Template language file

Sometimes when creating or editing a template you may have wondered how to include text strings without hard coding them. This is very simple when using the language system in Joomla. The first thing you need to do is create a file called xx-XX.tpl_{template-name}.ini, where xx-XX is the language code (for example en-GB for english or es-ES for spanish) and place it in root/language/xx-XX/. Inside it you can define the strings like this:

# comment
TPL_NAME_STRING = string

# example
TPL_HELIX_CHARACTERS_LEFT = Characters left

The TPL_NAME is a convention to know where the language strings are coming from. When you have all your strings defined you can use them in your template overrides. To do so you need to load them first by placing the following code at the top of the override's default.php file:

// Import template language file 
$app =& JFactory::getApplication();
$template = $app->getTemplate();
$lang =& JFactory::getLanguage();
$lang->load('tpl_'.$template, JPATH_SITE);

Once you have that you can use your string in this file like this:

echo JText::_( 'TPL_NAME_STRING' );

The strings will also be available on sub templates like default_items.php for example.

Adding the language in the install

By default Joomla will place language files from extensions in the language folder. To tell Joomla that you have used language files in your template you need to modify templateDetails.xml by adding the following:

<install ... >
.
.
.
<languages> 
<language tag="xx-XX">language/xx-XX/xx-XX.tpl_name.ini</language>
</languages>
.
.
.
</install>

Where name is the name of the template. If you have made many language files simply list them inside the languages tags. You must include the .ini file in that directory structure in the template install file, of course.