Providing knowledge base content in your customers’ preferred language improves accessibility, increases self-service adoption, and enhances the overall support experience. With BoldDesk’s multilingual knowledge base feature, administrators can create and manage categories, sections, and articles in multiple languages from a single portal.
Using multilingual support, you can:

• Set a primary language for your knowledge base.
• Add multiple supported languages.
• Translate categories, sections, and articles.
• Manage translated content independently.
• Publish translated articles separately from the primary article.

Prerequisites

Before enabling multilingual support, ensure that:

• You have Administrator permissions in BoldDesk.
• Your knowledge base has been configured and is accessible.
• You have identified the languages you want to support in your customer portal.
• You have translated content available for each language because BoldDesk does not currently provide automatic article translation.

Check out this video tutorial for more details.

Enable Multilingual Support

To enable multilingual support for your knowledge base:

1. Navigate to Admin > Settings > Language.

2. In the General tab, select the Primary (Default) Language for your portal.

3. Enable the Multilingual Support toggle.

4. Click Add Language and select the languages you want to support.
   

   
   
   

Translate Category

You can translate category names and descriptions into any enabled language.
To translate a category:

1. Go to Knowledge Base > Manage Articles.

2. From the Language drop-down list in the upper-right corner, select the target language.

3. Locate the category you want to translate.

4. Click Edit.

5. Enter the translated category name and description.

6. Click Save.
   

   
   
   

Translate Section

Follow the given steps to translate the article section:

1. Go to Knowledge Base > Manage Articles.

2. Select the target language from the Language drop-down list.

3. Navigate to the category that contains the section you want to translate.

4. Locate the section and click Edit.

5. Enter the translated section name and description.

6. Click Save.
   

   
   
   

Translate Article

To create a translated version of an article:

1. Go to Knowledge Base > Articles.

2. Open the article you want to translate.

3. Select the Language tab on the article details page.

4. Locate the target language and click Translate.

5. The translation editor opens for the selected language.

6. Enter the translated content and complete the required fields:

   • Title
   • Description
   • Tags
   • Status
   • Status Indicator
   • SEO Information

7. Click Save as draft or send to Review or Publish to create the translated article.
   

   
   
   

Manage Translated Articles

After creating a translated article, you can:

• Edit the translated article.

• Update translated content.

• Delete the translated article.

• Add comments specific to the translated version.

• Manage the article status independently from the primary article.

• Collect feedback on the translated article through the customer portal.
  

  
  
  

Publish a Translated Article

Translated articles can be published independently of the primary article.
You can publish a translated article using either of the following methods:

Method 1. Publish from the Article Editor

1. Open the translated article.
2. Click Edit.
3. Change the article Status to Published.
4. Click Publish.
   

Method 2. Publish from the Article Details Page

1. Open the translated article.

2. Update the Status directly from the article details page.

3. Set the status to Published.
   

   
   
   

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I change the primary language after enabling multilingual support?
   No. Once multilingual support is enabled, the primary language is permanently locked and cannot be changed.

2. Does BoldDesk automatically translate articles?
   No. Automatic article translation is not currently supported. You must manually create and maintain translated versions of your articles.

3. Can translated articles be published independently?
   Yes. Each translated article has its own publication status and can be published, unpublished, or updated independently of the primary article.

4. What happens to articles created before multilingual support is enabled?
   All existing knowledge base articles are automatically associated with the selected primary language after multilingual support is enabled.

5. Is article history maintained separately for each translation?
   No. Article history is maintained using the primary language version of the article.

Related Articles

1. How to Configure Multi-Language Support in BoldDesk.
2. How to Delete Multilanguage Knowledge Base Articles
3. Multilanguage Categories and Sections in Knowledge Base