Localization Cheatsheet
Last updated: November 14, 2018
As FareHarbor expands into different countries, it’s important to adapt our product to feel natural in other regions and markets. This process is called localization.
Localization applies to date and time formatting, currency display, phone numbers, language translation, and even UI changes to satisfy legal requirements in specific countries.
The way FareHarbor handles localization varies depending on individual companies’ settings, who’s using the product, and what their browser settings are. If you’re not sure why we display something a certain way, check out the sections below to learn more.
Summary
For logged-in users working in the FareHarbor Dashboard, most localization aspects are determined by their company’s advanced settings, namely:
- Language
- Time format – company users
- Processor country
For anonymous/end users making online bookings, localization is determined primarily by the user’s browser settings, although phone number fields, credit card country, and time formatting can vary depending on the settings for the company they’re booking with.
For logged-in OR anonymous users viewing the FareHarbor marketing website, localization (support phone numbers, credit card rates, and language) is determined by the country and language selector in the main menu.
Read more about specific localization options below.
Language translation
See FareHarbor + Language Translation for a complete rundown of how language translation works in FareHarbor.
Marketing website
Users visiting the FareHarbor marketing website can select their country and language when browsing the site:
The country selector determines what country-specific content to show (examples include local support numbers, credit card rates, and connectivity partners). The language selector determines what language to translate the website into.
Notes
- The first time a user visits the marketing website, FareHarbor will attempt to automatically detect the country (based on their IP address) and language (based on their browser settings).
- When selecting a new country for the first time, the language will be changed to the corresponding language for that country (for example, if the user chooses Italy, the language will be changed to Italian).
- The user can change country and language independently (for example, a user in Australia can view the site in any language they choose).
Note: Some parts of the website have not been translated. Partner logos added in May of 2018 are not currently translated, but will be in the future. Names of articles on the About page are not translated; neither are client quotes and stories (in addition, front page stories are hidden for non-English languages).
Date formatting
Dashboard
Date formatting is applied to book forms, availabilities, manifests, and report data according to the Language setting in the company’s Dashboard. The language is set when the Dashboard is first created, but can be edited later if needed.
To access this setting, go to the company’s Dashboard and type Shift + , then go to General. Language can only be viewed and changed by FH Admins.
Logged-in company users will always see dates according to their own company’s language, including bookings made by affiliate companies who have different language settings.
Affiliate users viewing Dashboards for partner companies will see dates according to the affiliate’s language, not the partner company.
FareHarbor Admins will always see dates formatted according to the FH Admin Dashboard language (which is “English – United States”).
Online booking
For end customers booking online, we format dates for online book forms, confirmation pages, and emails based on the user’s browser settings, as long as their language/locale is supported by FareHarbor. Right now that consists of:
- English – United States
- English – Australia
- English – Canada
- English – United Kingdom
If the user’s browser language/locale setting is not supported by FareHarbor, the language specified for the company is used instead.
Time formatting
Dashboard
Time formatting is applied to book forms, availabilities, manifests, and report data according to the Time format – company users setting in the Dashboard. This is determined when the Dashboard is first created, but can be edited later if needed.
To see this setting, go to the company’s Dashboard and type Shift + , then go to General. These settings can only be viewed and changed by FH Admins.
Logged-in company users will always see times according to their own company settings, including bookings made by affiliate companies who have different time format settings.
Affiliate users viewing Dashboards for partner companies will see times according to the affiliate’s company settings, not the partner company.
FareHarbor Admins will see times according to the time format settings of whatever company they’re looking at.
Online booking
Time formatting for end customers will vary depending on the Time format – online customers setting for the company they’re trying to book with.
If set to Default for user language, times will be formatted using the user’s browser settings. This is usually the most common setting.
If set to Default for company language, times will be formatted based on the company’s language, regardless of where the online customer is located.
If set to 12-hour or 24-hour time, online customers will always times in that specific format, regardless of where they’re located.
Currencies
Dashboard
Currency is displayed in the Dashboard according to the company’s Processor currency. Processor currency is set when the Dashboard is first created, and cannot be changed.
To see what processor currency a company is using, go to Settings > Bank & Payments and look for the currency to the right of the Payment Setup Checklist.
Online booking
The amount displayed on the book form to online customers is the amount that the company will receive in its currency (for example, Australian dollars). The currency is noted at the bottom of the online book form and in customer emails.
If the end customer’s browser language is different than the language used by the FareHarbor company they’re booking with, the currency will also be specified on customer prices, priced custom fields, and the booking subtotal/total.
Example: Below is what an online customer in the US will see when booking with a company using Australian dollars.
Learn more about currencies and fees in FareHarbor.
Marketing website
The currency we display on the marketing website is based on the country selected from the main menu.
Default phone number and credit card country
This section refers to the default country shown in the phone number field and credit card country dropdown when filling out the book form.
Dashboard
For logged-in users, the default country is always based on the Processor country for whatever company is being booked. This means that affiliate users making bookings for partner companies will see the partner company’s processor country. FareHarbor Admins will see the processor country for whatever company they’re looking at.
To see a company’s processor country, go to Settings > Bank & Payments and look to the right of the Payment Setup Checklist.
Online booking – phone number country
What end customers see in the phone number field may vary depending on the user’s browser settings, the company’s processor country, and the address in the company’s Dashboard.
By default, the default country shown is determined by the user’s browser language settings.
If the company is located in a different country than the user’s preferred browser settings, we will also display the company’s country at the top of the list:
The company’s country is determined by its physical address (Settings > Info & Policies > Logo & Contact). If no physical address is entered, we will use the processor country instead.
If the company’s physical address and processor country are different, the physical address takes precedence.
If FareHarbor can’t determine what the user’s browser settings are, we will default to the company’s physical address or processor country using the same logic as above.
Online booking – credit card country
What end customers see in the credit card country field may vary depending on the company’s processor country and the user’s browser settings.
If the company’s processor country is USA, the credit card country field will default to USA.
For all other processor countries, the country will default to the user’s browser settings.
If FareHarbor can’t determine what the user’s browser settings are, we will default to the company’s processor country.
