Working with Translations
Partially supported languages are currently available to specific users.
Overview
Many companies nowadays have a global presence, and to serve their customers better their employees are often stationed locally. With a CRM system, they can effectively manage to store sales and customer information in a common database, however, the employees may prefer to view the system in the language of their preference.
Consider an organization headquartered in Germany operating in the US, Europe, Japan, and other regions. The locale set in CRM is Germany, and the preferred language is German. However, sales personnel entering information might prefer to view fields in English, Japanese, or other regional languages. To address this requirement, Zoho CRM provides an option to translate Modules, Subforms, Related Lists, Fields, and Picklist values to an individual's preferred language.
Availability
Permission Required
Users with Administrative profile can access.
Users with Administrative profile can access.
Languages supported for translation
Zoho CRM supports multiple languages to cater to global teams. These languages are categorized into:
- Fully supported languages: Languages in which the system entities are translated by default, and certain additional system and custom entities can be translated manually.
- Partially supported languages: No default translation is available, and only certain entities—such as modules, subforms, related lists, fields, and picklist values—can be translated. Users selecting these languages may see some interface elements in their chosen language (after manual translation) and others in the default system language.
For a detailed list of fully and partially supported languages, please refer to the languages supported in Zoho CRM.
Begin Translation
To begin translating language files, follow the steps below:
Step 1. Switch on the Translation settings
The first step is to turn on the translations settings. Before your begin, make sure you are logged in to your CRM account with Administrative privileges.
Step 2. Add language
In Zoho CRM, you can select from a variety of supported languages, including both fully and partially supported languages. When you add a language, a file with a unique language code is created to identify the language. This file lists all the modules, subforms, related lists, fields, and picklist values in the default language of your CRM account.
Note:
- You can add up to 25 active languages in Enterprise and 35 active languages in Ultimate editions of Zoho CRM.
- If a language is added but no import has been performed yet, it will still be considered an active language.
Step 3. Export language files
After adding the languages, the next step is to export the language file that you want to translate for your organization. An export file contains all the modules, subforms, related lists, fields, and picklist values that need to be translated. You can choose to export individual files or all language files at once. Once the language file is exported, you can translate the values in the export file yourself or outsource it to a vendor.
To know more about the contents of an exported file, click here.
Step 4. Import Translated Language Files
After exporting the language file, you can either translate the fields yourself or outsource it to a translator. Please ensure that the format of the exported file is not changed as it might affect the translation in Zoho CRM. Once you have finished translating the fields, you must import the translated file into CRM.
To translate a language and add it in CRM
- Go to Setup > Customization > Translations.
- In the Translations page, toggle on the Translation Settings button.
- In the Translations page, click Add Language.
- In the Add Language pop-up, select a language from the drop-down list of fully and partially supported languages.
- Click Add or Add and Export.
- Click the Export link corresponding to the particular file that you added.
Alternately, select Export all option to export all the language files at once. - In the Export notification popup, once the export is complete, click Download.
- Add the translated values in the downloaded language file. This includes translating modules, subforms, related lists, fields, and picklist values.
- In Zoho CRM's Translations page, click Import.
- In the Import Language File pop up, browse and select the file you downloaded and translated.
Make sure the import file is in .txt or .zip format. - Click Import.The translated values from the file will be added to Zoho CRM.
Notes:
- Each file/value is in this format: PicklistValues.Leads.Lead_Status.Contacted=Contacted
- Make sure you do not change the original picklist values and custom field names in the exported language file. The translated entry should be in this format: PicklistValues.Leads.Lead_Status.Contacted=TranslatedValue
- Each language is identified by a unique code that helps in mapping an imported file to the correct language in CRM. Do not alter these language codes when exporting or importing a language file.
Language behaviour and default language settings
Depending on whether a language is fully or partially supported, Zoho CRM handles translations differently:
- Fully supported languages—Users selecting these languages will see all system entities and any manually translated entities displayed in their chosen language.
- Partially supported languages—Only the specific interface elements that were translated—such as module names, field labels, related list labels, subform labels, picklist values, and custom fields—will be displayed in the selected language, while system entities like setup page components, default buttons, etc. will remain in the default system language.
For partially supported languages:
- The system sets the default language based on the interface language of the user.
For example, Spanish is set as the default language for partially supported languages like Spanish Bolivia) or Spanish (Argentina). - After adding the language, you can export the language file, translate the necessary values, and re-upload the translated content. Once a partially supported language is added via the Translation feature, users will be able to select it as their interface language, and the translated elements will appear in that language.
For instance, if a user selects Tamil (India), which is a partially supported language, they can translate specific elements like module names and field labels. These translated elements will display in Tamil, while other parts of the interface remain in the default language.
For details on which languages are fully or partially supported, please refer to the Supported Languages Documentation.
View language import history
A complete list of files that have been imported till date is available under the Language Import History. The imported language files are arranged in a chronological order with the most recent ones on top.
To view language import history
- Go to Setup > Customization > Translations.
- In the Translations page, click the Language Import History sub tab.
- For each entry, you can click one of the following links to view the details:
- Added - The newly translated literals are listed here.
- Updated - When an existing translated literal is updated in the next round of translations, it is listed here.
If you are translating a language for the first time, the updated value will be zero. - Skipped - A complete list of files that have been imported till date is available under the Language Import History. The imported language files are arranged in a chronological order with the most recent ones on top.
Note
- You can choose to export only the failed literals instead of exporting the entire language file. You can then translate only the failed literals and import the updated file.
Alternately, you can export the entire language file and rectify only the failed literals and import the entire language file. - An imported file will be available in the import history for 60 days.
Export a translated file
There can be chances when you have already translated a language and later added new custom fields or picklist values in a module. In such case, you can choose to export the translated file and just translate the new fields and import the language file back into your CRM account. This will help you avoid translating all the fields again. Alternatively, you can export an untranslated language file and translate all the fields.
To export a translated file
- Go to Setup > Customization > Translations.
- In the Translations page, toggle on the Translation Settings button.
- Click the Export link for the corresponding file.
- In the Export Language File popup, choose one of the following:
- Translated
- Text to be Translated
- Both.
- Click Export.
Revoke Language Import
In case you have imported a wrong language file, or if you do not wish to use the file that is imported into CRM, you can revert the action. Reverting it will undo the translations in Zoho CRM that were done using the file.
To revoke an imported language
- Go to Setup> Customization > Translations.
- In the Translations page, click the Language Import History sub tab.
- Move your mouse pointer over the Language File and click the Undo Import link.
- On the pop-up, click Yes, Proceed, to confirm.
Deactivate translation
In Zoho CRM, you have options to deactivate or delete language translations. The behaviour differs between fully supported languages and partially supported languages.
Deactivate or Delete a particular language translation
Fully supported languages
Partially supported languages
Fully supported languages
- When you deactivate or delete a fully supported language, users who are using that language will see all interface elements in the default language set in your CRM account.
- Users will need to manually select a different language if desired.
Partially supported languages
Deactivation
- When you deactivate a partially supported language, users who are using that language will be transferred to its default language.
- If the language is activated again, users will be transferred back to the previous language unless they have manually changed their language preference.
- In templates and emails that have been sent, if a consent form has been used in this language, it will be replaced with the default language.
- Upon reactivation, the previous language will be reflected in templates if the language hasn't been changed manually.
Deletion
- Deleting a partially supported language functions similarly to deactivation but is permanent.
- Users will be transferred to the default language.
- Once deleted, the language must be added again if you wish to use it in the future.
To deactivate a language
- Go to Setup > Customization > Translations.
- Toggle off the Status button for the corresponding language that you want to deactivate.
- In the pop up, click Yes, Deactivate Now, to confirm.
To deactivate translation settings
- Go to Setup > Customization > Translations.
- Toggle off the Translations Settings button.
- In the pop up, click Yes, Disable Translation, to confirm.
Deactivate the entire translation settings
- If you no longer want to use translations in your CRM account, you can deactivate the entire translation setting.
- This action affects all languages—both fully and partially supported.
- Users using partially supported languages will be transferred to their respective default languages.
- Any translated elements will revert to the default language set in your CRM account.
- In templates and emails that have already been sent, consent form links originally in partially supported languages will be replaced with links in their respective default languages.
To deactivate translation settings
- Go to Setup > Customization > Translations.
- Toggle off the Translations Settings button.
- In the pop-up, click Yes, Disable Translation, to confirm.
Reference Values for Picklist Fields
A picklist field value that is translated in various languages may not be functional when any one of the languages' value is used to define conditional checks of custom functions, parameters of web hooks, formula fields, merge fields of email template or task subject etc.
For example, if one of the option "Advertisement" in a picklist field "Lead Source" is translated in 10 different languages, then the function will not work with the same value "Advertisement" for users who use different language in CRM. To address this issue we have brought in Reference Values. Each picklist field is represented by a reference value, which is common in every language. While defining any of the above functions that involve a picklist field, the user must use only the reference values for the function to occur.
To use reference values
- Go to Setup > Customization > Modules and Fields.
- Select a Module > click Edit Layout.
- Choose a picklist field and click the More icon.
- Click Edit Properties.
- In the Picklist Properties popup, click on the Gear icon > View Reference Values and replace the reference values accordingly.
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