Supporting customers in multiple languages? You'll want to translate your articles so they're available in your customers' preferred language.
Translating Articles
Ready to get started? Here's how to translate your articles:
- Switch to the language you'd like to edit
- Select the article you'd like to translate. Untranslated articles have a
Needs translationbadge
- Translate the article and click Save to save your changes
- Once ready, change the translation status to
Complete
- Hit Save to apply the status update
- If the article is already published, click Publish to release your translation
- If it's still set as Draft, you're done: the translation goes live when the article is published in your default language
How a Translation Goes Live
A translation has two statuses, and they do different jobs:
Status | Where you set it | What it controls |
Draft or Published | In your default language only | Whether the article is on your help center at all, in every language |
In Progress or Complete | In each translation, where the Draft or Published status sits in your default language | Whether readers see this language's version |
Readers see your translation when all three of these are true:
- The article is Published in your default language
- The translation is marked Complete
- On an article that's already published, you've clicked Publish on the translation
That last one is because edits to a published article, in any language, are saved as a working copy first. Readers keep seeing the version that's live until you click Publish.
Translating Beside the Original
You don't need to flip back and forth between languages to see what you're translating. The original article is right there in the editor.
The title, slug, description, short version, and tags are translated too. Under each of these fields, you'll see the original value, labeled with your default language.
Click the copy button beside it to copy the original into the field. This is handy for a slug that should match across languages, or tags that stay the same.
Field | What you can do |
Title | Translate it, or copy the original value |
Slug | Translate it, or copy the original so it matches across languages |
Description | Translate it, or copy the original value |
Short version | Translate it, or copy the original value |
Tags | Translate them, or copy the original if they stay the same |
The Language Chip
The language chip under the title shows which language you're editing.
Click it to jump to the same article in another language, and to see where each translation stands:
Label | What it means |
Not translated | There's no translation in this language yet |
In progress | A translation has been started but isn't Complete yet |
Outdated | The original has changed since this translation was written |
When a translation is outdated the chip turns amber, so you'll know it needs another look.