Multi-Language and Internationalization Issues in Base44 App
Your Base44 app needs to support multiple languages or non-English content, but characters are displaying incorrectly, text layout is broken for right-to-left (RTL) languages, or date/number formats don't match the user's locale.
Internationalization issues affect user trust and usability. Garbled characters make the app look broken, and incorrect date formats can cause data entry errors (is 03/04 March 4th or April 3rd?).
The issue may affect both static UI text and dynamic data stored in the database, with different root causes for each.
Error Messages You Might See
Common Causes
- The database or form encoding doesn't support the full UTF-8 character set
- RTL languages (Arabic, Hebrew) break the default left-to-right page layout
- Date and number formatting uses the server's locale instead of the user's locale
- Font files don't include glyphs for the required character sets (CJK, Arabic, Cyrillic)
- String length limits truncate multi-byte characters incorrectly
How to Fix It
Ensure your database tables use UTF-8 encoding to properly store and retrieve characters from any language. Test by entering characters from the languages you need to support and verifying they display correctly.
For RTL language support, you may need to add CSS direction properties. For date/number formatting, check if Base44 has locale settings that can be configured per user.
Full internationalization including RTL support, proper locale formatting, and multi-language content management is complex. A developer experienced with i18n can properly configure your app for multi-language support.
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Get HelpFrequently Asked Questions
Why are special characters showing as question marks in my Base44 app?
The database or form fields may not be using UTF-8 encoding. Check your table configuration and ensure text fields support the full Unicode character set.
Does Base44 support right-to-left languages?
RTL support may require custom CSS direction properties. Check if Base44 has built-in RTL support; if not, a developer can add the necessary CSS and layout adjustments.