feat(i18n): consume central translations from escalated-dev/locale

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ### Changed
 - License changed from GPL-2.0-or-later to MIT.
+- Translations now load from the central `escalated-dev/locale` Composer package (`vendor/escalated-dev/locale/languages/escalated-{locale}.mo`) with optional site-level overrides from `languages/overrides/escalated-{locale}.mo`. Falls back to the in-tree `languages/` dir when the central package is not installed.
 
 ### Fixed
 - Validate priority against allowed enum values in ticket creation.

README.md

@@ -135,6 +135,30 @@ On activation, Escalated schedules:
 - `escalated_auto_close` (daily)
 - `escalated_purge_activities` (weekly)
 
+## Translations
+
+Escalated for WordPress consumes translations from the central
+[`escalated-dev/locale`](https://github.com/escalated-dev/escalated-locale)
+Composer package, which is the single source of truth for translations
+across every Escalated host plugin.
+
+At runtime the plugin loads translations in two layers (later layer wins):
+
+1. **Central** — `vendor/escalated-dev/locale/languages/escalated-{locale}.mo`
+   (installed automatically via `composer install`).
+2. **Local overrides** — `languages/overrides/escalated-{locale}.mo`
+   (drop your own compiled `.mo` here to override individual entries
+   without forking the central package).
+
+If the central package is not yet installed, the plugin falls back to
+the legacy in-tree `languages/*.po`/`*.mo` files so existing sites keep
+working.
+
+To submit translation fixes, open a PR against
+[`escalated-dev/escalated-locale`](https://github.com/escalated-dev/escalated-locale).
+Do **not** edit the in-tree `.po` files — they exist only as a fallback
+and will be removed once the central package reaches a stable release.
+
 ## Development
 
 Install dependencies:

composer.json

@@ -3,8 +3,12 @@
     "description": "Escalated Helpdesk & Ticketing System for WordPress",
     "type": "wordpress-plugin",
     "license": "MIT",
+    "repositories": [
+        {"type": "vcs", "url": "https://github.com/escalated-dev/escalated-locale"}
+    ],
     "require": {
-        "php": ">=8.1"
+        "php": ">=8.1",
+        "escalated-dev/locale": "^0.1"
     },
     "require-dev": {
         "phpunit/phpunit": "^9.6",

includes/class-escalated.php

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ public static function instance(): self
 
     public function boot(): void
     {
-        load_plugin_textdomain('escalated', false, dirname(ESCALATED_PLUGIN_BASENAME).'/languages');
+        $this->load_translations();
 
         // Register custom cron intervals.
         add_filter('cron_schedules', [Activator::class, 'add_cron_schedules']);
@@ -51,4 +51,43 @@ public static function table(string $name): string
 
         return $wpdb->prefix.'escalated_'.$name;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Load plugin translations.
+     *
+     * Loads translations in two layers, with WordPress's gettext system
+     * merging them so the later-loaded layer can override earlier entries:
+     *
+     *   1. Central translations from the `escalated-dev/locale` Composer
+     *      package (vendor/escalated-dev/locale/languages/escalated-{locale}.mo).
+     *      Source of truth, shared across all Escalated host plugins.
+     *   2. Local overrides from this plugin's `languages/overrides/` dir
+     *      (escalated-{locale}.mo), giving site operators a way to tweak
+     *      strings without forking the central package.
+     *
+     * If the central package is not installed (e.g. fresh checkout before
+     * `composer install`), we fall back to the legacy `languages/` dir so
+     * existing installs continue to work.
+     */
+    private function load_translations(): void
+    {
+        $domain = 'escalated';
+        $locale = determine_locale();
+        $mofile = $domain.'-'.$locale.'.mo';
+
+        // 1. Central translations shipped by escalated-dev/locale.
+        $central = ESCALATED_PLUGIN_DIR.'vendor/escalated-dev/locale/languages/'.$mofile;
+        if (file_exists($central)) {
+            load_textdomain($domain, $central);
+        } else {
+            // Fallback to the legacy in-plugin languages/ dir (pre-central rollout).
+            load_plugin_textdomain($domain, false, dirname(ESCALATED_PLUGIN_BASENAME).'/languages');
+        }
+
+        // 2. Local overrides — entries here win over the central package.
+        $overrides = ESCALATED_PLUGIN_DIR.'languages/overrides/'.$mofile;
+        if (file_exists($overrides)) {
+            load_textdomain($domain, $overrides);
+        }
+    }
 }