Question

Is gettext the best way to localise a website in php? I’m not using any frameworks, and there are not many words to translate, just two mildly different versions in English.

Answer 1

You can just use a lang_XX.php and include it in your application.

$lang = array(
    "welcome" => "Welcome",
    "bye" => "Bye"
);

For other languages, say lang_fr.php, just have something like:

$lang = array(
    "welcome" => "Accueil",
    "bye" => "Au revoir"
);

For a small use case, this should be fine and no need for going with .po files. Also, you can define it this way:

function _($l)
{
    return $lang[$l];
}