Localization & Internationalization

Total CMS provides comprehensive support for localizing dates, numbers, currencies, and relative time strings. This guide covers the supported languages and how to use localization features in your Twig templates.

Setting the Default Locale

The default locale is configured in Settings > General > Locale. This affects all date, number, and currency formatting throughout your site.

Supported Languages

The following languages have full localization support, including translated relative time strings:

Language	Locale Code	Example Relative Time
Arabic	ar_SA	”منذ شهرين”
Czech	cs_CZ	”před 2 měsíci”
Danish	da_DK	”for 2 måneder siden”
Dutch	nl_NL	”2 maanden geleden”
English (US)	en_US	”2 months ago”
English (UK)	en_GB	”2 months ago”
English (Canada)	en_CA	”2 months ago”
English (Australia)	en_AU	”2 months ago”
English (Singapore)	en_SG	”2 months ago”
French (France)	fr_FR	”il y a 2 mois”
French (Canada)	fr_CA	”il y a 2 mois”
German	de_DE	”vor 2 Monaten”
Hungarian	hu_HU	”2 hónapja”
Italian	it_IT	”2 mesi fa”
Japanese	ja_JP	”2 か月前”
Khmer (Cambodia)	km_KH	”2 months ago” *
Norwegian	no_NO	”for 2 måneder siden”
Polish	pl_PL	”2 miesiące temu”
Portuguese (Brazil)	pt_BR	”há 2 meses”
Portuguese (Portugal)	pt_PT	”há 2 meses”
Russian	ru_RU	”2 месяца назад”
Spanish (Spain)	es_ES	”hace 2 meses”
Spanish (Mexico)	es_MX	”hace 2 meses”
Turkish	tr_TR	”2 ay önce”
Ukrainian	uk_UA	”2 місяці тому”
Vietnamese	vi_VN	”2 tháng trước”
Chinese (Simplified)	zh_CN	”2 个月前”

* Khmer has partial support - date/number formatting works but relative time falls back to English.

Multilingual Sites

For sites with multiple languages, you can change the locale dynamically within your templates.

Setting the Locale

Use cms.locale.set() at the top of your template to change the locale for all subsequent formatting:

{# Set locale based on page language #}
{{ cms.locale.set('de_DE') }}

{# All formatting now uses German #}
{{ post.date|dateRelative }}
{# Output: "vor 2 Monaten" #}

Getting the Current Locale

{{ cms.locale.get() }}
{# Output: "de_DE" #}

Dynamic Locale from Content

If your content has a language field, you can set the locale dynamically:

{# Assuming page.locale contains the locale code #}
{{ cms.locale.set(page.locale) }}

<article>
    <h1>{{ page.title }}</h1>
    <time>{{ page.date|dateRelative }}</time>
</article>

Date Formatting

Relative Time

The dateRelative filter displays dates in a human-readable relative format:

{{ post.date|dateRelative }}
{# Output varies by locale: #}
{# en_US: "2 months ago" #}
{# de_DE: "vor 2 Monaten" #}
{# fr_FR: "il y a 2 mois" #}
{# ja_JP: "2 か月前" #}

Formatted Dates

Use format_date for locale-aware date formatting:

{# Short format #}
{{ post.date|format_date('short') }}
{# en_US: "12/31/25" #}
{# de_DE: "31.12.25" #}

{# Medium format #}
{{ post.date|format_date('medium') }}
{# en_US: "Dec 31, 2025" #}
{# de_DE: "31.12.2025" #}

{# Long format #}
{{ post.date|format_date('long') }}
{# en_US: "December 31, 2025" #}
{# de_DE: "31. Dezember 2025" #}

{# Full format #}
{{ post.date|format_date('full') }}
{# en_US: "Wednesday, December 31, 2025" #}
{# de_DE: "Mittwoch, 31. Dezember 2025" #}

Date and Time

Use format_datetime for both date and time:

{{ post.date|format_datetime('medium', 'short') }}
{# en_US: "Dec 31, 2025, 3:30 PM" #}
{# de_DE: "31.12.2025, 15:30" #}

Time Only

{{ post.date|format_time('short') }}
{# en_US: "3:30 PM" #}
{# de_DE: "15:30" #}

Number Formatting

Numbers are formatted according to locale conventions:

{{ 1234567.89|format_number }}
{# en_US: "1,234,567.89" #}
{# de_DE: "1.234.567,89" #}
{# fr_FR: "1 234 567,89" #}

Percentages

{{ 0.1525|format_percent_number }}
{# en_US: "15%" #}
{# de_DE: "15 %" #}

Scientific Notation

{{ 1234567|format_scientific_number }}
{# Output: "1.234567E6" #}

Spelled Out Numbers

{{ 42|format_spellout_number }}
{# en_US: "forty-two" #}
{# de_DE: "zwei­und­vierzig" #}

Currency Formatting

Currencies are formatted with proper symbols and decimal placement:

{{ 99.99|format_currency('USD') }}
{# en_US: "$99.99" #}
{# de_DE: "99,99 $" #}

{{ 99.99|format_currency('EUR') }}
{# en_US: "€99.99" #}
{# de_DE: "99,99 €" #}

{{ 99.99|format_currency('JPY') }}
{# ja_JP: "￥100" (no decimals for Yen) #}

{{ 99.99|format_currency('SGD') }}
{# en_SG: "S$99.99" #}

Localized Names

Country Names

{{ 'US'|country_name }}
{# en_US: "United States" #}
{# de_DE: "Vereinigte Staaten" #}
{# ja_JP: "アメリカ合衆国" #}

Language Names

{{ 'de'|language_name }}
{# en_US: "German" #}
{# de_DE: "Deutsch" #}
{# fr_FR: "allemand" #}

Currency Names

{{ 'EUR'|currency_name }}
{# en_US: "Euro" #}
{# de_DE: "Euro" #}
{# ja_JP: "ユーロ" #}

{{ 'USD'|currency_symbol }}
{# Output: "$" #}

Timezone Names

{{ 'America/New_York'|timezone_name }}
{# en_US: "Eastern Time" #}
{# de_DE: "Nordamerikanische Ostküstenzeit" #}

Complete Example

Here’s a complete example of a multilingual blog post template:

{# Set locale from page content #}
{{ cms.locale.set(post.locale|default('en_US')) }}

<article class="blog-post" lang="{{ post.locale|default('en_US')|slice(0,2) }}">
    <header>
        <h1>{{ post.title }}</h1>
        <div class="meta">
            <time datetime="{{ post.date|date('c') }}">
                {{ post.date|format_date('long') }}
            </time>
            <span class="relative-time">
                ({{ post.date|dateRelative }})
            </span>
        </div>
    </header>

    <div class="content">
        {{ post.content|raw }}
    </div>

    {% if post.price %}
    <div class="price">
        {{ post.price|format_currency(post.currency|default('USD')) }}
    </div>
    {% endif %}
</article>

Date Format Options

Available format options for format_date, format_datetime, and format_time:

Option	Description	Example (en_US)
none	No output	-
short	Abbreviated	”12/31/25”
medium	Standard	”Dec 31, 2025”
long	Full month name	”December 31, 2025”
full	Complete with weekday	”Wednesday, December 31, 2025”