rulebase-co Translation workflow for support content
Non-English customers routinely run last quarter's policy because the English source was updated on launch day and translations were "queued." Nobody tracks the queue. CSAT drops in one market; someone discovers the Dutch refund article still mentions 14 days when English says 7.
The prize: one source of truth, explicit translation state, and no silent lag — markets should know they are behind, and customers should not see stale policy presented as current.
Source-of-truth language
Pick exactly one authoritative source language for each article family — usually the language of the team that owns policy (often English, not always).
| Rule | Why |
|---|---|
| Source edits happen only in source language | Prevents three-way drift |
| Translations are derivatives, not co-equal originals | Ownership stays clear |
| Locale variants (en-GB vs en-US) pick one source or merge deliberately | Minor diffs become major contradictions |
| Legal/regulated text may require locale-specific source | Document exception; do not assume translate-from-English |
Agents in translated markets may add internal notes in local language — that is internal wiki content, not a second customer-facing source.
Translation states (make lag visible)
Every translated article needs machine-readable state, not just published/draft:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
current |
Translation matches source version |
stale |
Source changed after translation last verified |
in_progress |
Assigned to translator/LSP |
blocked |
Terminology or legal question open |
locale_exception |
Intentionally different in this market |
Stale must surface in dashboards — count of stale articles by locale, aged by
days since source change. Silent published on stale content is the failure mode.
Track source version ID (hash, updated_at, or revision number) on each translation. Compare on every source publish.
Workflow when source changes
- Source article updated and reviewed — facts locked in source language.
- Auto-flag all translations stale — immediately, on publish.
- Triage by impact — usage × policy-risk priority: high-traffic + policy change = P0 for every locale.
- Translate or interim banner — if translation lags, show banner in affected locales: "This page is being updated — see English" or unpublish until ready. Never leave wrong policy live without warning.
- Verify translation — native reviewer for regulated topics; glossary compliance for product terms.
- Mark
current— only when source version ID matches.
Emergency policy correction: all locales P0. There is no "English only for now" for fee or legal changes unless regulators allow it — and even then, unpublish or banner non-compliant locales.
Stale translation detection
Run weekly (daily during launch windows):
- Compare translation
source_versionto live sourceversion. - List mismatches sorted by locale × article views × policy sensitivity.
- Cross-check macro and AI corpora in each locale — translations lag there too.
- Sample tickets in each locale on stale topics — are agents improvising?
| Signal | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| One locale always stale | No owner, wrong LSP SLA, missing glossary |
| All locales stale after every release | Source edits bypass workflow |
| Stale on low-traffic only | Acceptable if bannered; not acceptable if regulated |
| Agents in locale cite English article | Translation untrusted or missing |
Glossary and locked terms
Product names, plan names, fee currencies, and legal terms belong in a shared glossary — translators do not invent equivalents. Breaking changes to glossary trigger re-translation sweep of affected articles.
Numbers and units: locale formatting is not translation. Dates, currency, decimal separators, and address formats must be localised in review, not left as copy-paste from source.
What not to translate literally
- Idioms and warmth — rewrite for natural local register.
- Screenshots with English UI — replace or annotate.
- Links — locale-appropriate destination if a local help path exists.
- Examples with culturally wrong scenarios — adapt in review.
Machine translation for first draft is fine; publish requires human review on policy, billing, and compliance topics.
Traps
- Translation memory reusing old policy sentences. TM is how "14 days" survives the edit to "7 days." Force re-review on policy articles.
- Partial updates. Source paragraph changed; translator updated half the page. Version ID on whole article; diff-based review.
- English banner on local site without date. Customers assume it is current. Show source update date and expected translation date.
- Decentralised "someone in market will fix it." Without SLA, they won't.
- Treating macro translation as separate from KB. Same stale problem; same queue.
Present results to the user
- Source-of-truth definition — language, owners, exceptions.
- Stale inventory — by locale, ranked by usage × days stale × policy risk.
- Workflow spec — states, triggers, SLAs by priority tier.
- Interim customer communication plan — banner, unpublish, or English fallback.
- Glossary gaps — terms blocking consistent translation.
- Macro/AI locale check — non-KB content still running old translations.