Creating a Multilingual Catalog

You can create a catalog on your Web site that stores product information in multiple languages. For example, you may want to display product information in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

The following is an overview of the steps you perform to create a multilingual catalog:

1. Add multilingual property definitions for the items you want to display in more than one language. For example, you might create the following multilingual properties:

   • Product Name – Multilingual Text
   • Description – Multilingual Text
   • Color – Multilingual Multiple Choice

   (By default, Category Display Name is Multilingual Text.)

2. Add product definitions that use the multilingual properties.

   For example, assign Product Name, Description, and Color to each product definition.

3. Create the catalog, and specify the languages the catalog is to support, for example, English, Spanish, and Chinese.

4. Add products and categories that include the multilingual properties, such as Product Name and Description.

5. Translate the multilingual products and categories into the languages supported by the catalog. You can use the following methods to translate the catalog:

   • If you have many products you need to translate, use the Catalog Editor module to export the catalog to XML, and then send it to a translator. After the catalog is translated, you can import it into the catalog database used by Commerce Server. You can then use Commerce Server Business Desk to update and publish the catalog as needed. For instructions, see Translating a Catalog by Exporting/Importing.
   • If you have only a few products you need to translate, use the Catalog Editor module in Business Desk to manually add the product data in a different language. For instructions, see Translating a Catalog with Business Desk.

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