Frequently Asked Questions

Localization & Internationalization

What is the difference between localization (L10n) and internationalization (i18n)?

Localization (L10n) refers to adapting a product or service to meet the needs and standards of a specific country, region, or user base. This includes translating content, adjusting currencies, units of measure, numbering systems, and complying with local legal frameworks. Internationalization (i18n), on the other hand, is the process of designing a product so it can be easily localized in the future. It involves separating localizable elements from source code and planning for features that will be necessary for localization. Internationalization typically precedes localization in the product development process. [Source]

Why are localization and internationalization important for digital products?

Localization and internationalization are crucial for reaching a global audience and ensuring user adoption. Proper implementation helps create a seamless user experience that matches local expectations, builds user loyalty, and avoids the need for costly retrofitting or migrations later. Poorly executed localization or internationalization can push users away, while proper execution draws more users and builds loyalty. [Source]

How does Hygraph support localization and internationalization?

Hygraph enables teams to start with internationalization and add localization as needed. You can build a GraphQL schema with localization capabilities, allowing you to add more locales as your project grows. This approach ensures you only pay for what you need and can easily support multiple languages, currencies, and regional standards. For more information, see the Hygraph localization documentation.

What are some examples of localization challenges that Hygraph helps solve?

Hygraph helps address challenges such as supporting multiple languages within the same country (e.g., Canada or Belgium), handling different currencies and measurement systems, and managing granular localization for regions like the DACH area (e.g., /de_de, /at_de, /ch_fr). Hygraph's flexible schema and locale management make it easier to deliver tailored content to diverse audiences. [Source]

How does internationalization support future localization efforts?

Internationalization involves planning in product design and code to separate localizable elements, ensuring that future localization is seamless and does not require retrofitting solutions. This proactive approach allows teams to adapt their products for new markets efficiently as they grow. [Source]

Features & Capabilities

What features does Hygraph offer for content management?

Hygraph provides a GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, scalability, and a user-friendly interface. It supports localization, internationalization, and integrates with a wide range of tools for hosting, eCommerce, localization, digital asset management, personalization, and AI. For a full list, see the Hygraph Features page.

Does Hygraph support integrations with other platforms?

Yes, Hygraph offers integrations with platforms such as Netlify, Vercel, BigCommerce, commercetools, Shopify, Lokalise, Crowdin, EasyTranslate, Smartling, Aprimo, AWS S3, Bynder, Cloudinary, Mux, Scaleflex Filerobot, Ninetailed, AltText.ai, Adminix, and Plasmic. For more details, visit the Hygraph Integrations page.

Does Hygraph provide an API for content management?

Yes, Hygraph provides a powerful GraphQL API for efficient content fetching and management. Learn more at the Hygraph API Reference.

What security and compliance certifications does Hygraph have?

Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant. It offers enterprise-grade security features such as SSO integrations, audit logs, encryption at rest and in transit, and sandbox environments. For more details, visit the Hygraph Security Features page.

Use Cases & Benefits

Who can benefit from using Hygraph?

Hygraph is ideal for developers, IT decision-makers, content creators, project/program managers, agencies, solution partners, and technology partners. It is especially beneficial for modern software companies, enterprises looking to modernize their tech stack, and brands aiming to scale across geographies or improve development velocity. [Source]

What business impact can customers expect from using Hygraph?

Customers can expect time savings through streamlined workflows, ease of use with an intuitive interface, faster speed-to-market, and enhanced customer experience through consistent and scalable content delivery. These benefits help businesses modernize their tech stack and achieve operational efficiency. [Source]

What are some real-world success stories of companies using Hygraph?

Komax achieved a 3X faster time to market, Autoweb saw a 20% increase in website monetization, Samsung improved customer engagement with a scalable platform, and Dr. Oetker enhanced their digital experience using MACH architecture. More case studies are available on the Hygraph Case Studies page.

What industries are represented in Hygraph's case studies?

Hygraph's case studies cover industries such as food and beverage, consumer electronics, automotive, healthcare, travel and hospitality, media and publishing, eCommerce, SaaS, marketplace, education technology, and wellness and fitness. [Source]

Pain Points & Solutions

What common pain points does Hygraph solve?

Hygraph addresses operational pains (reliance on developers for content updates, outdated tech stacks, conflicting needs from global teams, clunky content creation), financial pains (high operational costs, slow speed-to-market, expensive maintenance, limited integration, scalability challenges), and technical pains (boilerplate code, overwhelming queries, evolving schemas, cache problems, OpenID integration challenges). [Source]

How does Hygraph solve these pain points?

Hygraph provides an intuitive interface for non-technical users, modernizes legacy tech stacks with a GraphQL-native, API-first architecture, ensures consistent branding through content federation, and streamlines workflows to reduce costs and speed up time-to-market. It also simplifies development by reducing boilerplate code and streamlining query management. [Source]

Are the pain points solved by Hygraph different for developers, content creators, and business stakeholders?

Yes, Hygraph tailors its solutions to different personas. Developers benefit from reduced boilerplate code and easier schema evolution; content creators enjoy an intuitive interface for independent content updates; business stakeholders see lower operational costs, improved scalability, and faster speed-to-market. [Source]

What KPIs and metrics are associated with the pain points Hygraph solves?

Key metrics include time saved on content updates, number of updates made without developer intervention, system uptime, speed of deployment, consistency in content across regions, user satisfaction scores, reduction in operational costs, ROI, time to market, maintenance costs, scalability metrics, and performance during peak usage. For more, see the Hygraph blog on CMS KPIs.

Technical Requirements & Documentation

Where can I find technical documentation for Hygraph?

Comprehensive technical documentation is available at the Hygraph Documentation page, covering all aspects of building and deploying projects.

How easy is it to get started with Hygraph?

Hygraph is designed for ease of use, even for non-technical users. You can sign up for a free-forever account and access onboarding guides, documentation, and video tutorials to get started quickly. For example, Top Villas launched a new project in just 2 months. [Source]

What training and support does Hygraph provide?

Hygraph offers 24/7 support via chat, email, and phone. Enterprise customers receive dedicated onboarding and expert guidance. All users have access to documentation, video tutorials, webinars, and a community Slack channel. [Source]

Pricing & Plans

What is Hygraph's pricing model?

Hygraph offers a free forever Hobby plan, a Growth plan starting at $199/month, and custom Enterprise plans. For full details, visit the Hygraph Pricing page.

Customer Proof & Case Studies

Who are some of Hygraph's customers?

Notable customers include Sennheiser, Holidaycheck, Ancestry, Samsung, Dr. Oetker, Epic Games, Bandai Namco, Gamescom, Leo Vegas, and Clayton Homes. See more on the Hygraph Case Studies page.

What feedback have customers given about Hygraph's ease of use?

Customers have praised Hygraph for its intuitive and user-friendly interface, noting that it is 'super easy to set up and use' and accessible for both technical and non-technical users. [Source]

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What is the Difference Between Localization & Internationalization?

Internationalization focuses more on the development and engineering process of building applications, while localization focuses on the content consumed by end-users.
Emily Nielsen

Written by Emily 

Jan 22, 2021
Localization (l10n) vs. Internationalization (i18n)

In the tech industry, we are interested in building products that can be adopted and meaningfully understood by a global audience. Development and product teams are often coming from diverse backgrounds and cultures and why should we assume our user base is any different?

As teams and products are becoming increasingly international, it is important for product teams to be mindful of reaching a broad audience. It is common for companies to refer to a vague offering of localization or internationalization without being clear in their own understanding of the relationship between these two concepts. They are inherently connected; however, localization and internationalization are two approaches to the problem of reaching a global audience.

#Localization (L10n)

Localization (often denoted as l10n) refers to a product or service meeting the needs and standards of a specific country, region, or userbase.

The most common example of localization is a product being translated into different languages to reach a broader user base. Successful localization can mean more than a direct translation of your website, which can be an excellent first step, to ensuring that the user experience is consistent across user bases and details such as currencies, units of measure, and numbering systems are consistent with the local standards.

Other important considerations are whether a language should be read left to right or right to left or even displayed in vertical columns. Beyond just interface differences, companies can also make distinctions based on differing legal frameworks, a key example being privacy. Privacy and information are valued and regulated very differently from culture to culture and in some cases where data is stored can be a key differentiator between products.

#Internationalization (i18N)

Internationalization (often abbreviated as i18n) is a step that often predates localization in product development. Internationalization is designing a product or website in such a way that it can be easily localized later down the line.

Essentially, internationalization implies that companies are planning ahead to ensure that their product can be easily localized further in the future. The most important parts of internationalization occur in the product design and the actual code to make sure that teams are planning ahead to support this functionality. Considering providing support for features that will not be necessary until localization occurs, separating localizable elements from source code are just some of the elements that will be critical during the internationalization of the product design and development process. Internationalization helps teams avoid retrofitting solutions or needing to start from scratch as their product grows.


#Why is it important and how do I make sure my team is not left behind?

Creating a seamless user experience that matches the expectations of the local environment can be critical in getting the broad user adoption that companies strive for. Teams should plan for the internationalization of their product from the start, even if they choose not to implement it until further down the line.

It is always easier to account for this functionality when making your initial tech stack decisions rather than having to migrate because the chosen system does not support the critical feature - an important consideration to make when looking for a Headless CMS with localization capabilities. Many companies, such as Hygraph, allow you to add more locales as your plan grows so that you are only paying for what you need when the project is just starting out. Hygraph allows teams to follow this best practice of starting with internationalization and moving to a localized project when they are ready. With Hygraph, teams can build a GraphQL schema with all of the localization capabilities so that teams can choose whether to use this functionality from the start of their project or easily add locales when they need them.

Extra locales can be important even within the same country, in places like Canada or Belgium, where there are multiple languages spoken or when you are targeting people who speak the same language but have different currencies or measurement systems, such as comparing the United States with Britain. Within the DACH region itself, simply supporting /de isn’t sufficient for granular localization, given the common conventions extend to /de_de,/de_en, /at_de, at_en, /ch_de, ch_en, /ch_fr, and /ch_it to further support for the language, as well as the locale.

Ultimately, internationalization, and later localization, are critical features that can just as quickly push users away if done poorly as it can draw more users when done properly. When users see standards and languages they are familiar with are offered, it automatically makes them feel more at ease and comfortable using the product and will help build user loyalty.

For more information on how to use locales with Hygraph, check out our documentation on localization here or reach out to our customer success team.

Blog Author

Emily Nielsen

Emily Nielsen

Emily manages content and SEO at Hygraph. In her free time, she's a restaurant lover and oat milk skeptic.

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