Globalize2 is the successor of Globalize for Rails.

It is compatible with and builds on the new I18n api in Ruby on Rails. and adds model translations to ActiveRecord.

Globalize2 is much more lightweight and compatible than its predecessor was. Model translations in Globalize2 use default ActiveRecord features and do not limit any ActiveRecord functionality any more.

ActiveRecord
I18n

(or Rails > 2.2)

To install Globalize2 with its default setup just use:

script/plugin install git://github.com/joshmh/globalize2.git

Model translations allow you to translate your models’ attribute values. E.g.

class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
  translates :title, :text
end

Allows you to values for the attributes :title and :text per locale:

I18n.locale = :en
post.title # => Globalize2 rocks!

I18n.locale = :he
post.title # => גלובאלייז2 שולט!

In order to make this work, you’ll need to add the appropriate translation tables. Globalize2 comes with a handy helper method to help you do this. It’s called create_translation_table!. Here’s an example:

class CreatePosts < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def self.up
    create_table :posts do |t|
      t.timestamps
    end
    Post.create_translation_table! :title => :string, :text => :text
  end
  def self.down
    drop_table :posts
    Post.drop_translation_table!
  end
end

Note that the ActiveRecord model Post must already exist and have a translates directive listing the translated fields.

See this script by Tomasz Stachewicz: http://gist.github.com/120867