13319 add documentation for internationalization

docs/development/internationalization.md

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+# Internationalization
+
+NetBox follows the [Django translation guide](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.2/topics/i18n/translation/) to mark translatable strings.
+
+## General Guidance
+
+* In models, forms and tables wrap strings with gettext_lazy function.
+* In templates wrap strings with the **{% trans %}** tag.
+
+!!! f-strings
+    Python f-strings are great, but do not work with internationalization.  If a parameterized strings needs to be displayed (for example a help_string) it will need to use .format method instead of f-strings.
+
+## Models
+
+1. Import gettext_lazy.
+2. Make sure all model fields have a verbose_name defined.
+3. Wrap all verbose_name and help_text fields with the gettext_lazy shortcut.
+
+```
+from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
+
+class Circuit(PrimaryModel):
+    commit_rate = models.PositiveIntegerField(
+        ...
+        verbose_name=_('commit rate (Kbps)'),
+        help_text=_("Committed rate")
+    )
+
+```
+**Note:** The Django docs specifically state for internationalization: "It is recommended to always provide explicit verbose_name and verbose_name_plural options"
+
+## Forms
+
+1. Import gettext_lazy
+2. Make sure all form-fields have a lable defined
+3. Wrap all lable and fieldsets headers wtih the gettext_lazy shorcut
+
+```
+from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
+
+class CircuitBulkEditForm(NetBoxModelBulkEditForm):
+    description = forms.CharField(
+        label=_('Description'),
+        ...
+    )
+
+    fieldsets = (
+        (_('Circuit'), ('provider', 'type', 'status', 'description')),
+    )
+
+```
+
+## Tables
+
+1. Import gettext_lazy
+2. Make sure all table-fields have a verbose_name defined
+
+```
+from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
+
+class CircuitTable(TenancyColumnsMixin, ContactsColumnMixin, NetBoxTable):
+    provider = tables.Column(
+        verbose_name=_('Provider'),
+        ...
+    )
+```
+
+## Templates
+
+1. Add **{% load i18n %}** at the top of the template files
+2. Wrap displayable strings with the **trans** tag
+
+```
+{% load i18n %}
+    <h5 class="card-header">{% trans "Circuit" %}</h5>
+```
+
+!!! note
+    These just cover the most standard use cases, please read over the [Django translation guide](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.2/topics/i18n/translation/#standard-translation) for dealing with pluralization, model methods, time display and other specialized cases.

mkdocs.yml

@@ -272,6 +272,7 @@ nav:
         - Web UI: 'development/web-ui.md'
         - Release Checklist: 'development/release-checklist.md'
         - git Cheat Sheet: 'development/git-cheat-sheet.md'
+        - internationalization: 'development/internationalization.md'
     - Release Notes:
         - Summary: 'release-notes/index.md'
         - Version 3.6: 'release-notes/version-3.6.md'