The default localization service uses a provider system to retrieve translated resource files from a predefined location in the project folders.

The provider is configured to look for XML string resource files in a folder under the content root named **lang**. By adding files to this location, you can add your own localizations or override system strings. Translations added to an XML file in the lang directory override system-defined resources.

The default is that the user interface is localized according to the editor’s **Language Settings **>** Personal Language**. However, if you want something more sophisticated, you can create your own localization provider and add some more conditions there. To do this, you have to inherit from `LocalizationProvider` and register it as described in [Configuring a custom localization provider](🔗).

## Setup

To get localization to work, specify a physical localization provider or a virtual one in the web.config file under \<episerver.framework>:

When you add the provider, you can add one or more language files in XML format to that location (or as embedded resources if `EmbeddedXmlLocalizationProvider` is used), such as _ContentTypeNames.xml._

You can give the language file any name and you can have each language in a separate file (or all in one file). In the language file, however, you need a certain structure, as follows.

One language:

Two languages:

## Add localized text

You can localize the text shown in the user interface for your content types by adding localized texts in a convention-based format. The following code example shows how to add localized texts for the `StandardPage` content type, such as the attribute name and description or properties for the standard page like `MainContentArea`.

If you have a `StandardPage` content type with the attributes and properties as in the example above, the structure in the language file would be as follows:

### Reuse localization for properties between content types

You can add common translations to an inherited type, for instance `PageData` or `IContentData`.

📘

Note

If you have your own base classes that are not registered as content types, and you want to add translations to these classes, you must create a `UIDescriptor` for the base class.

### Localize headers

You can localize headers, such as tabs that are used to group properties, in the top-level section groups.

Group name on the property `MainContentArea` is referred to `SystemTabNames.Content` and, as shown in the previous example, `SystemTabNames.Content` is referring to "Information".

The correct way here is to add <groups> and then the property name.