Multilingual forum

[_pi]

hello, i am using smf 2 rc3.

i need to use 4 languages on my forum, where categories, board names and board descriptions should be available as local language.
what is the best approach for that?

since the forum already has a lot of categories and boards it would be an overkill to multiply them.
and for my co admins that would be simply not acceptable, because they are just happy to understand the main structure.
so it needs to be available in one place.

i use smf for some years now and am capable to write own code for that.

currently i see two ways:

1. tweak category and board interface with extra fields + adding them to database and use member settings to load the corresponding translation.
2. setup copies of the database for extra languages and switch to it (based on the idea to have multiple domains)

the Multilingual Board Name and Description modification is not available for rc3.

i am happy for any kind of help.
thanks!