Multilingual Translations in Guided Conversations
Guided Conversations (GC) lets you build and manage chatbots across multiple channels and languages. Businesses can enable up to 54 languages for their chatbot flows. However, translating every block of content manually for each language can be repetitive and time-consuming.
The multilingual translation feature helps you automatically translate the content of your published default language into selected languages. This reduces the effort involved in creating multilingual flows and helps you get started faster. After translation, you can review and refine the content to ensure accuracy and context.
Important
Multilingual translation always uses the published default language as the source for all translations.
Checklist
Before you start translating, make sure the following conditions are met:
- Default language is published
- Default language is supported by Zia Translate
- Target languages are in draft state
Why use Multilingual Translation
It helps you quickly generate a first version of translated content without manually translating every block.
With multilingual translation, you can:
- Reduce manual effort when creating translations for multiple languages
- Generate translations directly within the flow, without switching tools
- Clearly see which languages are translated, failed, or still in progress
- Review and edit translated content before publishing
How translation works
Translation in GC works through language selection. You can translate one language at a time or select multiple languages together.
Supported translation behavior
- Translation always uses the latest published version of the default language as the source.
- Translated content is created as a draft for the selected language.
- Unpublished changes in the default language are not included in translation.
- If the default-language content is updated, publish those changes before translating or retrying translation for other languages.
Translation confirmation with Zia
Before translation starts, GC displays the Translate flow with Zia confirmation dialog. This dialog explains what content is sent for AI-powered translation and reminds you of important translation limitations.
By clicking Translate, you consent to the displayed block content being processed by Zia for translation.
- Only end-user-facing block content, such as text and button content, is sent to Zia for AI-powered translation. If personal, organizational, or sensitive information is included in this content, that information will also be processed by AI.
- Some content may not translate exactly. Elements such as email addresses, HTML tags, rich-text formatting, and other special content may be affected during translation. Flows containing HTML markup may also take longer to translate.
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Translation is always based on the latest published version of the default language.
Conditions required for translation
Translation is available only when all of the following conditions are met:
- The default language is published.
- The default language is supported by Zia.
- The selected languages are supported by Zia.
- The selected languages are in draft state.
Note
If any of these conditions are not met, the Translate button will be disabled. A tooltip or alert message explains why translation cannot proceed and what action is required.
Supported languages
Multilingual translation currently supports translation for up to 16 languages:
English, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, French, Japanese, Romanian, Arabic, Polish, Swedish, Hungarian, Czech, and Dutch.
You can select and translate multiple supported languages at once.
Translation options
- Open the Language list view for your flow.
- Select one or more supported languages that are in draft.
- The Translate button becomes active once eligible languages are selected.
- Click Translate to proceed
Translation progress and status
| Status | Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| In Progress | Spinner | Translation is ongoing. |
| Completed | Check mark | Translation completed successfully. |
| Failed | Error icon | Translation failed due to network or API issues. Retry option available. |
| Cancelled | Warning icon | Translation was cancelled by user |
Notes
- You can cancel translation while it is in progress.
- If translation is almost complete, cancellation may be restricted to avoid inconsistency.
- Retry is available for failed translations and for completed translations if you want to regenerate content using the current published default language.
Important
While translation is in progress, actions such as edit, delete, preview, or changing the default language are temporarily restricted to prevent inconsistencies.
Translate a language using Multilingual Translation
- Publish the default language version of your flow.
- Open the Language List view.
- Select one or more supported languages that are in draft, or click Translate next to an individual language.
- In the translate flow with Zia confirmation dialog, review how the content will be processed.
- Click Translate to provide consent and start the translation.
- To stop before translation begins, click Cancel.
- Wait for translation to complete.
- Review and edit the translated content for accuracy.
- Publish the translated language when ready.
Key scenarios and responses
| Scenario | Action | System Response |
|---|---|---|
| Single language translation | Click the translate button next to a language. | Translation starts for that language only. |
| Multiple languages selected | Select multiple languages and click translate. | All selected languages start translating. |
| Default language in draft | Attempt translation | The translate button is disabled. |
| Default language not supported | Attempt translation | Translation blocked with alert |
| Other language already published | Attempt translation | Translate disabled with tooltip |
| Other language has outdated draft | Click Translate | Draft is updated using published default language |
| Network or API timeout | Translation request takes too long. | Translation marked as failed. Retry available. |
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Possible cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Translate button disabled | Default language not published | Publish the default language |
| Translate button disabled | Selected language already published | Create a draft for that language |
| Translate button disabled | Default language not supported by Zia | Change the default language |
| Translation failed | API timeout or Network issue | Retry translation |
| Translation stuck in progress | Network interruption | Cancel and try |
| Incomplete translation | User cancelled midway | Retry or translate manually |
Best practices
- Always publish the default language before translating.
- Translate only the languages you need.
- Review translated content carefully, especially HTML or rich text.
- Avoid publishing or changing defaults while translation is in progress.
- Avoid making major structural changes to the flow while translations are in progress.