Work with Multiple Languages

Why multilingual content matters

Visitors expect content in their own language. A multilingual site serves each audience version-specific content while sharing structure and assets across languages. The CMS tracks each translation separately, so you can publish French content without affecting the English version.

Switch between languages

1. Open any page in the CMS editor.
2. Locate the Language selector in the top toolbar.
3. Click the selector to see all available languages.
4. Choose the language you want to view or edit.
5. Verify the editor refreshes and displays content in the selected language.

Create a translation

1. Navigate to the page you want to translate.
2. Switch to the target language using the Language selector.
3. If no translation exists, the CMS shows empty fields or the primary language text as a starting reference.
4. Enter the translated content for each field.
5. Click Save to store the draft translation.
6. Verify the language indicator shows your target language next to the page name.

CMS

On CMS SaaS, untranslated fields display a globe icon. Click the icon to copy the primary language value as a starting point for your translation.

Understand fallback behavior

Fallback determines what visitors see when a translation is missing.

• With fallback enabled, the CMS shows the primary language version if no translation exists. Visitors see content rather than a blank page.
• With fallback disabled, untranslated pages return a 404 error for that language. Use this when partial translations would confuse visitors.

Your administrator configures fallback at the site level. As an author, you can check which mode is active.

1. Open Settings in the admin area (if you have access).
2. Navigate to Languages.
3. Check the Fallback Language column for each language.
4. Verify the fallback chain matches your site strategy.

CMS

On CMS PaaS, fallback chains can be multiple levels deep. For example, French Canadian can fall back to French, which falls back to English.

Check translation status

Before publishing, confirm which pages still need translation.

1. Open the Content Tree and switch to the target language.
2. Pages with translations show a filled language flag icon.
3. Pages without translations show a dimmed or empty flag icon.
4. Click any untranslated page to start its translation.
5. Verify your progress by scanning the tree for remaining dimmed icons.

Publish a translation

Translations publish independently from the primary language.

1. Open the translated page in the target language.
2. Review all fields for accuracy and completeness.
3. Click Publish.
4. Verify by switching your browser language or visiting the language-specific URL. The translated content should appear.

Use the Languages app for translation workflows

The Optimizely Languages app streamlines translation workflows by supporting XLIFF import and export and connecting to automatic translation services. Instead of manually translating each page, you can export content in a standard format, send it to translators or a translation service, and import the translated files back into the CMS.

Export content for translation (XLIFF)

XLIFF (XML Localization Interchange File Format) is the industry standard for exchanging translation data between content systems and translation tools.

1. Navigate to the page or content tree branch you want to translate.
2. Open the Languages app from the top toolbar or the Tools menu.
3. Select the pages you want to export. You can select individual pages or entire branches.
4. Choose the Source Language (the language to translate from).
5. Choose the Target Language (the language to translate into).
6. Click Export XLIFF.
7. Save the generated .xlf file to your computer.
8. Send this file to your translation team or upload it to your translation management system (TMS).

Import translated content (XLIFF)

1. Open the Languages app from the top toolbar.
2. Click Import XLIFF.
3. Select the translated .xlf file from your computer.
4. Review the import preview. The app shows which pages will be updated and highlights any conflicts.
5. Choose how to handle conflicts:
   • Overwrite: Replace existing translations with the imported content.
   • Skip: Keep existing translations and only import pages without translations.
6. Click Import.
7. Verify by navigating to the translated pages. The imported content should appear in the target language fields.

Connect an automatic translation service

The Languages app supports integration with machine translation providers for faster initial translations.

1. Open the Languages app and navigate to Settings > Translation Providers.
2. Click Add Provider.
3. Select your translation service from the available options (for example, Google Cloud Translation, Microsoft Translator, or DeepL).
4. Enter your API credentials for the service.
5. Click Test Connection to verify the integration works.
6. Click Save.
7. To use automatic translation, select pages in the Languages app, choose your source and target languages, and click Auto-Translate instead of Export XLIFF.
8. Review the machine-translated content before publishing. Machine translations require human review for accuracy, tone, and cultural appropriateness.

CMS

On CMS PaaS, the Languages app is available as a separate add-on. Install it via NuGet (Optimizely.Labs.LanguageManager) and configure translation providers in appsettings.json.

Common pitfalls

Issue	Cause	Fix
Translation shows primary language text	Fallback is active and translation is missing	Create the translation or disable fallback
Page not visible in second language	Translation not published	Publish the translated version
Some fields still in primary language	Fields were left empty in translation	Fill in every field on the translated page
URL does not change by language	URL segment not translated	Edit the URL segment field in each language

Related content

Continue your journey with these related pages.

🔧Follow a guide

• Configure Languages
• Use Projects for Grouped Publishing