Working with multiple languages in Confluence? 🌍

[#1]

Keeping content organized across different languages can be tricky. Confluence is commonly used for documentation and collaboration, but international teams often face challenges when working in different languages. A typical solution is to create separate page trees for each language, which comes with several drawbacks:

• Inconsistency: Keeping content updated across multiple pages requires extra effort and can lead to mistakes.

• Navigation Issues: A large number of pages makes browsing more difficult.

• Search Difficulties: Multiple versions of the same content appear in search results, making it harder to find the correct version. 

But what if you could keep all language versions on a single page? 💡 

Instead of maintaining multiple pages, editors can organize different language versions in one place with Translations for Confluence. Users see content in their preferred language without additional steps.

How does it work? This solution uses language macros. Each macro corresponds to a specific language and contains the relevant content. With support for over 40 languages, organizations can provide an efficient way for users to switch languages.

Language Display Settings in Confluence

The language a user sees depends on several factors:

• Administrator Settings: The default language for Confluence can be set in the general configuration.

• User Preferences: Users can choose their preferred language in their profile settings, which overrides the default.

• On-the-Fly Switching: A drop-down menu appears on pages with multiple translations, allowing users to select their language easily.

Page Titles on Different Hosting

On Data Center

A “Translate title” feature allows page titles to be translated. Users can search for content in their preferred language and get relevant results.

On Cloud

Currently, page titles remain the same across all languages. However, the body content adapts to the user’s selected language, making information accessible in different languages.

For those using Jira Service Management, setting up a multilingual knowledge base can also be useful.

Benefits of Translations for Confluence

• Single-Page Content Management: No need to maintain multiple versions of the same page.

• Better Search Results: All language versions are indexed under one page.

• Flexible Use: Organizations can choose which content needs translation without being restricted by a fixed process.

via GIPHY

Interested in using multiple languages in Confluence? Try Translations for Confluence today!

[Kristian Klima]

Hi @Elena_Communardo Products 

As a former translator and translation train manager, I have a couple of questions.

• Does it support exporting/importing XLIFF files? Or do I have to manually copy paste localized text into the macro?
• When I edit the English version, would I get notification on the page that the translated versions are out of date?
• For translation management on the space level, can I list (and export) the pages with outdated translations?
• To add a translation, do I need to enter the Edit mode? (if so, adding a translation probably results in a new version of the page - does it trigger Comala Publishing going out of sync?)

Thanks!

[Elena_Communardo Products]

Hi @Kristian Klima 

Thanks for your questions! Here are the answers:

1. Currently, exporting/importing XLIFF files is not supported. However, you can copy and paste translated text from your preferred translation tool. If you're using Confluence Cloud, you can use Atlassian Intelligence's translation feature, which works directly inside the language macro for immediate translations.

2. & 3) All language versions are available on the same page, and you can edit or export them whenever needed. However, there are no automatic notifications when one version is updated.

3. If by adding a new translation you mean a new language, simply add a new language macro to the page, but if you need a new version of a previous translation, you can edit the language macro. Yes, both actions will create a new version of the page. As with any Confluence page, changes need to be published before they become visible to others. If you're using Comala Publishing, remember that adding a translation creates a new version of the page, which may affect the sync status.

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out! 😊

Kindly,

Elena

[Kristian Klima]

@Elena_Communardo Products 

Thanks for explaining the details.

Sounds like a lot of manual work and manual booking-keeping :(

Having said that, I can imaging this being deployed in scenarios where translation happens by AI within Confluence (and when you don't depend on translation dictionaries and translation memory).

Update the source language, run the AI in the macro, save, done.

[Elena_Communardo Products]

Thanks, @Kristian KlimaI appreciate your perspective. Yes, there are some manual steps, especially for those using translation workflows with dictionaries and translation memory.

AI-powered translation in Confluence can help simplify this, making updates faster and more efficient. You might find this video interesting: Multilingual Confluence Pages with AI.

It’s great to see how AI is evolving to support multilingual content—definitely an exciting space to watch! Let me know if you have any other thoughts. 😊

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

This might be the most useful app ever!

[Elena_Communardo Products]

Thank you @Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_ ! That’s amazing to hear! 😊 We’re really glad you find it useful. If you have any feedback or feature ideas, we’d love to hear them!