Language configuration in Anton¶
Overview¶
Anton supports multilingual (DE, EN, FR and IT) content for various fields (title, text fields, keywords, etc.). This document describes the available settings and gives recommendations for the configuration.
Kinds of language¶
Anton has two different concepts of "language":
- UI language (
app.locale): the language of the user interface (menus, labels, messages) - Content languages (
locales): the languages in which archival data can be recorded
System setting: locales¶
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Array |
| Scope | localisation |
| Example | ["de", "en", "fr"] |
Defines which languages are available for translatable fields.
Important: the first language in the array is the main language and is used as a fallback when no value exists for another language.
Translatable fields: - Title (AntonObject) - Note fields - Keywords (name, use_for) - Places (description)
User setting: show_all_locales_in_edit_forms¶
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Boolean |
| Default | false |
| Location | Profile → Settings → Editing |
When activated (true):
- In edit forms, separate input fields for each configured language are displayed
- Example: title (DE), title (EN), title (FR)
When deactivated (false):
- Only one input field is displayed (for the current UI language)
- Values already entered in other languages are shown for information but are not editable
Language on import¶
An import has its own content language, independent of the language of the interface. It determines which language titles, text fields and newly created authority data are written in — and in which language Anton searches for existing actors and places.
Up to v0.86.x, the import followed the interface language; anyone who had set English created English titles with German text. Since v0.87.0 the language is chosen deliberately and is visible before the run.
Translatable fields can also be addressed per language in the import — title_de, title_fr, scopecontent_it. Multilingual titles can thus be imported, and the update table of a multilingual archive goes out and comes back in without loss.
Both are described in detail under Import → Content language of the import.
Fallback behaviour¶
If no value exists for the current language:
1. Anton uses the value of the first language from setting('locales')
2. If nothing is there either: it searches the further configured languages
In the detail view, editors are shown which language the value comes from (e.g. "Title (DE)").
Recommendation: one language per field¶
Our recommendation is to store only one language per field (show_all_locales_in_edit_forms = false).
Reasons¶
-
Consistency: if titles are recorded in several languages, all translations have to be maintained. When the original changes, the translations are often not updated.
-
Archival standards: in archival practice, documents are normally described in their original language, not translated.
-
Searchability: the full-text search (
full_textcolumn) contains all language versions. That can lead to confusing hits. -
Maintenance effort: multilingual data maintenance requires considerably more resources.
When multilingualism makes sense¶
- Archives with an international audience (scholarly collections, for example)
- Holdings with documents in various languages, where the title is recorded in the original language
- Institutions with a legal obligation to be multilingual
Configuration examples¶
Monolingual archive¶
// Setting: locales
["de"]
// UserSettings
show_all_locales_in_edit_forms: false
Bilingual archive (DE/FR)¶
// Setting: locales
["de", "fr"]
// UserSettings (as required)
show_all_locales_in_edit_forms: false // Recommended
International archive¶
// Setting: locales
["en", "de", "fr", "it"]
// UserSettings (for translators)
show_all_locales_in_edit_forms: true