Online Editor

Translations are mainly made in the Editor which can be viewed in Comfortable, Side-by-Side, or Multilingual mode. Typically Comfortable mode is enabled.

Using the Main menu in the top left corner you can switch between files for translations, change translation language, contact manager, switch the view, get help or quit the editor.

Comfortable Mode

Comfortable mode is mainly used for translations and consists of the four main sections:

1. Left sidebar
2. Middle-top area
3. Middle-bottom area
4. Right sidebar

Section 1 - Left sidebar

In this section, you will see the list of strings, and the active one will be highlighted. Strings are text elements which are either individual words, expressions, or sentences. Some strings might have replacement tokens (something like {0}, {1}, or %1) or elements of ICU message syntax. Such items themselves should not be translated but are used by the website code to insert some information into strings dynamically. To work with such strings, you should copy the source string and translate only the real words.

Strings may have the following statuses:

• - untranslated
• - partially translated (in case, some of the plural forms are not translated)
• - translated
• - partially approved (in case, some plural forms are not approved)
• - approved
• - hidden (visible only for project managers and proofreaders)

There also might be the following icons besides strings:

• - the string has comments from contributors
• - the string has an unresolved issue

While translating the content of an HTML, XML, TXT, DOCX, HAML, Web XML, and Markdown file formats a list of strings is displayed as a file preview. Statuses of the strings are marked with the following colors:

• Red - untranslated
• Light-green - translated
• Green - approved
• Grey - not for translation

An active string is highlighted with the yellow color.

The following options are available to manage the above view:

• - load basic list view. Use to switch to a standard mode and see a list of strings.
• - highlight untranslated, translated, and approved strings. Use to turn on/off color highlight of strings.
• - show translation preview. Use to turn on/off translations preview mode.

String Search

You can search for strings by source text, translations, context, or everything at once. Depending on the content you opened in the Editor, the system will look for matches within the particular opened file or all strings in the project.

To search for strings in the file or the whole project, type your search phrase in the Search in file (Search strings) field. You can also use a keyboard shortcut to switch to the search field (by default, Ctrl+F).

To fine-tune the search results, you can use the following options:

• Match case – With this option, you will find only the strings written in the same case: for example, if you search for Work and select Match case, the system will find Work, Works, Working but not work.
• Match whole phrase – With this option, you will find the strings that contain the search phrase only in the original order: for example, if you search for Machine Translation and select Match whole phrase, the system will find Machine Translation, Machine translation, machine translation but not Translation Machine. When Match whole phrase isn’t active, the system splits the search phrase into separate words and searches for matches in the strings in any order.
• Exact match – With this option, you will find only the strings that exactly match the search phrase: for example, if you search for Work and select Exact match, the system will find Work, work, but not Works or Working.

You can combine Match case with Exact match and Match case with Match whole phrase. Match whole phrase and Exact match are mutually exclusive options.

The search phrase is limited to 128 characters. If you paste a search phrase greater than 128 characters, it will be automatically trimmed down to the maximum allowed limit.

Filtering Strings

To filter the strings displayed in the left sidebar, click and select the preferred filter option.

Available filter options:

• Show All – Show all strings from the opened file/folder in the original order.
• All, Untranslated First – Show all strings from the opened file/folder. Untranslated strings are displayed at the top of the list, then translated strings, and the approved ones are displayed at the bottom of the list.
• Untranslated – Show only strings without any translations.
• Need to Be Voted – Show already translated strings.
• Not Approved – Show strings that are already translated but not yet approved by a proofreader.
• Approved – Show only strings with approved translations.
• QA issues – Show strings with no QA issues or with unresolved QA issues in the current language.
• Machine Translation – Show strings that are translated by TM or MT suggestions without changes. Often such strings need additional review.
• With Comments – Show strings that have comments.
• With Unresolved Issues – Show strings with unresolved issues in the current language or all languages.
• Hidden – Show strings that are hidden from translators. Strings can be hidden by project managers or hidden automatically by Crowdin Enterprise when they are marked as duplicates.
• Advanced Filter – Filter that allows configuring own filtering and sorting parameters.

Verbal Expressions

The Verbal Expression section implements a regular expression search. You can set specific search parameters for strings in your project. For example, you can search for all strings that begin with capital letters and have no dots at the end or contain a date.

For example, if you’d like to extract all strings that start with a capital letter and have a dot at the end, your expression might look like this: start "true", range "A,Z", anything, range "a,z,A,Z,0,9", limit "1,50", then ".", end "true"

Let’s break down the expression above:

start "true" – indicates the beginning of the string.
range "A,Z" – means that your string starts with characters ranging A-Z.
range "a,z,A,Z,0,9" – means that your string might include characters ranging a-z and/or A-Z and/or 0-9.
limit "1,50" – means that the length of the string is between 1 and 50 characters.
then "." – means that your string ends with a dot.
end "true" – indicates the end of the string.

Here are some other use case examples of how you can use Verbal Expressions:

• Strings that contain URLs: then "http", maybe "s", then "://", maybe "www.", anythingbut " "
• Strings with %s and %d placeholders: then "%", anyof "s,d"
• Strings with variables enclosed with double curly brackets: then "{{", range "a,z", then ".", range "a,z", then "}}"

To configure a verbal expression, use the following expression syntax.

Clicking icon  will help to view the strings with corresponding workflow statuses. In every project, strings move from one workflow step to the next one. There are two statuses ToDo and Done.

Section 2 - Middle-top area

The main working area with the source string on the top and translation section below. To add a translation, you need to choose the string from the left section, and it will appear in the central top field Source String.

This area also shows the context of a string. Context can include the technical details, an explanation of where the line appears in the actual product or screenshot showing the location of the string in a user interface. If the source string does not have any context, and it isn’t clear how to translate it, click Request and project manager will be notified that additional explanations are required.

Some strings might have underlined words or expressions. This means the word or expression belongs to the project terminology and should be translated according to the term description. You can check additional explanations added to the specific term for the accurate translation. This can be done by hovering over the underlined text or by going to the Terms section on the right sidebar.

Some terms may have translations to them. Previously translated terms increase project texts consistency. To reuse the term translation, you have to click the underlined term, and its translation will appear in the translation field.

Enter the translation into the field under the original text on the central section and click Save. You will be automatically redirected to the next string.

Plural Forms

Some strings may have plural forms. Depending on the language, the number of plural forms may vary. For example, Chinese has one plural form, English has two plural forms, and other languages might have even up to six plural forms. Crowdin works with plural forms according to CLDR Language Plural Rules.

Read more about CLDR Language Plural Rules.

When a string has multiple plural forms, all variants of the string are shown in the section where you type in translations. Enter translations in the corresponding tabs that depict plural forms of the target language.

You might also get automatic Quality Assurance (QA) check pop-up messages to avoid some translation inaccuracy. For example, you can see notifications about inconsistency in punctuation, space mismatch, missing variables, and more.

Clicking icon in the top right allows you to:

• Copy String URL to access specific string using its unique link or share it with colleagues.
• access Translation History to see all the modifications done to the string. In the translation window, you will also see the Maximum length of translation limit if it’s exceeded.

Additional buttons available in the translations section:
- Copy Source. Use to keep the initial string structure while translating messages with replacement tokens or elements of ICU message syntax.
- Clear. Use if you need to erase the whole suggestion quickly.
- Text selection mode. Use if you want to copy part of translations from Translation Memory (TM) or Machine Translations (MT).

Section 3 - Middle-bottom area

This section contains the resources that might be useful:

• Translations by other project participants
• Translation Memory (TM) suggestions
• Machine Translation (MT) suggestions
• Translations to other languages

Click on one of the suggestions, and it will automatically appear in the translation field. Refer to it as a basis for own suggestions.

To quickly copy the TM or MT suggestion to the translation field and save it, click Use and Save icon on the desired suggestion.

Other Languages section allows you to check the string translations into other target languages. This can be a useful tip for multilingual people and while translating dialects of a language.

If you see that there is already a correct suggestion, vote for it. To vote for several translations it would be more convenient switching to Side-by-Side Mode.

If you are a proofreader and plan to review and approve more than one translation — switch to Side-by-Side Mode.

Section 4 - Right sidebar

Comments

Using the Comments tab, you can discuss the meaning of the source string or other related questions. It is recommended to use a source language of the project so other translators could understand it. Use “@” and username to direct your message to the specific person.

Reporting Issues

Additionally, in the Comments tab, you can report the issues regarding the source strings or translations to the project managers by selecting the Issue checkbox.

Available issue types:

• General question – General question related to the source string or its translations.
• Current translation is wrong – The translation added to the source string is incorrect and requires correction.
• Lack of contextual information – The meaning of the string isn’t clear and requires additional clarifications.
• Mistake in the source string – The source string text contains typos or any other mistakes.

All strings with unresolved issues could be filtered using the With Unresolved Issues options.

Read more about Filtering Strings.

The issues are reported to the project managers to correct mistakes or add context and resolve the issues. You can also Edit, Resolve, or Delete your issue by hovering over it.

If the project owner or managers configured the integration with Jira, all reported issues will be directed to the Jira dashboard for further processing and resolution without the need to visit Crowdin Editor.

Read more about Jira Integration.

Exchanging Comments with External Organizations

If you need to discuss a string translation with people outside of your organization (e.g., with an assigned vendor team), you can select the Shared option when creating a comment in the Editor. The same way translators on the vendor side can mention your team to clarify some context or report typos in the source text. This option enables cross-organization communication and allows to resolve any issues that might require a prompt response. All the other comments created without an enabled Shared option will remain available only to the members of your organization.

Search TM

By going to the Search TM tab, you can check for all the available translations from Translation Memory that is the vault of translations uploaded to the system by project managers.

The Search TM tab provides the following options:

• Source – Search for matches in a source language.
• Target – Search for matches in target languages.
• Guess translation – Highlight probable translation of a search phrase.
• Numeric equivalence – Match digits from a search phrase with any other digits.

Additionally, to maximize your search results, you can use the following wildcards with your search phrase:

Type an asterisk (*) to find words where the end or beginning may be different.
Example: any* finds any, anyway, anything
Example: *way finds way, anyway, highway

Type a plus sign (+) to find words where the end or beginning must be different.
Example: any+ finds anyway, anything, anywhere, except any
Example: +way finds anyway, highway, someway, except way

Type a minus sign (-) to exclude words from your search.
Example: Save -as

Use quotation marks to find the exact combination of words.
Example: “Save as”

Terms

Terms tab can be used to see the existing glossary available for the string (if any). You can also search for the terms in project glossary.  If the specific term is not available in the project’s glossary, the system will show you Wikipedia explanations.

Side-by-Side Mode

In Side-by-Side mode, translators can also translate, although, this mode is mostly intended for comfortable voting for multiple best translations in a row, while managers and proofreaders can approve the best translations.

To switch to the Side-by-Side mode, click on the Main menu in the top left corner and choose View > Side-by-Side.

For translators

To vote click on the plus sign if you like the translation, minus - if the translation doesn’t seem correct. Translations that get the most positive votes will then appear on the top of all the translations available for the string.

For proofreaders

Review the translations to make sure they are ready for export and click Approve icon next to the suggestion to approve each translation separately.

To approve all or a couple of the strings at once, check the boxes on the left and then click Approve.

Suggesting Translations

To suggest another translation сlick on the text you want to change and when done click Save. Your translation will be added to the list of other suggestions.

Translation Approvals

Each translation can be approved either once or multiple times by multiple proofreaders and project members with manager permissions (or higher). Once a translation is approved at least once, it will be displayed as such on all workflow steps of a project.

If necessary, a proofreader or project member with manager permissions (or higher) can edit the list of approvals for translations approved twice and more by removing approvals one by one or all at once.

To edit the list of approvals, follow these steps:

1. Open the needed string in the Editor.
2. Click on the profile pictures of the proofreaders that approved a translation.
3. Click Edit.
4. Click Remove all or click next to the approval you’d like to remove.
5. Click Done.

The translations with the highest number of approvals have the highest priority. They will be displayed at the top of the translation list in the Editor and used on translation download.

When a string has more than one translation, the translation list is formed based on the following priority:

1. Translation with the highest number of approvals – Among translations approved multiple times, the translation with the highest number of approvals has a top priority.
2. Translation with the last added approval – Among translations approved only once, the translation with the last added approval has a top priority.
3. Most voted translation – Among translations that don’t have approvals, the translation with the highest number of votes has a top priority.
4. Last added translation – Among translations that don’t have approvals or votes, the last added translation has a top priority.

Multilingual Mode

The multilingual mode provides similar features as in the side-by-side mode and allows multilingual translators and proofreaders to work with multiple languages at the same time. You can select up to ten languages to work with simultaneously. The right panel shows the string’s translations of the language you’re entering a translation for or the one that was selected last.

To switch to the multilingual mode, click on the Main menu in the top left corner, choose View > Multilingual, select the languages you’d like to work with, and click Apply.

To add new languages or remove some of the earlier selected ones, click on the Main menu in the top left corner, choose Language, alternatively click on the Languages in the top left corner, then do the necessary modifications to the language list and click Apply.

For Proofreaders

The proofreading process works mainly the same way as in side-by-side mode, except when approving or removing approvals for all or a couple of the strings at once, the system performs the action for all languages selected for the multilingual mode.

Using Filter in Multilingual Mode

When using filter options in multilingual mode, the system will show strings that meet the selected criteria for at least one of the selected languages.

This behavior applies to the following filter options:

• Untranslated
• Not Approved
• Approved
• QA issues
• Machine Translations
• Advanced Filter > Translations updated
• Advanced Filter > Translations > Partially translated (plurals)
• Advanced Filter > Translations > Same as source string
• Advanced Filter > Votes

Translating RTL Languages

When translating between LTR and RTL languages, some elements in the translation field in the Editor might not be displayed the same way as they will be once exported.

To be sure that RTL translations will be displayed correctly in the exported file, we recommend making translations the following way:

1. Click under the source text (or Alt+C key combination).
2. Translate the source texts into the target language.
3. Leave variables, tags, etc. unchanged in the translation, even if they look wrong. They will be in the right positions in the exported file.

For cases when you need to provide bidirectional translations (e.g., strings with placeholders), we recommend using the Unicode Table app, with the help of which you can copy and paste right-to-left and left-to-right marks to the text area, changing the direction of text where needed.

Editor Settings

To open the Editor settings, click in the right upper corner.

Editor Settings include the following setup:

• Translation Memory Suggestions – you can specify the minimum similarity match (in percentages) for translation memory suggestions shown under the translation field.
• Compact strings view – if enabled only the beginnings of the long strings will be shown in the string list.

• QA checks – if enabled the pop-up messages with warnings will appear each time you try to save a translation with some inaccuracy (punctuation/tags/spaces mismatch, missing variables etc.)
  

• Auto-complete – if enabled the pop-up with translation prediction and automatic translation completion will appear while you type the translation.
• Auto-approve – if enabled the translations added by proofreaders or members with higher permissions are automatically approved.
• HTML Tags Displaying – you can choose Show or Hide option that applies to all HTML tags. In case you choose Auto tags will be hidden in HTML, Haml, XML, Web XML, Markdown, Docx files but shown in other file formats. When tags are hidden you can expect that, for example:

  <a href="https://sample.com">Sample</a>
  

  will be replaced with

  <0>Sample</0>
  

• Color Theme – set the Light or Dark theme, or select Auto to allow the Editor to set the theme based on your device system settings.
  

Helpful tips

• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Quick access to menu tabs
• Useful options for source words
• Switching to Another File
• Replace in Suggested Translations
• Advanced Filter
• Hide Context in Side-by-Side Mode

Keyboard Shortcuts

Use keyboard shortcuts to take actions in the editor quickly. Check the list of keyboard shortcuts by clicking the keyboard icon in the right upper corner. Most of the hotkeys can be customized to your personal preferences. Click on the necessary key combination, and modify it with the help of your keyboard.

Quick access to menu tabs

Easy access to most-used menu items in one click:

• Language – click on the current language (French in the below screenshot)
• Files – click on the current file name (impact.xml in the below screenshot)
• Editor Mode – click on the current step (Translate in the below screenshot)
  

Useful options for source words

To check Translation Memory suggestions for a particular word or phrase, select it in the source string and choose Search TM from the menu. You can also search for a word or phrase explanation in project terminology and Wikipedia.

Switching to Another File

To translate strings from the other files, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Main menu or click on the current file name in the top left corner.
2. Choose File > Open.
   
3. Select the necessary file and click Open. Alternatively just double-click on the necessary file.
   

To see all strings of the project, click on the Main menu in the top left corner, go to File > All Strings. Alternatively click on the current file name in the top left corner > All Strings.

Replace in Suggested Translations

You can easily find and replace suggested translations using the Replace in Translations feature.

To change your previously added translations into the new ones, follow these steps:

1. On the Project page select the necessary language.
2. Click All Strings > Translation or choose a file for translation.
3. Click on the Main menu in the top left corner.
4. Go to File > Replace in Translations.
   
5. Insert the word, phrase, or sentence you want to substitute and the text to replace it with.
   
6. Click Preview to find the strings that will be replaced.
   
7. Select the translations you’d like to replace and click Replace Selected to finish.

Advanced Filter

You can create a custom filter of strings by clicking the Filter strings icon and choosing Advanced Filter option.
You can choose multiple filter parameters (e.g., strings added, strings updated, translations updated, Labels and more) based on your specific needs to sort the strings. This might help to find the necessary information much faster.

In the below screenshot, you may see the strings are filtered by Translations updated interval, the Labels that the filtered strings should be marked with, the Comments, Visibility, and Approved by parameters as well as sorted by Alphabet in Descending order.

Hide Context in Side-by-Side Mode

Context is shown by default. Use Info icon to hide context and other information like translation or approval date, suggestion authors. Without any context, strings take less space on the screen.

Tasks in the Editor

Once a translator or proofreader has a task assigned, all the task details are accessible from the editor:

1. Name of the task is displayed on the top of the toolbar.
2. Filters and searches apply to a particular task only.
3. Task details can be accessed by clicking the menu on the top left corner.

Task menu consists of the following components and features:

• name, due date, language, and type of the task
• options to download and upload translations for the particular task
• possibility to quit the particular task (“Quit Editor” button) editor and return to the task list