Examples

These examples show recommended patterns for registering phrases and using shorthand helpers.

Autoloaded registration

Register your addon and phrases from an autoloaded file so translations are available before gameplay code needs them.

local function registerTranslations()
	local addon = i18n.RegisterAddon("MyAddon", "Your Name", "en")
	local en = i18n.RegisterTranslation("MyAddon", "en", "Your Name")
 
	en:AddPhrase("ui.title", "Welcome, #name", { name = "friend" })
end
 
if i18n then
	registerTranslations()
	return
end
 
hook.Add("i18n.FullyLoaded", "MyAddon.RegisterTranslations", registerTranslations)

Keep the translation reference (en) when you want to group phrases per language file or batch-add phrases later; otherwise you can discard it after registration.

L shorthand

Addon instances are callable via Addon:GetString, so you can keep a local alias and use the string-call shorthand. This assumes translations were registered in an autoloaded file like the one above.

-- Assumes addon registration happened in your autoloaded i18n file.
local L = i18n.GetAddon("MyAddon")
 
print(L"ui.title")
print(L("ui.title", { name = "Alex" }))

Use the shorthand form L"phrase_id" when you only need a phrase identifier, and use parentheses when you pass replacements.