Title: WP_Locale::init
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: April 28, 2025

---

# WP_Locale::init()

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#description)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Sets up the translated strings and object properties.

## 󠀁[Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#description)󠁿

The method creates the translatable strings for various calendar elements. Which
allows for specifying locale specific calendar names and text direction.

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    public function init() {
    	// The weekdays.
    	$this->weekday[0] = /* translators: Weekday. */ __( 'Sunday' );
    	$this->weekday[1] = /* translators: Weekday. */ __( 'Monday' );
    	$this->weekday[2] = /* translators: Weekday. */ __( 'Tuesday' );
    	$this->weekday[3] = /* translators: Weekday. */ __( 'Wednesday' );
    	$this->weekday[4] = /* translators: Weekday. */ __( 'Thursday' );
    	$this->weekday[5] = /* translators: Weekday. */ __( 'Friday' );
    	$this->weekday[6] = /* translators: Weekday. */ __( 'Saturday' );

    	// The first letter of each day.
    	$this->weekday_initial[ $this->weekday[0] ] = /* translators: One-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ _x( 'S', 'Sunday initial' );
    	$this->weekday_initial[ $this->weekday[1] ] = /* translators: One-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ _x( 'M', 'Monday initial' );
    	$this->weekday_initial[ $this->weekday[2] ] = /* translators: One-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ _x( 'T', 'Tuesday initial' );
    	$this->weekday_initial[ $this->weekday[3] ] = /* translators: One-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ _x( 'W', 'Wednesday initial' );
    	$this->weekday_initial[ $this->weekday[4] ] = /* translators: One-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ _x( 'T', 'Thursday initial' );
    	$this->weekday_initial[ $this->weekday[5] ] = /* translators: One-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ _x( 'F', 'Friday initial' );
    	$this->weekday_initial[ $this->weekday[6] ] = /* translators: One-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ _x( 'S', 'Saturday initial' );

    	// Abbreviations for each day.
    	$this->weekday_abbrev[ $this->weekday[0] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ __( 'Sun' );
    	$this->weekday_abbrev[ $this->weekday[1] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ __( 'Mon' );
    	$this->weekday_abbrev[ $this->weekday[2] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ __( 'Tue' );
    	$this->weekday_abbrev[ $this->weekday[3] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ __( 'Wed' );
    	$this->weekday_abbrev[ $this->weekday[4] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ __( 'Thu' );
    	$this->weekday_abbrev[ $this->weekday[5] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ __( 'Fri' );
    	$this->weekday_abbrev[ $this->weekday[6] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the weekday. */ __( 'Sat' );

    	// The months.
    	$this->month['01'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'January' );
    	$this->month['02'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'February' );
    	$this->month['03'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'March' );
    	$this->month['04'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'April' );
    	$this->month['05'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'May' );
    	$this->month['06'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'June' );
    	$this->month['07'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'July' );
    	$this->month['08'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'August' );
    	$this->month['09'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'September' );
    	$this->month['10'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'October' );
    	$this->month['11'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'November' );
    	$this->month['12'] = /* translators: Month name. */ __( 'December' );

    	// The months, genitive.
    	$this->month_genitive['01'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'January', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['02'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'February', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['03'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'March', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['04'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'April', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['05'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'May', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['06'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'June', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['07'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'July', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['08'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'August', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['09'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'September', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['10'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'October', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['11'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'November', 'genitive' );
    	$this->month_genitive['12'] = /* translators: Month name, genitive. */ _x( 'December', 'genitive' );

    	// Abbreviations for each month.
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['01'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Jan', 'January abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['02'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Feb', 'February abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['03'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Mar', 'March abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['04'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Apr', 'April abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['05'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'May', 'May abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['06'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Jun', 'June abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['07'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Jul', 'July abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['08'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Aug', 'August abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['09'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Sep', 'September abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['10'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Oct', 'October abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['11'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Nov', 'November abbreviation' );
    	$this->month_abbrev[ $this->month['12'] ] = /* translators: Three-letter abbreviation of the month. */ _x( 'Dec', 'December abbreviation' );

    	// The meridiems.
    	$this->meridiem['am'] = __( 'am' );
    	$this->meridiem['pm'] = __( 'pm' );
    	$this->meridiem['AM'] = __( 'AM' );
    	$this->meridiem['PM'] = __( 'PM' );

    	/*
    	 * Numbers formatting.
    	 * See https://www.php.net/number_format
    	 */

    	/* translators: $thousands_sep argument for https://www.php.net/number_format, default is ',' */
    	$thousands_sep = __( 'number_format_thousands_sep' );

    	// Replace space with a non-breaking space to avoid wrapping.
    	$thousands_sep = str_replace( ' ', ' ', $thousands_sep );

    	$this->number_format['thousands_sep'] = ( 'number_format_thousands_sep' === $thousands_sep ) ? ',' : $thousands_sep;

    	/* translators: $dec_point argument for https://www.php.net/number_format, default is '.' */
    	$decimal_point = __( 'number_format_decimal_point' );

    	$this->number_format['decimal_point'] = ( 'number_format_decimal_point' === $decimal_point ) ? '.' : $decimal_point;

    	/* translators: Used between list items, there is a space after the comma. */
    	$this->list_item_separator = __( ', ' );

    	// Set text direction.
    	if ( isset( $GLOBALS['text_direction'] ) ) {
    		$this->text_direction = $GLOBALS['text_direction'];

    		/* translators: 'rtl' or 'ltr'. This sets the text direction for WordPress. */
    	} elseif ( 'rtl' === _x( 'ltr', 'text direction' ) ) {
    		$this->text_direction = 'rtl';
    	}

    	// Set the word count type.
    	$this->word_count_type = $this->get_word_count_type();
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/class-wp-locale.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wp-locale.php#L146)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wp-locale.php#L146-L254)

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Uses | Description | 
| [WP_Locale::get_word_count_type()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/get_word_count_type/)`wp-includes/class-wp-locale.php` |

Retrieves the localized word count type.

  | 
| [__()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__/)`wp-includes/l10n.php` |

Retrieves the translation of $text.

  | 
| [_x()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_x/)`wp-includes/l10n.php` |

Retrieves translated string with gettext context.

  |

[Show 1 more](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#)
[Show less](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#)

| Used by | Description | 
| [WP_Locale::__construct()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/__construct/)`wp-includes/class-wp-locale.php` |

Constructor which calls helper methods to set up object variables.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_locale/init/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [2.1.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/2.1.0/) | Introduced. |

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