Add multi-language functionality and don't create unnecessary variables in the contact controller

.env.example

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 SITE_NAME='Hypothetical Template'
 SITE_DESC='A website template'
 
+DEFAULT_LANGUAGE=en
+
 APP_ENV=local
 APP_DEBUG=true
 APP_LOG_LEVEL=debug

app/Http/Controllers/ContactController.php

@@ -14,14 +14,10 @@ class ContactController extends Controller {
             'message' => 'required'
         ]);
 
-        $name    = $request['name'];
-        $email   = $request['email'];
-        $message = $request['message'];
-
         $contact = new Contact;
-        $contact->name = $name;
-        $contact->email = $email;
-        $contact->message = $message;
+        $contact->name = $request['name'];
+        $contact->email = $request['email'];
+        $contact->message = $request['message'];
         $contact->save();
 
         // Send the email if the MAIL_SENDTO variable is set

app/Providers/AppServiceProvider.php

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 namespace App\Providers;
 
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Blade;
 use Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider;
 
 class AppServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
@@ -13,7 +14,9 @@ class AppServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
      */
     public function boot()
     {
-        //
+        Blade::directive('lang', function($expression) {
+            return "<?php echo Language::select($expression); ?>";
+        });
     }
 
     /**

app/Utilities/Language.php

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Utilities;
+
+class Language
+{
+    /**
+     * The language cookie name
+     *
+     * @var string
+     */
+    public static $language_cookie = 'locale';
+
+    /**
+     * Retrieve the language from the cookie or fall back on the default
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public static function getSessionLanguage()
+    {
+        return session(self::$language_cookie, env('DEFAULT_LANGUAGE', 'en'));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set the configured language cookie
+     *
+     * @param string
+     * @return boolean
+     */
+    public static function setSessionLanguage($language)
+    {
+        session([ self::$language_cookie => $language ]);
+        return self::getSessionLanguage() == $language;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Take an array of strings and return the string associated with
+     * the currently configured language or fall back on the default
+     *
+     * @param array
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public static function select($string_array)
+    {
+        $session_language = self::getSessionLanguage();
+        $default_language = env('DEFAULT_LANGUAGE');
+        $string = '';
+
+        if (array_key_exists($session_language, $string_array)) {
+            $string = $string_array[$session_language];
+        } else if (array_key_exists($default_language, $string_array)) {
+            $string = $string_array[$default_language];
+        }
+
+        return $string;
+    }
+}

config/app.php

@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ return [
         'Newsletter' => Spatie\Newsletter\NewsletterFacade::class,
         'Image'      => Intervention\Image\Facades\Image::class,
         'Excel'      => Maatwebsite\Excel\Facades\Excel::class,
+        'Language'   => App\Utilities\Language::class,
 
     ]
 

readme.md

@@ -2,6 +2,27 @@
 
 The Hypothetical website template
 
+## Utilities
+
+### Language
+
+The default language is set by the `DEFAULT_LANGUAGE` variable in the `.env` file. This will be the language used until it is changed, which can be done using the `/language/{lang}` route or directly using `Language::setSessionLanguage($lang)` where in both cases `lang` is the language code for a given language.
+
+In the view, a block of text can be configured with multiple languages using the following syntax:
+
+```php
+    @lang([
+        'en' => "This is a sentence",
+        'fr' => "C'est une phrase"
+    ])
+```
+
+or
+
+```php
+    {{ Language::select([ 'en' => "This is a sentence", 'fr' => "C'est une phrase" ]) }}
+```
+
 ## Dashboard
 
 Unless otherwise stated all examples in this section are to be added to `app/Http/Controllers/DashboardController.php`.

resources/views/layouts/base.blade.php

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!DOCTYPE html>
-<html lang="en">
+<html lang="{{ Language::getSessionLanguage() }}">
     @set('page_title', (isset($title) ? $title . ' - ' : '') . env('SITE_NAME'))
     @set('device_mobile', preg_match('/Mobi/', Request::header('User-Agent')) || preg_match('/iP(hone|ad|od);/', Request::header('User-Agent')))
 

routes/web.php

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+use App\Utilities\Language;
+
 /*
 |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 | Web Routes
@@ -25,6 +27,11 @@ Route::get('/contact', function() {
     return view('website.contact');
 });
 
+Route::get('/language/{lang}', function($lang) {
+    Language::setSessionLanguage($lang);
+    return redirect()->back();
+});
+
 /*
 |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 | Authentication Routes