Mahmoud ShayebStart with a source version worth translating
Remove internal shorthand before translation. A sentence like “Scheduled reports now arrive at the selected local time” gives a reviewer a concrete behaviour to preserve. A commit title about a null time-zone value does not.
Use the same headings and one change per item across languages. Keep identifiers, version numbers and source links stable so corrections can be traced to the same release.
Source: Download any report as an Excel file. French example: Téléchargez n’importe quel rapport au format Excel. Review: confirm that “report”, the Export menu label and Excel file support match the product.
Translate complete messages and keep a term list
Do not assemble a translated sentence from fragments such as “New”, an object name and a fixed English suffix. W3C guidance explains that grammar and variable order differ across languages. A complete message gives the translator room to write naturally.
Keep a small glossary for product names, menu labels and terms that should not change. Record the chosen term in each language. This is especially useful when several people or tools contribute to the same release.
Review the customer meaning, not only the spelling
A fluent reviewer should check whether the translated item describes the same benefit and any necessary customer action. Verify negatives, conditions, time zones and plan names. These details can change the meaning of an otherwise polished sentence.
Machine translation can produce a draft. Treat that output as a draft until someone checks the product context. If there is no reviewer for a locale, be honest about the translation’s review status instead of implying a human-reviewed version.
Label language versions and test the layout
W3C recommends declaring a document’s language, using UTF-8 and providing visible navigation to language versions. Use the language’s own name in a selector. Where a script needs right-to-left layout, set the appropriate document direction.
Check the published page on a phone. Translated text may be longer than the source; a button, narrow status chip or source-link row should still fit. Keep the wording as text so it can reflow instead of baking it into an image.
Keep corrections aligned across every version
When a release note changes, update each translation or clearly indicate which versions are still waiting for review. Keep a release identifier and last-updated date so readers can compare versions without guessing.
This process works with any publishing tool. Lodariq’s changelog can also translate each post for you, and every version waits for your review.