Setting up translations

There are however different ways that translations can be implemented. Ideally, let us know at the point that we are setting up your Impact Stack installation that translations will be needed. But this can of course be set up for you at any time, just get in touch.

Translating an action

1. Go to your Impact Stack Bar
2. Click “Manage”
3. Click “Content & Actions”
4. Filter or search for the action you want to translate. Go to the right of that action where you see “Edit” and open the dropdown menu.
5. Select “Translate”. 

OR

1. Click on the name of your action
2. Under the title, you’ll see a series of buttons. Click “Translate”

If you don't see either of these "Translate" options, get in touch with support to get translations set up for your installation.

You should land on a page where you'll see a list of languages. You'll also see which have been translated, which have been published and which have not been translated. The language in bold, with “(source)” next to it, is the original action from which all others have been translated.

Next, choose the language you want to translate to and click “add translation” to the right.

If you don't see the language you want to translate listed, click on 'enabled languages' in orange in the text at the top of the page. On this page you can enable the languages you need.

Tips:

• If you’re not a fluent speaker of the language you're translating, have the translations ready before you begin. Make a list of all the text you have and send it as a spreadsheet to someone to translate. Alternatively, sit with your translator and do it together, or show them how to fill in the translations in the Impact Stack interface. 
• Don’t forget little pieces of text like field labels, image alt- and title-text and error messages.
• Don’t forget links in the footer menu like “About us” or the imprint.

Translating the webform

When you’re on the third step - “Form” - you have two options: 

1. Choose a template form already in the language you’re translating to and select “Apply template”. Find out more about using templates for your action here.

2. Translate your own webform

In this case, make sure you translate all the field labels. You do this by clicking on the little pen alongside each field and then changing the “Title”.

For some fields, like “country”, where you have dropdowns and a long list of options you don’t have to translate them yourself. (You don’t have to for the others either, but it’s usually quicker).

Delete the country field, save and then re-add the “country” field from the form builder palette and save. 

Remember to never do this on an action which is already running, as deleting form items deletes their content too! All previously submitted country data would be lost.

Tip: Making sure you’re editing the correct field

Sometimes you have to work with a language you really don’t understand - recognising words in a language like Chinese can be quite challenging!

1. Go to the field you think is the right one (for example third field from the top)
2. Click on the pen
3. Under Properties you can see “Form key” under the “Title”. If it says “country”, all is well :-)

Warning: Don't change the form keys unless you're sure you know what you're doing - it could have unintended consequences elsewhere! If in doubt, check with support :)

If you have other questions about managing translations, many will be answered here: Drupal Multilingual Guide.