Hello everyone,

I'm trying to get a chinese version of my website. I created it in a simple programme for lazy people like me (i don't know HTML) language, but unfortunately, i can not use hanzi in this software (especially in the navigation menu's, contact forms etc.) Does anyone know easy website editing software that supports hanzi and that has an english interface but DOES support chinese content?

Thanks

That's exactly what I'm looking for as well!

Have you (both) thought of deploying a content management system (CMS)? Many offer good support for different languages, some even very good support for multi-lingual environments.
Drop me a line via the message function and I can help you further...

What software are you using?

Have you tried changing the font (typeface) you're using? Many fonts have no Unicode support and therefore the Hanzi or other "exotic" languages such as Korean, Japanese, Thai ... may show up as squares or question marks. Arial Unicode MS and Lucida Sans Unicode are two TrueType (Windows, Mac, Linux) fonts that have full Unicode support.

You can also do as Pierre says. Content Management Systems are unfortunately not really that easy to use and unless you know what you're doing, you will create a very impersonal or even boring website.

Or you could search for software with full Unicode support. Unicode is a character set that goes beyond the standard Western character sets. Some software only comes with support for Western character sets, but if it supports Unicode, you should be able to use any character from any language in the world.

Another thing I've been thinking of: If you're using Windows XP or earlier, you may have to install Chinese language support for your Operating System first. Check out this link: newton.uor.edu/[...]

If your program does not support Unicode, you can force it into using another character set by telling Windows that the default character set for non-Unicode programs should be Chinese. Try it out and see what happens:

(guideline for Windows 7)
- hit Start
- start typing "Region and Language" and choose it from the list (alternatively, you can reach this through the control panel)
- go to the "Administrative" tab
- in the last frame, click "Change System Locale" (you will need administrator access)
- change the system locale to Chinese (Simplified, PRC)
- click ok and reboot the system if needed

When you now start your program again, it should use a Chinese character set for non-Unicode programs. If some programs act weird, change your system locale back to a Western locale.

Good luck

Yes, Bluppfisk is partly right. Check your system first if it's workin all right with Chinese characters.
Even with windows 7, support for characters magically switches off, seemingly with no apparent reason. I had that problem a couple of times and troubleshooting it was quite annoying. In my case it was an Antivirus program's user interface which crashed and disabled character drawing on system level, but not for any other applications (I could still display Chinese on websites and in word documents, for example). To check if you have this error simply create text document on your desktop and give it a Chinese, written in characters. If it reads out right, everything is good. If its coming out in squares only, you have a problem.

Otherwise I have to say that a well deployed CMS is easier to manage an maintain than a "normal" HTML only website; professionally done. Nobody will realize its a CMS, it also won't look impersonal, once the design has been done and set.