Translating an article

A translated article also needs its section and category in the same language. Without that it is invisible in the help centre, even when published.

Before anything else: a translated article must also have its parent section and category translated into the same language. Add a translation whose section has none and users will not be able to view the article in the help centre, even though it is published. Nothing warns you, and the article looks finished from the editing side.

Add a translation

1. Open the article and click Edit article.
2. Click the Translation panel icon in the collapsible panel.
3. Click the Add language icon (+), select the language and click Add.
4. Write or paste the translated title and body.
5. Click Save, then use the dropdown on Save and select Publish.

Or let AI draft it

1. With the language added, click Translate on the article title bar.
2. Read the result.
3. Click Add translation, then Save, then Publish.

AI translation is on by default and covers every language your help centre supports. The setting is Translate knowledge base articles, in Admin Center under AI > Knowledge > Translations. It does not publish by itself, which is the right default: nothing marks an AI-generated translation for readers, so whatever it produces reads to a customer as something your company wrote.

It does not translate content blocks

Content blocks are skipped. That is consistent with how they work, since a translated block is a separate block rather than a language of the original, but it means an article built from blocks comes back part-translated and looks like a bug.

Translate the title as a search term

A literal translation of an English title often reads oddly and, more to the point, does not match what somebody would type in the other language. Ask what a Dutch customer would search for, and title it that. The translation should be findable, not faithful.

Interface terms are not yours to translate

Where an article names a button or a menu, use the words that appear in that language's interface, not your own translation of the English. An article telling a Dutch reader to click something labelled differently on their screen sends them looking for a control that does not exist.

The translation setting has a lever for this: Manage excluded terms, beside the switch, holds the words AI translation should leave alone. Product names, brand names and interface labels belong there, and filling it in once is cheaper than correcting the same word in every article.

Keep them in step

Editing the source does not update translations. You are not left to track that by hand, though: a translation can be flagged as outdated from the same panel, which is the mechanism to use rather than a list kept somewhere else.

See also

• Managing translations in bulk
• Article verification: what it is and how to set it up
• Adding languages and setting the default