Developer documentation

SwiftLingo works without code changes on your site, apart from adding the language switcher. These guides cover the technical details for when you need more control.

How SwiftLingo serves translations

SwiftLingo runs a translating proxy. Each language has its own subdomain (fr.example.com) that points at SwiftLingo with a CNAME record. When a visitor opens a page there, SwiftLingo fetches the page from your site, swaps in the translations and serves the result, with the same path, query string and anchors. Your original site at example.com doesn’t change.

DNS configurationPoint your language subdomains at SwiftLingo.

Excluding content from translationKeep brand names and other text in the original language.

Language change eventsReact when a visitor picks a language.

Building a custom language switcherYour own switcher design, built on the same URLs.