Should I use a multisite installation to achieve a multi-language site?

Question

This is partly a follow up to my earlier question: How can I make a site viewable in multiple languages?.

It turns out the client wants to have the content manually translated, rather than using something like Google's translation tools. With that in mind, my first thought is to use a multisite installation with subdirectories, i.e. site.com/en/, /fr, /cn, etc.

Is this the most logical way to achieve the desired result. Keep in mind only the content needs to be in multiple languages, not the admin interface.

Answer 1

no you can use a single instalation of your WordPress and use this plugin WPML for setup your multilangual site. Keep multiple installations for any language is not a good idea.

Answer 2

I would like to follow up on this.

If understand it correctly then the WPML plugin should only be used in the event that the website is truly multilingual, and if the content doesnt vary from language to language.

My needs is that each local language has own capabilities for managing content, independently from the other languages. My approach for this as i see it is that i will create a landing page on the first page on the domain, and then run several wordpress installations, as this also makes it easier for translators and local webmasters to maintain their own website (ofcourse with the added possibility that they might do damage too).

.com - main landing page for selecting language/website .com/uk - wordpress installation for UK .com/es - wordpress installation for Spain

Is this the best way to approach this?

Answer 3

currently the WPML plugin has some defauts vs the multiple installation.

This is the already mentionned (Stauer) language site independence, but the most inconvenient thing is the images translation.

In a multisite installation you can install the same theme in the 2 different folders and change its localized pictures.