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Translate your website texts into other languages

Adding German, English and other copies of class texts, add-ons, insurance, tags and FAQs on each screen's Translation tab, which fields must be filled in, and what visitors see when a translation is missing

10 min read

What this page covers

  • Required translation fields
  • No second fallback language
  • Add-ons without translation
  • Untranslated FAQ answers
  • Orphaned translation rows

Introduction

Your website can show your vehicle classes, add-ons, insurance, tags and FAQs in more than one language. You write every text in your company's own language on the normal tabs, then add a translated copy per language on a tab called Translation. A visitor on the German website gets your German copy wherever you wrote one.

There is no separate translation screen. The Translation tab sits on the edit screen of each thing you can translate. It shows one block per language other than your own, two side by side, each headed with the language's name. A block holds a New Translation button until you start a translation; then it holds the translated fields and a red bin link labelled Cancelar that removes the translation.

This does not change the language of the app's own buttons and menus. For emails and PDFs, see the language of your documents.

You come here when:

  • You have launched a German or English version of your website and the class descriptions still show in Dutch.
  • You have added a new vehicle class or extra, and it needs the same texts in your other languages.
  • A visitor says an insurance tooltip or a FAQ question is in the wrong language.
  • You cannot save a class, and the message points at a field you never filled in.

Terms used on these screens

The screen saysIt means
Asset groupVehicle class
Asset group categoryA group of classes on your website, such as "Vans"
Optional optionAn add-on, such as a child seat or a roof box
SlugThe last part of a web address, such as bestelbus-l2h2
CancelarDelete this translation

How to use

Configuration

There is nothing to switch on. Your company's own language and the list of other languages are fixed for the whole app, so you cannot change them yourself.

  • Your own language is set on your company record by RentVisie support. Everything you type on the normal tabs is in this language. It never shows as a block on a Translation tab.
  • The other languages are the app's five languages minus your own: English, Dutch, German, French and Spanish. If your own language is Dutch, every Translation tab shows English, German, French and Spanish. You cannot add a sixth language, such as Italian, and you cannot hide one you do not use. Leave its block empty.

To add a language to your website, you do not change a setting. You fill in its block on each screen where you want the text translated. What your website builder does with the language is up to them.

Before you start: all the screens on this page need the Company admin role. Without it, Admin → Product design does not open these screens. If you need a different own language, or a language that is not in the list, ask RentVisie support.

Using the Translation tabs

From the main menu, open Admin, then Product design, then the tile named below. Open the record, then its Translation tab. Skim the table once; come back to the row you need:

What you translateTile, thenWhere the Translation tab isFields in each language block
A vehicle class's web textsAsset groups → the classWeb tab → inner Translation tabSubtitle, Slug, Description (short), Description (long)
A class's rental conditionsAsset groups → the classRentalConditions tab → inner Translation tabThe conditions text
A class categoryAsset group categories → the categoryTranslationName, Slug
A category's text blockAsset group categories → the category → a block under Web content (optional)Translationlabel (internal), Body
An add-onOptional options → the add-onTranslationName, Description
An insurance optionInsurance options → the optionTranslationName, Damage & theft tooltip, Interior tooltip, Tyres & glass tooltip, Breakdown tooltip, Conditions
A tag or tag categoryTags → the tag or categoryTranslationName (tags also Short name and Description)
A FAQ categoryFAQs → Categories → the categoryTranslationName
A FAQ questionFAQs → the questionTranslationQuestion, Answer

Then, on the Translation tab:

  1. Find the language block. Each block is headed with the language's name.
  2. Click New Translation under the language. Empty fields appear; nothing is copied from your own text.
  3. Type the translated text in every field. For a vehicle class, the Slug is the web address in that language: lower-case letters, numbers and dashes only.
  4. Repeat for each language you use. Leave the other blocks untouched. A block you started and left empty blocks saving.
  5. Click Save at the bottom of the screen. The record and all its translations are saved together; until then nothing is kept. Cancel throws away translations you added in this visit.

To change a translation, open the same tab, edit the text and click Save.

To remove a translation, click Cancelar (the red bin) in its block; on the insurance screen it is a bin icon with no text. A saved translation is deleted straight away, without a question, and Cancel does not bring it back. The website then shows your own language for that text.

When it worked, the screen closes without a message, and the website shows your translated text the next time a visitor opens that language.

Key details

Which fields you must fill in

When you click Save, the app checks every started translation. If one field is empty, nothing saves, not even your change on the main tab. The message shows under the empty field on the Translation tab, so you may not see it from where you are:

ScreenRequired in each started translationMessage you see
Vehicle class, WebAll four fieldsSubtitle is empty, Description is empty, Description Long is empty, Slug Long is empty (the last one means the Slug)
Vehicle class, rental conditionsThe textConditions is empty
Class categoryNameName is empty
Category text blocklabel (internal) and BodyLabel is empty, Body is empty
Add-onName and Descriptionname is empty, Description is empty
Insurance optionName onlyName is empty
TagName, Short name, DescriptionName is empty, Short name is empty, Description is empty
Tag category, FAQ categoryNameName is empty / name is empty
FAQ questionQuestion and AnswerQuestion is empty, Answer is empty

So a category text block can be saved with no Body, but its German copy cannot.

What a visitor sees when a translation is missing

There is no second fallback language. With no translation in the language asked for, or a language outside the five (such as Italian), the visitor gets your own language, never English. For insurance options this works field by field: an empty German tooltip shows your own-language tooltip.

Worked example. Verhuur Van Dijk works in Dutch. It translates the class "Bestelbus L2H2" into German (subtitle "Ideal für den Umzug", slug transporter-l2h2) and gives the insurance "All-in" a German name, leaving the German damage tooltip empty. A German visitor sees the German subtitle and name, and the Dutch tooltip "Eigen risico € 250 per schade". An English visitor sees everything in Dutch.

What cannot be translated

TextWhy
Mileage packages (the Mileage options tile)The screen has no Translation tab. They always show in your own language.
FAQ answersThe Answer field on the Translation tab is required and is saved, but the website always receives your own-language answer. Only the question is translated.
Questions and category names in FAQ categories of any type other than SelfServiceOnly SelfService FAQs are translated. Class FAQs (Specific, General) and the two Self service web types always show in your own language.

Deleting the original also deletes its translations

Deleting a class, add-on, insurance option, tag, category, text block or FAQ deletes all its translations too; nothing is left behind. Re-create it and you translate it again. Deleting a FAQ category also deletes its questions and their translations.

What to do next

Translate the vehicle classes first; they are what visitors book. Add-ons and insurance next, as they show while the visitor pays. Tags, categories and FAQs can wait. Then check your website in each language.

Q&A

Why can't I save a vehicle class, even though I only changed the price or a photo order? A translation on one of the Translation tabs was started and has an empty field. Open the Web tab, then its Translation tab, and the RentalConditions tab, then its Translation tab. Fill in the field that shows a message, or click Cancelar in that block. Then click Save.

Why does a FAQ answer show in my own language to a German visitor, even though I translated it? The website only ever receives your own-language answer. The translated answer is stored but not used. Write answers that make sense to all your visitors, or put the key facts in the translated question. Report it to RentVisie support if this matters to you.

Why does a FAQ question show in French to a German visitor? For SelfService FAQs, the app does not check which language a translation is in. A visitor who asks for any language other than your own gets one of the question's translations, whichever the app finds first. So with German and French translations, a German visitor can see the French question. With only a German translation, an English visitor sees the German question. Visitors in your own language always see your own text. Until this is fixed, translate your FAQs into one language only, the one most of your foreign visitors use, and report it to RentVisie support.

Why do my class FAQs show in my own language on the German website? Only FAQ categories of type SelfService are translated. Check Faq type on the category's FAQ Category tab. See Add questions and answers to your website FAQ for what each type does before you change it.

Why does a category text block come through with no title and no text? This is a fault in the app, not in your translation. See Add a block of text to your website's category pages.

Why is there no Translation tab on a mileage package? Mileage packages cannot be translated. Give them a name that works in every language, such as "250 km/day".

Why can't I find my own language on the Translation tab? Your own language is the text on the other tabs, so it has no block of its own. If the blocks you see do not match the language you write in, ask RentVisie support to check the language on your company record.

Why can't I add Italian? Only English, Dutch, German, French and Spanish exist in the app. Ask RentVisie support if you need another language.

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