Working with Multiple Languages in SharePoint

Depending on your specific location, you may need to have a SharePoint site that uses a different language from that used by your specific version of SBS, or you may have a multinational company with unique language requirements, with employees speaking English, Hebrew, and Japanese, for example. By default, WSS uses the same language as the host operating system, so if you have an English version of SBS, your SharePoint site will also be in English. However, Microsoft provides multiple language packs that you can download for free to create additional SharePoint sites using alternate languages. The one catch, however, is that you must specify the language you want to use for your SharePoint site when you create the site. However, because the Companyweb installation is scripted as part of the SBS integrated setup, the Companyweb will always be installed with the same language as the SBS server; there is no way to change the default Companyweb to a different language after the fact.

To obtain additional language packs for WSS, browse to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&familyid=E7EEC77D-4365-4B66-8E8D-9D079C509679, select the language you want, and download to your server. When complete, run the STSTPK.exe package on your server to install the language pack you selected. After the installation is finished, you will be able to select the additional language when creating a new site.

As mentioned earlier, it is not possible to reconfigure the default Companyweb site to use a different language than the SBS operating system. However, you do have a few different options. First, if you have multiple language requirements such as the English, Hebrew, and Japanese example mentioned previously, you could create subsites for additional languages. For example, if you had an English version of SBS, you could use your English default Companyweb site, download the Hebrew and Japanese language packs, and create one subsite using the Hebrew language pack and another subsite using the Japanese language pack, so that each group of users has a SharePoint site in its native language.