Building a Bilingual PHP Blog Without Frameworks or Databases
This technical article details the architecture of a bilingual French and English blog built using pure PHP, explicitly avoiding content management systems, databases, or internationalization libraries. The author argues that adding English support significantly expands the potential audience due to the larger English-speaking SEO market and serves as a practical proof of bilingual proficiency for recruiters. The proposed solution utilizes a simple URL structure where English articles are prefixed with /en/, ensuring distinct URLs for search engine indexing while preserving existing French links. Instead of complex translation arrays within single files, the system employs separate PHP files for each language version, enhancing readability and maintainability. A restructured JSON file manages post metadata, and a lightweight three-layer routing system handles language detection based solely on the URL path. This approach eliminates the need for cookies, browser language detection, or query parameters, offering a clean, low-overhead solution for developers seeking to multilingualize static or semi-static content without the complexity of traditional frameworks.
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Building a Bilingual PHP Blog Without Frameworks or Databases
This technical article details the architecture of a bilingual French and English blog built using pure PHP, explicitly avoiding content management systems, databases, or internationalization libraries. The author argues that adding English support significantly expands the potential audience due to the larger English-speaking SEO market and serves as a practical proof of bilingual proficiency for recruiters. The proposed solution utilizes a simple URL structure where English articles are prefixed with /en/, ensuring distinct URLs for search engine indexing while preserving existing French links. Instead of complex translation arrays within single files, the system employs separate PHP files for each language version, enhancing readability and maintainability. A restructured JSON file manages post metadata, and a lightweight three-layer routing system handles language detection based solely on the URL path. This approach eliminates the need for cookies, browser language detection, or query parameters, offering a clean, low-overhead solution for developers seeking to multilingualize static or semi-static content without the complexity of traditional frameworks.
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