Designing a multilingual site — holding text in three kinds

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0900

Part 3 of 5 — series: Building a publishing tool, and shipping it. Last time was contracting the output. See the series index. This time: how to design multilingual support.

When you hear “make the site multilingual,” translating the body comes to mind first. But once you actually do it, the body isn’t the only text that needs translating. Nav labels, a profile, config values — each has a different nature, and forcing them into one container strains.

Keeping what you write in your own hands — a small publishing tool

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0900

Part 1 of 5 — series: Building a publishing tool, and shipping it. Each part stands on its own; to follow the whole thing, see the series index. This part is the groundwork — what I wanted, and how the pieces fit. The individual design decisions come in later parts.

Where does what you write end up?

Most of the places we write are on someone else’s platform. They’re easy to be read on, but the post’s address (its URL), its look, and your connection to readers all live by that platform’s rules. If the service changes course or shuts down, your writing goes with it.

Hugo on nsys.dev Tech Blog

Designing a multilingual site — holding text in three kinds

Keeping what you write in your own hands — a small publishing tool