page. It is different from the CMS content-language picker, which selects the version an editor is managing.

Understand the available choices

The engine builds language links from configured languages and the translation map. The current language remains identified as active. Other choices appear when a translated or corresponding target page exists and is publicly listed.

This means a configured language may be absent from a particular page's selector. Check whether that page has a translation and whether its availability or date makes it eligible. A missing choice is not proof that the entire language was removed from the website.

Translated slugs can differ from the source. The selector uses shared page identity to locate the matching version instead of simply adding a prefix to every address.

Understand visitor preferences

Clicking a public language choice records an explicit language-preference cookie before following the link. The verified cookie lasts up to a year and is scoped to the website path. Browser settings or cookie deletion can shorten that persistence.

The consent interface can also offer an English/French language choice when an alternate version is available and no explicit preference exists. This does not establish a general automatic translation service or a promise that every incoming address redirects according to browser language.

Validate the experience

Test an existing translated page in a fresh session. Switch languages, confirm the destination, and revisit with the saved preference. Repeat on a page missing a translation and verify that the interface does not offer a broken choice.

See Pages and navigation and Legal and privacy with LEX8 for navigation and preference context.