How do I manage pages with content in multiple languages?

[Joachim Straub]

Hello,

we use Confluence together with Refined.

We would like to

• display the content of a page in multiple languages and
• allow the user to change the language of the content by a click

Thus, I have installed the macro "Translations for Confluence". In Confluence, this works fine.  However, Refined does not support this macro.

Is there any possibility to handle multiple language content without having to create a separate page for each language? I want to avoid this since this can get confusing.

Thanks for your help,
Joachim

[Kristian Klima]

Hi @Joachim Straub and welcome to the Community.

When it comes to

• displaying localized content
• in a public documentation site
• that's Confluence based
• but doesn't look like Confluence

you have only one option as far as I know.

Using a suite of Confluence apps by K15t (they're based in Stuttgart).

• Scroll Documents - it's a content management tool that allows you to manage your confluence pages and spaces in a much more detailed way. It also supports proper versioning, conditional content, etc.
• Translations for Scroll Documents - it does what it says on the tin. It creates a localized versions of your Confluence pages, supports XLIFFs files and all the usual translation workflows.
• Then you need Scroll Viewport to create a public website from your Confluence (via Scroll Documents) that allows for seamless switching between individual language versions.

Examples of the solution:

• https://docs.pay-me.com/?l=en

Scroll down for language swicher. It works really well - when you're switching languages on a specific page, you will remain on that page. https://docs.pay-me.com/en/magento/v3.0.9/instalacion-y-activacion 

Now... Viewport is a competitor of Refined. But unlike Refined, Viewport does not require you to enable anonymous access to your Confluence spaces and is designed to work with advanced features of other Scroll apps.

This is my company doc site built with VIewport. I used the Scroll Translations in the past so feel free to ask questions.

Disclaimer: I do not work for K15t.

[Joachim Straub]

Thanks for your information, Kristian.

If I understand you correctly, I cannot use Translations for Scroll Documents together with Refined. Is this correct?

I do not know whether this option is feasible for me, since I cannot decide myself to do without Refined. This has to be discussed with other stakeholders.

[Kristian Klima]

That is correct, Joachim.

Refined can only work with content on the space level. Scroll Documents can, for the lack of better word, create virtual space-like entities. It can be a section of a space, sections of multiple spaces, versions of spaces, and... virtual translated spaces.

Refined cannot tap into these virtual spaces. Viewport is designed to work with them.

[Lotje Euser]

hi Joachim,

Lotje here from Refined. I came across your issue and we do offer a multi-language site solution, which I'd love to share with you on a call.

Feel free to schedule a call with me here.

Best regards,
Lotje

[Sussi Åström]

Hi @Lotje Euser

If I am not mistaken, the multi-language site solution, is only available in DC?

Like Joachim we use Confluence with Refined and have had to create two separate spaces to enable documentation to our customers in Finnish & Swedish. 

@Joachim Straub I've tried the Scroll Document apps that @Kristian Klima  stated in his comment, and opted not to go down that route, as we would not have been able to keep the two separate spaces, and did not wish to go through the manual work of trying to combine into one. The other was that we also have Refined for JSM, which gives us both Confluence and JSM under one custom url. Scroll Viewport does not, or at least did not when I tried it.

[Kristian Klima]

Hi @Sussi Åström 

Scroll Documents (Translations for Scroll Documents) only need one space.

[Lotje Euser]

hi @Sussi Åström ,

thanks for your question! This solution with Refined is also available on Cloud. 

Kind regards,
Lotje

[Sussi Åström]

 @Kristian Klima Thanx for your clarification. Do you use Scroll Documents & Translations for Scroll Documents?  Curious to know if you find it intuitive to use? It took me a while to grasp it. If have two spaces for the two languages - going from two spaces to one is a lot of manual work, and if I recall correctly, it didn't work with Refined for Cloud. I may have to retest this over the summer.

@Lotje Euser Would you have a demo site to see it? Do you mean the Site Switcher? If so, I am waiting for Refined to make it adjustable, so that we can have our own icon and set the icon position manually. 

[Kristian Klima]

@Sussi Åström 

I used Scroll Versions with Translations extensively - I used an external localization partner and worked exclusively with XLIFF files in my workflow. 

Overall, Scroll Documents with the Translation add on takes a slightly different approach compared to Scroll Versions but the general idea remains the same both for inhouse and external translation.

Essentially, you have your Confluence space and its tree. In that tree, you create a Scroll document. A scroll document can encompass the entire tree or a section of it.

What the Translation module does is creating a virtual tree in that same space for each language. In other words:

Page 1 with your source language would have virtual localized versions linked to itself - Page 1 DE, Page 1 FR, Page 1 NL....

The app will tell you which pages need translation after the source language page was updated. At this point, you'd add translated text or you'd start translating. There's also mechanics for reusing translated content.

You can switch between (among) language versions of that page at will directly from the page in your space.

Of course, if you're using XLIFFs, you simply export the outdated pages XLIFF files, and once they're translated, you import them back at which point they slot in automatically to their respective pages.

https://help.k15t.com/scroll-docs/3.26/cloud/manage-translations

[Lotje Euser]

@Sussi Åström no not only by using the site-switcher. 
Can you send an email to lotje.euser@refined.com ? Then I can share one of our customer site examples with you who have built a solution like this. 

[Sussi Åström]

@Lotje Euser thank you! I have sent you an email :)

[Sussi Åström]

@Kristian Klima thank you for the lenghty explanation :) Isn't so that with Scroll Documents, the document control is per tree, not individual page? We need to keep track of single pages and their translation status.

On another note, do you still have the Document toolkit available in the top right corner, where the edit, comment etc icons are? Reason asking, as we use Interlingo and for us the icon disappeared from the icon list and now it's behind the three dots more actions menus and requires several clicks to access it. We're still on the old navigation.

[Kristian Klima]

@Sussi Åström 

As far as I know, you can keep track of individual pages and you should be able to idenfify, which pages are behind and need to be translated.

About that Toolking button.... moving it was necessitated by the UI changes which removed any UI elements of any app in that area (I had two apps that were affected).

As far as I know, the new location of the button is only a temporary solution.

[Sussi Åström]

Hi @Kristian Klima ,

Thanks for answering - will retest Scroll Documents over the summer :)

I do hope Atlassian does bring back quick access to the apps.

[Mattia _bitvoodoo ag_]

Hello Joachim,

Thank you for using our Translations app.

Refined offers the option to display the pages as in native Confluence.

This view supports 3rd party apps' content. In the case of Translations, the last selected language in Confluence will also be used for the Refined content view. Unfortunately it is not possible for us to display the language switcher in this Refined view. 

For your users this means, when they visit the content on Refined and they want to switch the language, they need to open the Confluence page (there is a direct access to the Confluence page in Refined interface) and switch the language. 

This solution may not be ideal if your users actually have to change languages frequently.
If you have any questions about this, please contact our support team.

Kind regards,

Mattia

[Joachim Straub]

Hi Mattia

Thank you very much for clarifying the available options.

We use Confluence + Refined for our customer support portal. The customers who log on to the portal do not know anything about Confluence. To them, it appears as normal web page. Thus, the solution to go to Confluence and switch the language does not work.

[Mattia _bitvoodoo ag_]

Thank you for getting back to me @Joachim Straub 

For users who are not logged in or do not have Confluence permission, the rules are the same as for "Anonymous users" on Confluence. The only difference is that direct language change is also not possible. At best, the user would have to change the browser language.

An alternative would be manually creating separate spaces and pages for each language. Some apps in the marketplace create and translate individual pages per language if you do not want to do and maintain this manually.

Your Refined portal visitors can navigate to the corresponding space to access their preferred language or switch language. 

Kind regards,

Mattia

[Joachim Straub]

Hi Mattia,

thanks again.

When using the solution with separate spaces and pages for each language, I see the following issues: 

Increase in number of pages

Currently, our content published in 2 languages, i.e., English and German., Thus, the number of pages should be manageable. However, if our content is translated into 4, 5 or more languages, the number of pages would increase very rapidly.

Missing option to control that source and translations are in synch

If you modify the source page, you are not informed that this modification has to be  translated into the target languages (on separate pages in separate spaces). There is no connection between source content and translated content.

It is true that Confluence is no translation memory system.

However, if source and translations are on one single page, at least you are "visually" reminded not to forget the translations in case you modify the source.

So there is one bitter pill to swallow I guess ;-)

Best regards,

Joachim