What's the best way to do MULTILINGUAL sites?

[Tea_J]

simple as the title goes.. What "is" the best way in your oppinion..

i always thought of it to be database driven.. but i was thinking of simply making just static pages for each language.. (korean, japanese, english)..

[Botkiller]

I always use database driven. So you only have to edit records when adding new texts or editting current texts. I find static pages to much of a hassle.

[Swardh]

i would make language files instead, containing variables with the different languages

for example

// Swedish Menu
$menu_home = "Hem";
$menu_about = "Om oss";
$menu_products = "Våra produkter";
$menu_contact = "Kontakt";
$welcome_message = "Välkommen till vår grymt sjyssta sida!";
... etc

// English Menu
$menu_home = "Home";
$menu_about = "About us";
$menu_products = "Our Products";
$menu_contact = "Contact";
$welcome_message = "Welcome to our awsome page!";
... etc

and then call the language file something like this

if ($_GET['lang'] == "eng") {
include("eng.php");
} else {
include("svenska.php");
}

and to display it all in the browser something like this

<table>
<tr><td><a href="index.php"><?=$menu_home;?></a></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="about.php"><?=$menu_about;?></a></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="products.php"><?=$menu_products;?></a></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="contact.php"><?=$menu_contact;?></a></td></tr>
</table>
<br />
<br />
<?=$welcome_message;?>

offcourse, this is just a simple example of a possible way to do it

[Tea_J]

hmm.. i see..

i think im gona do a mix...

for MAIN TEXT CONTENTS (such as menu labels), language switching .. and for BODY OF DOCUMENTS.. hmm.. database is the way to go i guess. thanks