Multi-Language Feature

With the Multi-Language feature, you can create a single form and provide it to your field users in multiple languages. It’s simple to set up a Multi-Language FormClosed A Multi-Language Form is a form that’s set up with different translations so that field users can choose their preferred language. Translated content includes page and section names, question text, help text, and other form content. and an associated output Document. Simply download Excel files that contain the strings to translate, add translations, upload the files, and activate the languages.

Tip:You can set up an existing form with multiple languages—you don’t have to create a new form.

Available as an add-on to the Advanced and Enterprise tiers:

Essentials
Advanced +Add-on
Enterprise +Add-on

Note:To use all of the latest Multi-Language options, ensure that your field users have the TrueContext Mobile App version 16.7 or later.

Feature Overview

The Multi-Language feature enables a set of capabilities that applies to more than just the technician experience. For example, you can generate documents in other languages, even if the technician completed the form in their preferred language. This feature supports translated data sets that come from back-end systems, such as CRMs and ERPs, as well as Multi-Language Documents.

This feature builds on our standard language support to offer additional options and ease of deployment.

Tip:The Multi-Language feature maximizes the productivity of your global workforce. Use this feature to provide forms and output documents in the languages your field users and customers need.

Key Concepts

  • A Multi-Language Form is a form that’s set up with different translations. Field users, dispatches, and App‑to‑App calls can select the language used to display the form content.

  • A Multi-Language Document is an output document that's linked to a Multi-Language Form. You can set up a Multi-Language Document to render in the languages that your field users, systems, and customers need. For example, if your company uses Spanish, and your customers use English, set up a document to generate a file for each language.

    Multi-Language Documents don’t require much setup. Even if you don’t upload or activate a language, the system has translations for most of the document content. You only need to provide translations if you edited document details, like headers or footers.

    Info:The topic Multi-Language Document Setup Options describes when documents require translations.

  • You can set up translations for:

  • The languages available to the user depend on the form’s Languages settings and the translation files that the Form Designer uploads. The topic Set Up a Multi-Language Form describes these settings in detail.

  • Language selection works differently based on whether:

    • A user or App‑to‑App call opens the form.

    • The form opens from the Inbox, Drafts, Sent, or Search lists.

Related topics:

Set up a Multi-Language Form

  1. From the Forms & Integrations menu, navigate to the form you want to set up. You can choose a new or existing form; you don’t have to build a new one.

  2. Go to SETTINGS > Form Information.

  3. In the Languages section, select Enable multiple languages.

    Result: The section expands to display additional setup options.

    Form Builder "Languages" section that shows "Enable multiple languages" selected, with callouts that point to the "Source" language list, "Additional Languages" list, a "Download" button to get a translation file, an "Upload" button to add the file with the content translated, and an "Active" option to make the language available to field users.

  4. The downloaded translation file has the following structure.

    Excel file that shows the following columns: key_name, en (source language used by the Form Designer to build the form), es (language added by the Form Designer), changes_occurred (to indicate when a source string changed after file upload), and comments (for messages to your translator).

    Info:The topic How Multi-Language Translation Files Work: Translation file details provides guidelines and tips for working with the translation files.

  5. Set up a Conditional Logic rule (optional), based on the selected language. For example, you might want to display different Resource Images based on the field user’s selected language.

  6. Save your changes.

    Result: The system creates a new form version.

    Note: Users must reconcile to get the new form version.

Related topics:

Set up a Multi-Language Data Source

We store Data SourcesClosed Data sources, also known as "Lookups", are external sources of data that you upload or connect to TrueContext. You can reference this data in a form to populate answers or answer options. Data sources save typing, reduce errors, and make it easy to provide mobile users with only the relevant, most current data. as tables (rows and columns) in the TrueContext system. To set up translated values in your Data Source, you must have a column that contains a language code for each row. You can translate both the display and data (server) values in your Data Source. You must also set up a lookup question to use Data Source translations.

The following illustration shows an example of how to set up your Data Source. In this example, a field user chose to open the form in Spanish.

Data Source table that shows display and data values in English and Spanish. The "Language" column contains "en" or "es" on each row to identify the language. The app looks for the selected form language and sends matching values as lookup question options in the form. Lookup questions can be Dropdown, Multiselect, or Radio Button questions.

Next, set up a lookup question to use the Data Source for options.

Related topics:

Set up translations for a Multi-Language Document

Info:The topic Multi-Language Document Setup Options describes when documents require translations.

  1. Navigate to the PDF, Microsoft Word, or HTML Document you want to set up. You can choose a new or existing Document.

  2. Select a Source Language. This is the language you use to enter the Document details. Then, select Create or Update.

  3. Select MANAGE LANGUAGES.

  4. In the Additional Languages section, select a language from the list.

  5. Select Download to get an Excel file that contains the translation strings for all translatable Document content.

    Result: The system generates a translation file (.xlsx) that contains all translatable text in the Document.

    The translation file has the structure shown in the following illustration.

    Excel file that shows the following columns: key_name, en_US (source language used by the Form Designer to build the form), es (language added by the Form Designer), changes_occurred (to indicate when a source string changed after file upload), and comments (for messages to your translator).

    Info:The topic How Multi-Language Translation Files Work: Translation file details provides guidelines and tips for working with the translation files.

  6. Add translations for all of the strings. Once the translation file is complete, UPLOAD the file.

    Note:To upload the translation files successfully, you must keep all five column headings exactly the same as in the downloaded file.

  7. To make the translations available, set the language to Active.

  8. Select ADD LANGUAGE, and then repeat steps 4-7 for each additional language up to a maximum of 10. Select Update to save your changes.

    Info:Remember to add the Multi-Language Document to the Multi-Language Forms that you want to use it for.

Related topics:

Troubleshooting

The following table lists possible issues and how to resolve them.

Issue Resolution
Field users don’t see the language they want to choose.

Upload the correct translation file and set the language to Active.

Info:Follow the detailed steps in the topic Set Up a Multi-Language Form.
The Mobile App doesn’t prompt users to select a language when the form opens.

There are several reasons that field users might not be prompted to select a language:

  • Once they open the form, select a language, and save the form to Drafts, field users can’t change the selected language.

  • The field user might have already set a preferred language.

  • If the form opens or sends by means of an App‑to‑App call that includes the _lang parameter, the field user can’t select a language.

    Info:The topic When the _lang parameter applies describes when the _lang parameter does and doesn’t take effect.

  • The form was dispatched with a language preselected.

  • The form is an Incomplete TrueContext Teamwork-enabled form.
In the Form Builder, the language you want to use isn’t listed.

You can only use Supported Languages for the Multi-Language Feature.

If you need to use a language that’s not listed, contact the Support team to request that language.
A translation file won’t upload.

In the Excel file, check that all five column headings are exactly the same as in the downloaded file.

The file must not have macros enabled.
Right-to-left languages don’t behave as expected. TrueContext does not officially support forms in right-to-left languages. If you build your form using a right-to-left language as the source language, test your forms thoroughly before you deploy them.
The questions in the Web Portal are in a different language than the language selected on the device. The Multi-Language Forms feature applies only to the content of the form when it’s displayed in the Mobile App. The topic Translated Multi-Language Content Across the Platform explains how this works in more detail.
Not all of the form content displays in the translated language.

Make sure that you translate every string in the translation file. Missing translations display in the source language. The topic How Multi-Language Translation Files Work describes best practices for working with the translation files.

If you want to provide translated Data Source values, you must set up the Data Source and related lookup questions.

Related topics