jquery.i18n
A jQuery-based JavaScript internationalization library using JSON message files, supporting plurals, gender, grammar, and dynamic locale switching.
What is jquery.i18n?
jQuery.i18n is a jQuery-based JavaScript library for internationalizing web applications. It provides tools to manage translations using JSON files, supporting features like plural forms, gender-specific text, and grammar conversions. The library helps developers create multilingual interfaces that can dynamically switch languages without page reloads.
Web developers building jQuery-based applications that require multilingual support, especially those familiar with MediaWiki's localization conventions or working on projects integrated with Wikimedia tools.
Developers choose jQuery.i18n for its robust feature set—including CLDR-based plural handling and extensible grammar support—backed by Wikimedia's real-world usage. Its JSON format and data API simplify integration, while fallback chains ensure reliable translations across languages.
Overview
🌐 jQuery based internationalization library
Use Cases
Best For
- Adding multilingual support to jQuery-based web applications
- Projects requiring MediaWiki-compatible localization files
- Implementing dynamic language switching without page refreshes
- Handling complex plural rules across multiple languages
- Integrating gender-specific or grammar-based text variations
- Extending localization with custom magic words or parsers
Not Ideal For
- Projects not using jQuery or preferring framework-agnostic solutions
- Applications requiring lightweight i18n without advanced plural, gender, or grammar features
- Teams already using other i18n libraries or formats incompatible with MediaWiki's 'banana' JSON
Pros & Cons
Pros
Uses CLDR rules to manage plural forms across many languages without separate messages for each form, as specified in the features section.
Supports gender-specific messages and basic grammar conversions, extensible for language-specific rules, enabling complex localization needs.
Allows changing the interface language without refreshing the webpage, enhancing user experience in multilingual apps, per the demo and usage examples.
Provides a data API via HTML attributes like data-i18n for straightforward localization of static elements, simplifying setup for existing markup.
Cons
Requires jQuery, which adds overhead and limits use in modern, framework-agnostic projects, despite the availability of a jQuery-independent version (banana-i18n).
To use all plural forms, additional files like CLDRPluralRuleParser.js are needed, increasing setup complexity and potential bundle size, as noted in the plural support section.
Uses the 'banana' JSON format, which, while powerful, is specific to MediaWiki and may not integrate easily with other i18n systems or standards outside Wikimedia projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
Found a gem we're missing?
Open-Awesome is built by the community, for the community. Submit a project, suggest an awesome list, or help improve the catalog on GitHub.