Q:

Multi language in the database with CodeIgniter

I'm developing a CodeIgniter based site that will be very multi language heavy. Plan is to launch with 5 langs but to rapidly expand. A lot of the content will be user generated and split across multiple tables. In the past I have used the built in language files but I don't think they are going to work in this case. What's the best way to do translations in the database. Should I have a translation table for each table in my DB, eg;
ProductsLang
RetailersLang
CategoriesLang
Etc
Or should I look at creating some sort of central dictionary table. Has anyone done this in CI in the past, couldn't find any existing libaries out there. Your thoughts would be much appreciated. 

A:

From my view it really depends on the solution you need - it seems like you're developing an online shop? If that's the case, I would combine both options. Static language files for labels (and other content that shouldn't change).
Although - IMO - the product database shouldn't be aware of an actual translation part; I would rather take the category table and put in the necessary languages as main categories and provide with product-specific categories below the language categories.
At this point you'd might be thinking of all the duplicate products attached to any given language category - but I believe this is a flexible solution for each of the languages. 
And a simple script could allow for copying a language category to another, making translation available for the exact same products.

