---
title: Localization
description: Translate the unsubscribe footer and contact-facing pages into your contacts' languages
icon: Globe
---

Plunk localizes the strings it controls — the auto-injected unsubscribe footer on marketing emails, the hosted unsubscribe / subscribe / preferences pages — into the language of your audience. Your own template content (subject lines, body copy) is **not** translated automatically; you control that yourself.

## Setting the project default

Open **Settings → Project** and pick a default language. This is used for any contact who doesn't have a specific language set on their record.

## Overriding per contact

Set a `locale` field on the contact's `data` to override the project default for that recipient:

```bash
curl -X POST {{API_URL}}/v1/track \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "ada@example.com",
    "event": "signed_up",
    "data": { "locale": "fr" }
  }'
```

Use a [BCP 47](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IETF_language_tag) / ISO 639 code that matches one of the supported languages below. You can also reference `{{locale}}` inside template variables to branch your own copy on the contact's language.

If the contact's `locale` doesn't match a supported language, Plunk falls back to the project default. If neither is set, English is used.

## Supported languages

| Code     | Language                               |
| -------- | -------------------------------------- |
| `en`     | English                                |
| `nl`     | Dutch (Nederlands)                     |
| `fr`     | French (Français)                      |
| `de`     | German (Deutsch)                       |
| `es`     | Spanish (Español)                      |
| `it`     | Italian (Italiano)                     |
| `pt`     | Portuguese (Português)                 |
| `pl`     | Polish (Polski)                        |
| `cs`     | Czech (Čeština)                        |
| `bg`     | Bulgarian (Български)                  |
| `hi`     | Hindi (हिंदी)                          |
| `zh-CN`  | Chinese (Simplified, China)            |
| `zh-TW`  | Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan)          |
| `zh-HK`  | Chinese (Traditional, Hong Kong)       |

## What gets translated

| Surface                                  | Translated? |
| ---------------------------------------- | ----------- |
| Unsubscribe footer on marketing emails   | Yes         |
| Hosted unsubscribe / subscribe / preferences pages | Yes |
| **Your own template subject and body**   | No — author per-language templates and branch on `{{locale}}` |

## Translating your own templates

Plunk doesn't translate the content of your templates. Two common patterns:

- **One template per language**, picked in your code or workflow before sending. Name them with the locale suffix (`welcome-en`, `welcome-fr`).
- **One template with branched copy**, using `{{locale}}` inside Handlebars conditionals to inline different language variants. Workable for short copy; gets unwieldy for long emails.

For larger localization needs, the per-language template approach is easier to maintain.