Manual translation for content - Old vs New editor
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Overview
Even when automatic content translation is turned off, authors can still create multilingual pages by writing the translations themselves. This works in both the Old editor and the New editor. The product rules are the same; only the screens and menus look different.
Highlights
Topic | Detail |
|---|---|
Who it’s for | Orgs that need multilingual content without machine translation (policy, regional rules, or preference) |
Where it works | Old Editor and New Editor (Content Studio) |
What authors translate | Title, body, image captions, and custom summary |
Org setting | Manage → Application → General → Content translations → automatic translation OFF |
What readers see | Their preferred language if a published manual translation exists; otherwise the main / original language |
Why this exists
Some customers cannot use Google Translate or other automatic providers. Before this work, turning automatic translation off often meant authors could not add translations at all.
We shipped manual-only translation so authors can still:
Add a language
Write the translation themselves in different languages
Publish it for readers in that language
Review outdated translations when the original page changes
Disable a language temporarily without losing the work
Old Editor delivered this first. New Editor brought the same capability into Studio so authors using either editor get the same outcome.
Shared product rules (both editors)
Remember these when talking to anyone internally or walking a customer through a demo:
No machine translation when auto is OFF — the target language opens with a copy of the original as a starting point, not an auto-translated draft.
Authors must edit and save — an untouched copy is not treated as a real translation; readers fall back to the main language.
Manual always wins for a language once it exists and is enabled.
Outdated is editorial only — if the original changes, manuals are flagged for review; they are not deleted or silently rewritten for readers.
Disable does not delete — re-enable brings back the last saved text.
View dropdown is lean — readers see original + languages that actually have published manuals (not every empty org language).
How to use it — Old Editor
Create a manual translation
Open the page in the Old Editor.
Enable manual translations if not already for a specific content on old editor and on new editor its ON always.
Use the language control to add / enable a translation language.
The translation edit screen opens with the original content as a scaffold (banner indicates manually translated content).
Update title, body, captions, and custom summary.
Save draft and publish when ready.
Review at publish
When the original has changed, the Old Editor publish flow shows which manual languages are still in sync. Authors can keep reviewing in the editor, or disable a language from the publish review before shipping.
Disable or re-enable a language in Old Editor
Use Disable from the translation edit experience (or publish review). The language leaves the active list but the text is kept. Choose the language again from the enable path to bring it back, then save.
How to use it — New Editor
Create a manual translation
Open the page in the New Editor.
Unlike old editor here is no need of enabling manual translations per content.
Open the language menu.
Choose Enable translation, then pick a target language.
A toast confirms update translations as needed and that content was copied from the original.
Edit the TipTap body (and related fields) for that language.
Save draft and publish when ready.
Review at publish
The Publish dialog includes a Translation section when at least one manual translation exists. Authors see whether languages are up to date or outdated. Use Review to jump to that section. To refresh content for a language, leave Publish and edit via the language menu (there is no full editor inside the publish row).
[New Editor — Publish dialog, Translation section (up to date)]
[New Editor — Publish dialog, outdated warning]
Disable or re-enable a language
From the overflow menu on a manual language (or from Publish), choose Disable and confirm. Re-enable later from Enable translation, edit if needed, and save draft.
NEW Editor - comes inside translation accordion on publish page
Old editor vs New editor - what looks different
Functionality is the same. The experience differs mainly in layout and labels:
Moment | Old Editor | New Editor |
|---|---|---|
Enable manual translation | Only on old - available per content | Start writing manual translations no need for enable disable per content |
After creating a language | Translation edit screen + manual banner | Editor switches locale; toast confirms copy from original |
Publishing | Multi-step publish confirmation with translation rows | Publish dialog with Translation accordion |
Outdated state | Out-of-sync messaging in publish review | Warning + Review into the Translation section |
What employees and end users see
Users with a preferred language that has a published, enabled manual translation see that version.
If there is no translation (or it was disabled), they see the main language.
With automatic translation OFF, they should not see Google / Microsoft attribution or auto-translate controls on the page.
Frequently asked questions
Do customers need both editors?
No. Authors use whichever editor that page opens in. The translation capability is available in both.
If we translate a page in the Old Editor, does the New Editor see it?
Translations belong to the content, not the editor. The same language variants appear when that page is opened in either editor (when the page is available in that editor).
What if automatic translation is turned back ON?
The org returns to the automatic translation experience without wiping off manual translations. Manual-only UI is for auto OFF. Existing saved work is not casually wiped by disable/re-enable of a single language.
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