I did a multi language site by having an additional installation of the site, each in its own folder. The folders get assigned to a sub domain where I switch between them using a small PHP-Script.
This gives page-by-page possibilities, absolutely painless.
One of the main advantages -for me- was the easier maintenance of each language where I can modify the templates to specific needs (read more », plus de détails », más información ») and much more important to me:
I like the idea of having each language
separated from the other. By doing it so, I
- have a single (!) tree of articles for each language - where I'm no longer confused where I currently perform changes.
- can give the translation process to an other person without being afraid that other language content gets destroyed wrongly.
- can make a new copy of a language is as simple as copying a folder and a database; perfect for testing an update in a backup first or to try something completely new...
Example given: We got a French translation.
I made a copy of the EN folder and the EN database (took me 3-5 Minutes). Changed the database in the conf.inc.php and assigned a temporary sub domain to this new folder.
The person who made the translation had a running -but not public- system instantly. After everything has been checked, I just changed the sub domain to 'FR' and inserted the links to the French version.
Sounds not perfect to me; but it's a good choice when considering the narrow possibilities of WCMS...
I tried to explain what I did here
http://forum.phpwcms.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=17447
And you can see how it works here:
http://www.xecro.com