Localization

Arcweave includes built-in localization tools to manage translations of your project into multiple languages.

It allows you to:

• Translate your project collaboratively and efficiently.
• Work safely: adding/removing project items is disabled while translating.
• Set arcscript segments as translatable or non-translatable.
• Let players choose their preferred language in Play mode.
• Select which languages to include during export to JSON.

ℹ️ The History feature is available only in Team workspaces.

⚠️ A user must have project editing permissions to translate.

Main language & translations

By default, an Arcweave project has only one language, referred to as the project's Main language. By default, this is English, but you can set any language as main.

⚠️ When working in any language other than its main, the project enters Translation Mode. Once in Translation Mode, you cannot add or delete project items; you can only translate existing ones.

ℹ️ To return to Arcweve's default editing mode, you need to switch back to the project's main language.

Open localization

To open the localization menu, click the Localization icon on the right side of the top menu.

The drop-down menu shows:

• A list of all languages added to the project
• The project's main language (marked with an orange Main tag)
• The currently displayed language (marked with an orange tick)
• The translation status of each language (marked with the relevant icon)
• The translation progress percentage for each language
• An option to Manage languages...

Manage languages

To add, edit, and remove languages:

1. Open the Localization drop-down menu.
2. Select Manage languages.
3. Perform any of the following actions.

Set main language

By default, the project language is English. To set another language as the default:

1. Open the Localization drop-down menu.
2. Select Manage languages.
3. Find the Main language; it is the first in the list.
4. Click the three-dot (•••) icon on the right and select Edit.
5. Update the main language's information:
   • Language: e.g. Spanish
   • ISO code: e.g. es
6. Click Save.

Add language

To add a new language:

1. Open the Localization drop-down.
2. Select Manage languages...
3. Click Add language.
4. Enter the new language's information:
   • Language: e.g. Italian
   • ISO code: e.g. it
5. Select a source language for the new language's translation in Translates from.
6. Click Save.

✅ While translating to a language, the source content is displayed on the side, in the languages set in Translates from.

Edit language

To edit an existing language:

1. Open the Localization drop-down.
2. Select Manage languages...
3. Find the language in the list.
4. Click the three-dot (•••) icon on the right and select Edit.

ℹ️ You can update the Language name, ISO code, and Translates from fields.

Delete language

To delete a language:

1. Open the Localization drop-down.
2. Select Manage languages...
3. Find the language in the list.
4. Click the three-dot (•••) icon on the right and select Delete.

⚠️ You cannot delete the main language.

Switch language

To switch the working language:

1. Open the Localization drop-down menu.
2. Select the desired language.

The editor will now display content in the selected language.

Translation status

When working in translation mode, each board, element, label, and component has a translation status to indicate its progress. This makes it easier to track and manage the state of translations across the project.

The available statuses are:

• Untranslated (red)
• In progress (yellow)
• For review (blue)
• Final (green)

ℹ️ Translation status for elements, labels, and components must be set manually. Translation status for boards is generated automatically, according to the status of the containing elements and labels.

✅ Translation status is exported as part of Arcweave's JSON.

Set element status

To set the translation status of an element:

1. Locate the element in the current board.

Alternatively, locate the element in the Boards section of the sidebar, as a child of the board it belongs to.

2. Right-click the element and select Set status.

Set label status

To set the translation status of a label, right-click the label in the current board and select Set status.

Set component status

To set the translation status of a component, right-click the component in the Components section of the left sidebar and select Set status.

Translation percentage

Items marked as Final count toward the project's overall translation completion percentage.

Translate elements

To translate an element:

1. Open the Localization drop-down and switch to the desired language.
2. Set the translation status of the element you want to translate from Untranslated to In progress.

3. Double-click the element you want to translate to start editing. The element's source text, in the language specified in the Translate from field, will appear as a reference.

ℹ️ Use the clipboard icon in the source text reference to copy and paste the source text into the element you are translating.

4. After translating, press ESC or click outside the element, to exit editing.
5. Once done, set the translation status of the element to For review or Final, depending on your workflow.

Translate label

To translate a label:

1. Open the Localization drop-down and switch to the desired language.

2. Set the translation status of the label you want to translate from Untranslated to In progress.

3. Double-click the label you want to translate to start editing. The label's source text, in the language specified in the Translate from field, will appear as a reference.

4. After translating, press ESC or click outside the label, to exit editing.

5. Once done, set the translation status of the label to For review or Final, depending on your workflow.

Translate component

To translate a component:

1. Open the Localization drop-down and switch to the desired language.

2. In the left sidebar's Components section, set the translation status of the component you want to translate from Untranslated to In progress.

3. Click the component you want to translate to open it.

4. After translating, press ESC or click outside the element, to exit editing.

5. If you're done, set the translation status of the element to For review or Final, depending on your workflow.

⚠️ You can only translate the name of a component, not its attributes or their values.

Translate arcscript segments

By default, arcscript segments in element and label content are non-translatable. This means that, when translating, arcscript expressions cannot be modified.

Why translate arcscript?

A common reason for making arcscript segments translatable is to let string assignments properly follow the current language.

For example, the following code assigns a string value to the variable flower and then uses that value in a sentence. It makes sense that the value must follow the language of the translation.

flower = "the rose"

You take

show(flower)

and give it to the guard.

This will render as "You take the rose and give it to the guard."

flower = "الوردة"

تأخذ

show(flower)

.ثم أعطها للحارس

And this will render properly in the Arabic language: ".تأخذ الوردة ثم أعطها للحارس"

⚠️ You cannot set branch conditions as translatable; only arcscript in elements and labels.

Toggle translatable arcscript

You can mark individual arcscript segments as translatable or non-translatable. This setting determines whether a segment can be edited independently per language or only in the main language.

To toggle an arcscript segment:

1. Switch to your project's main language, if needed:
   • Open the Localization drop-down menu and select the main language.
2. Edit the content containing the arcscript segment:
   • In a label: double-click the label's connection and place the cursor inside the arcscript segment.
   • In an element: double-click the element's content and place the cursor inside the arcscript segment.
3. In the formatting bar, click Translatable (the globe icon) to toggle the setting.
   • Translatable ON: the arcscript segment can be edited separately in each language.
   • Translatable OFF (default): the arcscript segment is editable only in the main language and is locked in all translations.

⚠️ You can only toggle translatability while editing the project in its main language.

Export translations

Arcweave allows you to control which languages & translations you include in the export. See Export for instructions.

Import localized spreadsheets

Arcweave allows importing XLSX spreadsheet files for translating purposes. This facilitates translators who are familiar with and prefer working on spreadsheets.

⚠️ Valid spreadsheet files are the spreadsheets exported from Arcweave. Translators must preserve this format.

Workflow synopsis

To establish such a workflow, follow these steps:

1. Project owner/editor
   Export spreadsheet and send to the translator.
2. Translator
   Translate on the spreadsheet and send back.
3. Project owner / editor
   Import the translated spreadsheet.

Below you'll find instructions for each of the above steps.

Export spreadsheet

To export a spreadsheet for your translator:

1. Add the new language to the project.
2. Export the project as .xlsx spreadsheet file.

Then, forward the exported spreadsheet file to the translator, who will work as described in the following step.

Translate spreadsheet

Once the translator receives the .xlsx spreadsheet file, they can open and edit it in their spreadsheet editor.

he translator should focus on specific sheets and columns, as described below.

After translating, they must save the spreadsheet file as .xls or .xlsx and forward the translated spreadsheet file to the Arcweave project owner / editor, who will then reimport it. (See Import spreadsheet below.)

Translator access to sheets and columns

The file includes sheets for all kinds of project items, but the translator should focus only on the following sheets and columns.

Note that {languageIsoCode} stands for the ISO code of a language, e.g. en for English.

1. Elements sheet:
   • Source {languageIsoCode} columns:
     ⚠️ The translator should only read from these:
     • Title - {languageIsoCode}
     • Content - {languageIsoCode}
   • Translation {languageIsoCode} columns:
     ✅ The translator uses these columns to type the translation and set its status:
     • Title - {languageIsoCode}
     • Content - {languageIsoCode}
     • Status - {languageIsoCode} (see acceptable status values below)
2. Connections sheet:
   • Source {languageIsoCode} column:
     ⚠️ The translator should only read from this:
     • Label - {languageIsoCode}
   • Translation {languageIsoCode} columns:
     ✅ The translator uses these columns to type the translation and set its status:
     • Label - {languageIsoCode}
     • Status - {languageIsoCode}
3. Components:
   • Source {languageIsoCode} column:
     ⚠️ The translator should only read from this:
     • Name - {languageIsoCode}
   • Translation {languageIsoCode} columns:
     ✅ The translator uses these columns to type the translation and set its status:
     • Name - {languageIsoCode}
     • Status - {languageIsoCode}

Translation status acceptable values

The translator can mark their progress by setting the Status column with any of the following values:

• untranslated: Untranslated
• progress: In progress
• review: For review
• final: Final

Import spreadsheet

The project owner / editor imports the translated spreadsheet as follows:

1. Open the Localization drop-down menu.
2. Select Import XLSX.

3. Click Import from Excel

4. Select and upload an .xls or .xlsx file from your drive.

5. Check and confirm the import. This adds an extra step for safety, making sure you import only changes to the desired translation and project items.

6. Click Import.

The project will add the translation in its localization system.