How to: Localize a Feature

By default, feature titles and descriptions use hard-coded string values. To localize the feature title and description, replace the strings with expressions that reference localized resources.

Localizing a Feature

To localize a feature

  1. In Solution Explorer, open the shortcut menu for the Feature1 node, and then choose Add Feature Resource.

  2. In the Add Resource dialog box, choose Invariant Language from the list as the culture for the default language feature resource file.

  3. Repeat the previous step for each localized language, choosing the languages of your choice for the localized feature resource files.

    Separate feature resource files are created: one for the default language and one for each localized language that you want to support.

  4. Open each resource file in the Resource Editor, and then enter all of the string IDs and their values.

    For example, in the default feature resource file, enter a string ID of Title with a value of My Feature Title, and a second string ID of Description with a value of My Feature Description. For each localized resource file, use the same string IDs used in the default feature resource, but enter localized strings for the values.

  5. After you enter all the resource values, open the shortcut menu for the feature (for instance, Feature1.feature), and then choose View Designer to open the feature in the Feature Designer.

  6. To localize the Title and Description fields in the feature, use the following format to enter values in their boxes:

    $Resources:String ID

    For example, enter $Resources:Title in the Feature Title box, and $Resources:Description in the Feature Description box.

    The string IDs must match those that are used in the resource files.

  7. Choose the F5 key to build and run the application.

  8. In SharePoint, open the Site Actions menu, choose Site Settings, and then, in the Site Actions section choose the Manage Site Features link.

  9. In SharePoint, change the display language from the default.

    The localized feature title and description appear in the application. To display localized resources, the SharePoint server must have a language pack installed that matches the resource file's culture.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Add a Resource File

How to: Localize ASPX Markup

How to: Localize Code

Concepts

Localizing SharePoint Solutions