Nova Spatie Translatable Laravel Package

Getting Started

• Confirm your app runs PHP 8+ and a Laravel version compatible with this release; then install/update via Composer.
• Start with the package README and any publishable config (php artisan vendor:publish). Check the changelog for the spatie/laravel-translatable >= 5.0 constraint.
• First use case: add the package’s translatable trait/interface to an Eloquent model, declare the translated attributes, and store/retrieve a translation for the current locale.

Implementation Patterns

• Define translatable attributes on the model (commonly a $translatable array) and use the package’s setTranslation / getTranslation / translate helpers rather than manually reading JSON columns.
• Switch locales through Laravel’s app()->setLocale() or the package’s locale resolver; keep fallback locale configuration explicit so missing translations behave predictably.
• Validate translated input per locale in Form Requests (e.g. title.en, title.fr) and map validated arrays into the model’s translation API.
• Eager-load translations where the package supports it, and avoid calling translation accessors inside loops without preloading to prevent N+1 queries.
• In Blade/API resources, prefer a single translation helper with an explicit locale argument over repeated app()->getLocale() calls, so output is testable and consistent.
• When integrating with spatie/laravel-translatable >= 5.0, verify both packages use compatible trait/interface contracts and avoid mixing their translation APIs in the same model.

Gotchas and Tips

• PHP 8 support is new in 2.2.0: re-run your test suite and check for deprecations, typed property conflicts, and nullsafe/union-type edge cases in custom accessors.
• The spatie/laravel-translatable >= 5.0 requirement may pull in breaking upstream changes; test fallback behavior and any custom translation loaders after upgrading.
• Fallback locales can hide missing translations. Use a non-fallback lookup when you need to detect untranslated content, and assert this in tests.
• Translation storage typically relies on JSON columns; confirm your database supports them and that model casts/config are correct after upgrading.
• Clear config and application caches after changing locale/fallback settings, and include a translation smoke test in CI for each supported locale.
• Debug with getTranslations()/toArray() to inspect raw translation payloads, and use package extension points (custom locale resolver or translation loader) rather than overriding model internals.