Hi everyone,
We have some exciting news! The forum is evolving to better meet your needs, and one of the biggest challenges we’ve heard from the community is language barriers. To help, we’re testing a brand new AI-powered translation feature.
Right now, this feature supports 5 languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Croatian.
Why these languages? They match the Toolsuite languages, so it’s easier to keep everything consistent and understandable for the community. Think of this as an experiment, and your feedback will shape how it works in the future.
Why are we doing this?
Our goal is simple: we want everyone to participate fully, regardless of language. Whether you’re writing a post in German, Spanish, or Croatian, others should be able to read it in a language they understand. No more wondering if your ideas will reach the whole community – this is about making the forum truly multilingual.
This is not just a technical upgrade – it’s about connecting people, ideas, and experiences across borders. We want you to feel included, empowered, and able to contribute freely!
How it works: changing your forum interface
Before diving into it, let’s talk about the interface.
By default, the forum interface is in English. But you don’t have to stick with English if it’s not your preferred language. You can switch the interface so menus, buttons, and notifications appear in your chosen language.
Here’s how:
1. Click on your profile > Preferences > Interface
2. Choose your preferred language from the list
This only changes the interface, not the content of posts themselves. So, you’ll still see posts in their original language – that’s where the AI translation comes in.
Translating posts with AI
The AI translation tool is flexible – it can work forum-wide or post-by-post, depending on how you like to read content.
Option A: Translate everything automatically
1. At the top of the forum, click the translation button and select your preferred language.
2. Open any topic. On the right side of each post, you’ll see a translation switch button. Click it.
What happens next:
- All posts in the topic will be automatically translated into your chosen language.
- The color of the button shows the status: black = translation active, grey = translation off.
- To return to the original language, click the button again.
Discourse remembers your last choice, so all posts will continue to display in your selected language until you switch it back.
Keep in mind: automatic translation is not perfect. Some terms might not translate correctly.
Option B: Translate individual topics
- Maybe you want to keep the original language, but translate some posts as needed.
- Open a topic written in another language and click the translation icon on the post you want to read.
- The post will translate instantly. To go back to the original language, just click the icon again.
This gives you full control if you want to read some posts in the original language while translating others selectively.
Posting in any language
The best part? You can write in your preferred language. Your post will be visible to the community, and others can translate it automatically into one of the supported languages. Whether you’re posting in German, Hungarian, or Swedish, the AI will help your message reach the wider community.
This means freedom to communicate naturally, without worrying about whether everyone will understand!
Correcting translations
Automatic translations aren’t perfect. If you notice a mistake, you can propose a correction:
1. Click the “world” icon => View translated locales (FR: “afficher 4 paramètres régionaux traduits”)
2. Select the language you want to edit
3. Make your correction
This is an opportunity to improve translations for the whole community and ensure key terms like “Diamond OA” are translated correctly.
Why we need your feedback!
Remember, this is a trial feature. We need your thoughts on:
- How easy is it to use?
- Are the translations accurate?
- Do you prefer auto-translating everything or post-by-post? Or even do you prefer to not have an auto-translation available?
- Any suggestions to make it better?
Your feedback will directly influence how we develop this tool. Think of it as co-creating a multilingual forum with us!
Please reply to this post with your feedback, questions, or ideas! Every comment helps us improve the experience for everyone.
Thank you!
and don’t hesitate to report any issues you find. We’re working hard to improve it and make sure it runs smoothly for everyone!
