Multi Site Manager and Translation

Adobe Experience Manager’s built-in Multi Site Manager and translation tools simplifies localizing your content.

These two features can be combined to cater for websites that are both multinational and multilingual.

TIP

If you are new to translating content, see Sites Translation Journey. It is a guided path through translating your AEM Sites content using AEM’s powerful translation tools; ideal if you have no AEM or translation experience.

Multinational and Multilingual Sites

You can efficiently create content for multinational and multilingual sites through the combined use of the Multi Site Manager and the translation workflow.

Typically, you create a primary site in one language and for a specific country, then use that content as a basis for the other sites, using translation where required.

  1. Translate the primary site into different languages.
  2. Use Multi Site Manager to:
    1. Reuse content from the primary site and its translations to create sites for other countries and cultures.
    2. Where required, detach elements of the Live Copies to add localization details.
TIP

Limit the use of Multi Site Manager to content within one language.

For example, use the primary English to create the English version of pages for the US, Canada, and UK pages. Then, use the primary French to create the French version of pages for France, Switzerland, Canada, and so on.

The following diagram illustrates how the main concepts intersect (but does not show all levels/elements involved):

Localization overview

In this scenario, and comparable ones, MSM does not manage the different language versions as such.

  • MSM manages the deployment of translated content from a blueprint (that is, a primary global) to the Live Copies (that is, the local sites), within the boundaries of a language.
  • The translation integration capabilities of AEM, with third-party translation management services, manages the languages and translating content into these different languages.

For more advanced use-cases, MSM may be used across primary languages, too.

TIP

For all use-cases it is recommended to read the following best practices:

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