NGINX Static Language Selector

Lua script for NGINX Lua module (ngx_http_lua_module), making NGINX aware of client language preferences retrieved from multiple sources (query parameter, cookie value, Accept-Language HTTP header), according to a list of supported IETF BCP 47 language tags for a specific website.

Intent

• Serving localized static content directly from NGINX.
• Handle client preferences for all of the following cases:
  • New client sessions.
  • Recurring client sessions.
  • Clients explicitly asking for a specific language.
• Loose matching of regional language codes with regular language codes (or vice versa) when there is no exact match.

Use case

Any type of static multilingual website where NGINX would be able to serve/redirect/rewrite clients to the right localized subdirectory or file if client language preferences were known.

Examples of static multilingual websites structures:

subdirectories_example
├── shared
|   └── style.css
├── en
|   └── index.html
└── fr
    └── index.html

filenames_example
├── style.css
├── index.html.en
└── index.html.fr

Handling examples of a client accessing example.com with fr as language preference:

• Transparently serve localized index.html.fr without redirect nor rewrite
• Redirect or rewrite to example.com/fr
• Redirect or rewrite to example.com/?lang=fr
• Redirect or rewrite to fr.example.com

Language preferences matching from multiple sources

Algorithm

• Initial state: a list of supported languages consisting of IETF BCP 47 language tags (2-3 letter-long tags separated by -, e.g. en, en-US, fr, fr-FR) is provided.

• We check for client language preferences from the following sources, in order:

  • Query parameter
  • Cookie value
  • Accept-Language HTTP header

  All these sources are expected to be formatted according to the Accept-Language header format, e.g. en-US,en;q=0.8,fr-FR;q=0.5,fr;q=0.3, and thus also consist of IETF BCP 47 language tags.

• For each source

  • Each language tag in source is compared with the list of supported languages. If an exact match is found, return it.

  • If no exact match can be found, each language tag in source is again compared with the list of supported languages. If a loose match between regional language codes and regular language codes is found, e.g. en-US with en, fr with fr-FR, return it.

  • If no loose match can be found, the script processes the next source.

• If no match has been found after all sources have been processed, the script defaults to the first supported language specified in the list.

Sample results:

Query parameter	Cookie value	Accept-Language header	Supported	Result
		en-US,fr	en,fr	fr
	en-US	en-US,fr	en,fr	en
fr-FR	en-US	en-US,fr	en,fr	fr
		en	en-US,fr	en-US
	fr-FR	en	en-US,fr	fr
en	fr-FR	en	en-US,fr	en-US
		de-DE	en,fr	en
	fr-FR	de-DE	en,fr	fr

Analysis

We assume that the static localized website has {switch language} buttons that users may click to manually switch language.

• Query parameter: very easy to use from client-side for switching language, e.g. in a.href of {switch language} buttons. It is explicit and instantaneous: if a client asks for a page with ?lang=fr, the server is immediately 100% aware of client preferences. However, it is not suitable for remembering client preferences between sessions, as it is not persistent (unless the client bookmarks it).

• Cookie value: easy to store from client-side, e.g. in an onclick handler for {switch language} buttons. It is suitable for remembering client preferences between sessions. However, cookie storage is handled by the browser and the we have no direct control over it. It is neither instantaneous nor trustable: there can be a delay between onclick handler asking for a cookie to be stored and actual cookie storage, and maybe no cookie will actually be stored. Thus, it is not suitable on its own for switching language: if a user clicks a {switch language} button, redirection may occur before the cookie value is actually set, in which case the server will not be aware of client preferences.

• Accept-Language HTTP header: in the specific case of static websites without dynamic localization, it is not suitable for switching language from client-side without an HTTP redirection. It is not suitable for remembering client preferences between sessions since we have no control over it.

Priority

Given Analysis and Intent:

• New client sessions should rely on Accept-Language HTTP header, as it is the only source available.
• Recurring client sessions should rely on cookie value, as it is the only persistent source we can control.
• Clients explicitly asking for a specific language should rely on query parameter, as it is the only reliable source that can be set from client-side.

Hence why we should always check sources in the following order:

• Query parameter: explicit client preference.
• Cookie value: persistent client preference.
• Accept-Language HTTP header: default client preference.

Installation

• Make sure NGINX Lua module (ngx_http_lua_module) is installed and enabled. On Debian/Ubuntu, this can be done by installing nginx-extras.
• Download the latest release - or - download language_selector.lua directly from master
• Put language_selector.lua at a {path} your NGINX installation will be able to read, e.g. /etc/nginx/lua/language_selector.lua.
• Remember this {path} for Usage.

Usage

Syntax (within a NGINX server block):

set_by_lua_file {$lang} {path}/language_selector.lua {$supported};

where:

• path is the path leading to language_selector.lua (see Installation).
• $supported is a comma-separated list of languages supported by the website, in IETF BCP 47 format. Example: en-US,en,fr-FR,fr
• $lang holds a single value from the $supported list, selected according to client preferences. This variable can then be used however you see fit, e.g. index directive, location blocks, rewrite rules.

Example with the filenames_example from Use case, transparently serving a localized index.html when clients visit example.com:

server {
  server_name example.com;

  ...

  # Language selector
  set $supported "en,fr";
  set_by_lua_file $lang /etc/nginx/lua/language_selector.lua $supported;

  # Files
  root /var/www/filenames_example;
  location / {
    index index.html.$lang;
  }

  ...
}

Client-side cookie storage

Now that the server is fully aware of client language preferences, the client-side can take advantage of it to:

• Allow users to switch language manually.
• Store client preferences in a persistent manner.

Here are some examples of {switch language} buttons that you may implement client-side, so that users may manually switch language and at the same time store their preferences in a cookie.

JavaScript

<a id="switchLangFr" href="?lang=fr" onClick="switchLang('fr');">French</a>

<script type="text/javascript">
  function switchLang(lang) {
    document.cookie = "lang="+lang;
  }
</script>

jQuery

<a id="switchLangFr" href="?lang=fr">French</a>

<script type="text/javascript">
  $(document).ready(function () {
    $('#switchLangFr').click(function() { document.cookie = "lang=fr"; });
  });
</script>

Server-side cookie storage

Client preferences can also be persisted in a cookie server-side, though I do not recommend this approach.

It is much more elegant and less error-prone to set cookies directly from client-side at the same time a user manually switches language, rather than server-side when the server checks for client preferences and realizes an explicit language has been asked by the client.

PHP

<?php
if(isset($_GET['lang']))
{
  setcookie('lang', $_GET['lang']);
}
?>

<a id="switchLangFr" href="?lang=fr">French</a>

NGINX

server {
  ...
  
  if ($arg_lang) {
    add_header Set-Cookie lang=$arg_lang;
  }

  ...
}