Salesforce Translation – Where to Translate Each Component

Salesforce translation can oftentimes be a tricky task – each component is translated in a different place and it’s not always done in an intuitive way. As the use of Salesforce becomes universal, global companies find themselves in need of translating more and more new components.

While standard components (such as standard fields and objects) are automatically translated, it’s usually a trial-and-error process for custom components when trying to find where to translate them in the system. This article outlines the steps you need to take when translating custom Salesforce components.

Translation Workbench

Translation Workbench is the most straightforward way to translate. Through Setup → Translate. 

From there, we can translate most components manually, one by one. At the time of writing this article, these are the components we can translate:

Note: For different components such as Flows and Custom fields, you will find several options of what to translate within them. I suggest searching for the component you’re trying to translate and see the options you get.

Common Examples

1. Button: Choose the language, component, and object that the button is in.

2.  Custom Field: After selecting the object, choose whether to translate the label, related list label, or the help text for the custom field.

3. Flows: We can translate most of the Flow parts. The manual translation will be per flow version. When creating a new flow version, Salesforce copies the translation to the new version (usually), and there are some exceptions and limitations with Flow translation.

4. Picklist Values: When translating picklist values, you should note two things. a) If there are many picklist values, you will sometimes have to move to the next page, even if the picklist doesn’t seem to have ended (you will notice you’re missing the next values), and b) custom values of standard fields can only be translated manually and not deployed between environments.
   

Note: There are also more options in the Translate section, such as Data Category, Validation Rules, Lookup filter, and more.

Custom Labels

Custom Label translation can be used in many places, including Communities, Lightning Pages, Data Table columns in flow, etc. The translation is simple  –  once created, you can see under the label all the enabled languages in your org, and add a translation to each.

You can export your labels and their translation with the following SOQL (exporting French here): by selecting ExternalString.Name, Value from ExternalStringLocalization WHERE Language =’fr’.

Digital Experience (Community)

1. First, you will need to make sure you added all the relevant languages to the site: Builder → Settings → Languages. Once done, you will see a globe icon at the top of the page. Then, you should:
   • Click on the globe icon and change to the language you want to translate to.
   • Click on the component you want to translate (header, paragraph, etc.) and replace the existing text with the translated one.

Change “Program” here, for example, to the French translation.

2. To translate the Standard Navigation Menu , use the translation workbench under the Navigation Menu Item.
3. There might be some custom components that you added (usually by code), that will be translated through the component itself/custom labels/workbench translation , depending on the component.

You can rename/translate standard object labels and their standard field labels. Under Setup → Rename Tabs and Labels, Choose the language you want to translate to and the object, and you will be redirected to translate the object’s tab names and their standard fields.

Managed Package

Managed packages are usually very limited in terms of the configuration we can perform on them. Luckily, we are able to translate its content from the Override menu. Go to Setup → Translation Workbench → Override. Then you will be able to find the package, choose the language, and see what it allows you to translate.

Note:  If you need to rename a package content (like a field name), you can translate it to English to bypass the limitation of the field’s editing.

In Object Tab Translation 

Some components present a more complex translation scenario, as they are located within the object’s record page on a separate tab. A notable example of this can be seen in the commerce cloud when translating products.

Summary

Understanding Salesforce translation is an essential skill in today’s interconnected world. As businesses continue to expand globally, the demand for multilingual platforms will only increase. 

By knowing and comprehending the various methods for translating Salesforce components, you can create a more inclusive and user-friendly experience for your diverse audience.