Localization allows you to translate content for different languages and regions. This article covers how to use AI to localize your guides and Resource Centers into any language supported in your app. AI localization uses Google's machine learning translation services to generate translations.
If you prefer to manage localization manually or by using XLIFF files, see Localization.
Before you begin
You must have these permissions:
- A Pendo subscription admin or a user with edit localization settings permissions must turn on AI localization for your subscription.
- After AI localization is turned on, you must be a subscription admin, guide creator, or guide content editor to translate the content.
Turn on AI localization
Subscription admins and users with edit localization settings permissions can turn on AI localization.
- From the top-right corner in Pendo, select Settings > Subscription settings.
- Go to the AI access tab
- Scroll down to the Guides section of the page.
- Select the checkbox next to AI localization.
You can turn off this setting at any time to stop using AI localization.
Localize your content
You can localize the content for both guides and Resource Centers. The steps for finding localization settings differ depending on which you're working in, but the translation workflow is the same for both.
Guides
You can translate a single language at a time or translate all supported languages at once. The languages available to translate in the Localization tile are the languages you've added to your app. To add languages to your app, see Localization.
Translate all languages at once
- In the left-side menu, go to Guides > Guides.
- In the Guides list, select a guide.
- From the Settings page, in the Localization tile, select Translate all under the Untranslated list of languages.
- Select Translate to confirm.
- Select Done.
Note: Supported languages are saved and published immediately for any guides that are already public. Guides in draft status have translations saved but not published until the guide is made public. Any languages not supported for automatic translation remain in the Untranslated section. You can translate these manually or upload an XLIFF file. For more information, see Localization.
Translate a single language
- In the left-side menu, go to Guides > Guides.
- In the Guides list, select a guide.
- In the guide's Settings page, in the Localization tile, select Edit. A list of languages supported in your app appears. Any content that is not translated appears in the Untranslated section.
-
Select Translate next to the language you want the guide translated into. The Edit translation window opens, showing the guide text in the authored language and the translated text. An icon on each text block indicates which building block is being used for the text shown. If the guide has multiple steps, there's an indication of which steps are missing translation.
Note: If you don’t have AI Localization turned on, you can manually add translated text to the guide in the Edit translation window. You can also import a XLIFF file.
- Review and edit the translated text as needed. The translated text is not public yet. This only happens after you review and edit the text, and then save it.
- Select Save translation. If the guide is public, the translation is published in the new language. If the guide is in draft status, the translation is published when the guide is made public. The guide is also listed in the Translated section in the Localization tile.
Note: If the guide status is already Public, translations will appear immediately after you save the translation.
Resource Center
When you localize a Resource Center, only the Resource Center's structural content is translated. This includes the Resource Center title, list item titles, subtitles, and ARIA labels. Any guides included in your Resource Center need to be translated separately. For more information, see the localization section of this article for guides.
To localize a Resource Center:
- In the left-side menu, go to Guides > Resource Center.
- In the Resource Center list, select a Resource Center.
- In the Resource Center's Settings page, select Edit from the Localization tile. A list of languages supported in your app appears.
-
Select Translate next to the language you want the Resource Center translated into. The Edit translation window opens, showing the Resource Center text in the authored language and the translated text. An icon on each text block indicates which building block is being used for the text shown. If there are multiple steps, there's an indication of which steps are missing translation.
Note: If you don’t have AI Localization turned on for your subscription, you can manually add translated text in the Edit translation window. You can also import a XLIFF file.
- Review and edit the translated text as needed. The translated text is not public yet. This only happens after you review and edit the text, and then save it.
- Select Save translation.
Important: Translations will not publish in your Resource Center until you Push to production. To learn more, see Set up a Resource Center.
Edit the translated text
You can edit the translated text, clear the text, or import an XLIFF file. In the Localization tile, select Translate next to the language you want to edit. The Edit translation window opens, showing the translated text in each text block. There are indications of where there are missing translations or if the translation is out of sync because someone made a change to the original authored language in the guide. The guide preview in the Edit translation window shows the changes as you make them so you can verify styling issues, such as text wrapping.
Localize markdown text
The AI localization tool accepts markdown, but some characters can result in unexpected changes to a guide's appearance. To avoid incorrect conversion, any characters that convert to markdown syntax must be escaped with a backslash character to be rendered as plain text. For example: 27. August 2024 converts to a list item if there's no backslash. 27\. August 2024 renders as a date because the backslash has been added.
For more information, see Markdown syntax for guide text styling.