Changing the language

The gallery currently comes in German and English. Switching takes exactly one tap, applies right away – and your choice is remembered for your next visit.

You have four ways to do it: the language button in the footer, the profile menu in the top right, the join page itself (before you are even in the gallery), or the address (URL). The language selector is always available – no matter which event you visit and whether you are signed in. What differs from event to event is only how languages are split into main languages and additional languages (more on that below).

Option 1: The language button in the footer

The quickest way from any gallery page.

1. Scroll all the way down to the footer. There you will find a button with a globe icon and the current language next to it (e.g. “🇬🇧 English”).

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   The language button at the bottom of the footer always shows your current language.

2. Tap it. The language dialog opens with the available languages.

3. Tap your language. The gallery switches right away and the dialog closes automatically.

Tip

On mobile the button sits just above the bottom navigation bar – if it looks hidden, scroll the last bit down until the footer is fully visible.

Option 2: Via the profile menu

This way works from anywhere, without scrolling to the bottom of the page.

1. Tap your profile picture (the avatar) in the top right. The profile menu opens.

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   In the profile menu you will find the Language entry under Profile Options. ① your points and solved tasks, ② Profile options with My Profile, Language, Theme and Help, ③ Management with Account Settings, Moderation and Admin Portal – this section is missing until you hold a role for it, ④ Account with Sign out.

2. Under Profile Options choose Language. A small flag icon in a cyan circle shows which language is currently active.

3. In the language dialog, tap the language you want – done.

Note

The Language entry appears in the profile menu for everyone: guests, signed-in users, moderators and admins. The extra entries in the Management section (Moderation, Admin Portal) depend on your role – see Navigation for more.

Option 3: On the join page itself

You do not have to be in the gallery first: the welcome screen Welcome to Our Gallery – the page with the password field and the nickname – already has a language switcher.

1. Open the event link or scan the QR code. You land on the join page.

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   At the very bottom of the footer: globe icon, the current language – and the opened list.

2. Look at the very bottom footer. On branded events it hangs below the card (under the year line and “Powered by Photogala”); without branding it sits inside the card, right under the Secured by note. Either way, a globe icon with the current language sits next to it.

3. Tap it. A compact drop-down list opens right above the field – not the big language dialog you get inside the gallery. Pick your language: the page switches immediately, you stay on the join page and nothing you already typed is lost.

Tip

Handy when you cannot even follow the join screen: switch the language first, then enter the password and your nickname.

Option 4: Via the address (URL)

The current language sits right in the address, for example photogala.net/en/@wedding-demo versus photogala.net/de/@wedding-demo. Swap the language segment by hand (/en/ ↔ /de/) and the same page loads in the other language. That is exactly what the language dialog does – it leaves the rest of the link untouched.

The language dialog in detail

Options 1 and 2 always open the very same dialog. Its title is Language Selection and its subtitle is “Choose your preferred display language for the interface”. The join page (option 3) has no such dialog – there only the plain drop-down list next to the globe opens.

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The Language dialog: the active language carries the outline and check mark, the green Full marks a main language.

• Current language: Your currently selected language is marked with a colored border and a checkmark. Tapping it again simply closes the dialog – nothing else happens (no reload).
• Selecting: Tap another language. The switch usually happens instantly. Only if saving takes a moment does a small spinner appear next to the row, with the other entries (including the Cancel button) briefly greyed out.
• Cancel: In the bottom right, the red text button Cancel closes the dialog without changing anything.

Main languages vs. additional languages

If the host set up several languages for the event, the dialog splits the choices into two groups – marked with small badges:

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1 Additional Languages lists every remaining language, 2 the UI Only badge means the interface is translated while the host's own content stays in its original language.

• Main Languages with a green Full badge: These are the languages the host configured for this event. Here the content is translated too – gallery title, about text and challenge texts, not just the interface.
• Additional Languages with a grey UI Only badge: These are extra languages for the interface only. Menus and buttons switch to your language, but the event content stays in its original language.

A divider separates the two groups. If the host set up only a single language, there are no separate groups with badges – the available languages simply appear in one list.

Tip

Choose an additional language (UI Only) if you prefer to use the app in your native language and can live with untranslated event content. Choose a main language if you want everything – including challenge texts and descriptions – in your language.

Example

You get the link to a wedding gallery and your browser is set to German, so the page opens at photogala.net/de/… in German. You scroll down to the footer, tap 🇩🇪 Deutsch and pick English in the Language selection dialog: the gallery switches instantly and the address now reads /en/ instead of /de/. Because the couple set up both German and English for this event, English sits under Main Languages with the green Full badge — so the gallery title, the about text and the challenge texts are in English too. If English were listed under Additional Languages with the grey UI Only badge instead, menus and buttons would be English while the challenge texts stayed German. Next time you visit, the gallery starts in English right away; the other guests’ comments stay in whatever language they were written in.

What exactly gets translated

It helps to know what moves with a language switch and what does not:

• Interface (menus, buttons, system texts): always switches to the chosen language – even for “UI Only” languages.
• Event content (gallery name, about text, challenge texts): only translated if the host has provided a translation for that language. So: main language = fully translated, additional language = interface only.
• Text entered by guests (comments, nicknames, challenge answers): always stays in the original and is never translated automatically.

Your choice is remembered

• In the address (URL): The current language sits in the path (/en/ or /de/). When switching, the dialog only swaps that segment and leaves the rest of the link untouched.
• On your first visit: If you open a gallery without a language segment, Photogala automatically detects your browser language or a previously remembered language.
• On your next visit: Your last chosen language is saved on your device – the gallery then starts in the same language again.
• Signed-in users: Your choice is also saved to your account, so it carries across devices on your next login. If saving ever fails, the interface still stays in the chosen language.

Setting the language permanently in your account

With a registered account you can also set the language directly there instead of switching it through a dialog:

The General tab of your account settings has a Language section – the language you pick there follows your account onto every device you sign in on.

1. Tap the avatar at the top right and pick Account Settings in the Management section.

2. Stay on the General tab and scroll to the Language section: “Choose your preferred language for the application interface.”

3. Pick your language in the selector. It applies immediately and is stored in your account.

Note

The account-settings route sets the same preference as the language dialog – there is no second, competing language. Guests without an account do not see this tab; for them options 1 to 4 apply. More about account settings: Guest or account.

Note

If you share a gallery link with /en/ in the path, it opens in English for the recipient at first. They can of course switch at any time. See Sharing for more.

For hosts and moderators

Note

This section is for hosts and moderators, not guests.

• Set up main languages: In the Admin Portal under Settings → General, turn on Enable Multiple Languages. Below it, use Additional Languages to pick the extra languages. (Note: this switch lives under General, not under “Features”.)
• Premium: The switch is locked on plans without the entitlement – the event then stays single-language.
• Translate content: You provide event-content translations under Settings → General → Gallery Content and directly in the challenge editor per challenge.
• You reach the Admin Portal via the profile menu in the top right → Admin Portal (visible to admins only).

When something goes wrong

Caution

• I do not see the language button: The footer button is at the very bottom of the page – scroll to the end. Alternatively: avatar in the top right → Language. Both are always available.
• I am not even in the gallery yet: Then use the language selector in the footer of the join page (option 3).
• I only see one or two languages: That is normal. Only German and English are active right now; more languages are not yet rolled out.
• My language only appears under “Additional Languages”: Then the host did not configure it as an event language. The interface switches, but the event content stays in the original.
• Challenge texts are still in English even though I chose German: Either German is an “additional language” (UI Only) for this event, or the host has not provided a translation for that particular text.
• The language jumps back: This can happen with an invalid language code in the URL – the gallery then falls back to the event’s default language. Just pick your language again via the footer or menu.

Related topics

• Solving challenges – challenge texts are translated in the main languages.
• Sharing – shared links include the language prefix.
• Guest or account – as a signed-in user your language is remembered in your account.
• Your profile – how to reach the profile menu in the top right.
• Navigation – overview of the footer, profile menu and role-based areas.