How to add a translation

Add a language to translate your help center content. Ferndesk uses AI to translate articles, collections, help center settings, and API reference content automatically. You can customize translation behavior with per-language instructions and glossary mappings.

Add a language

1

Open the translations dashboard

Go to Help Center > Translate.

2

Start by adding a language

Click Add a language.

3

Select a language

Choose the language you want to translate to, then click Continue.

4

Choose a translation mode

Pick how Ferndesk should handle translations:

• Yes, auto-translate articles translates all existing content now and keeps new articles up to date automatically.

• No, I'll add translations myself leaves articles untranslated until you add them manually from the article editor.

Click Next.

5

Add translation guidance (optional)

Enter custom guidance to steer tone, formality, audience, or brand voice for this language. For example, "Use formal vous. Keep product names and code samples unchanged." Click Next.

6

Set up your glossary

Map terms to a custom translation for each language, or prevent them from being translated. This applies to every language and you can edit it later. Click Next.

7

Review and confirm

Review your setup on the Ready to translate screen, then click Add language.

Small help centers finish in minutes. Larger ones can take a few hours. You can continue working while translations process.

Auto-managed translations

Languages you add with auto-translate enabled are managed automatically:

• New articles get translations automatically

• You don't need to do anything after publishing

• Manual edits to translations are preserved

Edit translations inline

You can edit collection translations directly in the collection editor. See How to edit collection translations.

For articles, open any article in the editor and switch to a language using the language selector to edit the translated title and content.

Manage your glossary

Add terms that should not be translated or should be translated in a specific way. You can prevent a term from being translated entirely, or map it to a custom translation for each target language.

Add a glossary term

Edit or remove a glossary term

Find the term in the glossary list and click it to edit. Toggle Match case to make matching case-sensitive. Click Remove to delete a term.

See Manage your glossary for a full guide on glossary behavior, matching rules, and when to add terms.

Add or edit translation guidance

Translation guidance steers how the AI translates content for a specific language. You can add it during setup or edit it later from the translations dashboard.

Click Retranslate all to apply updated guidance to existing content.