The system allows for multiple language versions (translations) of a Content item to be created. Translations are created per version of the item, so each version of the content can have a different set of translations.
At minimum, a version always has one translation which by default is the initial/main translation. Further version can be added, but only for languages that have previously been added to the global translation list, that is a list of all languages available in the system. The maximum number of languages in the system is 64.
Different translations of the same Content item can be edited separately. This means that different users can work on translations into different languages at the same time.
Translatable and untranslatable Fields
Language versions actually concern translating values of the Fields of a Content item. Every Field in its definition in a Content Type can be set to be Translatable or not.
Translating the Field values is natural in some cases, for example for the body of an article. However, there are Fields where translating is impractical, for instance images without text, numbers, e-mail addresses and so on. Platform still gives the possibility to mark all Fields as translatable regardless of their Field Type. It is only the user's (content manager's) decision to exclude the translation possibility for those Fields where it makes no sense.
When a Field is unflagged as translatable, its value will be copied from the initial/main translation when a new language version is created. This copied value cannot be modified. When a Field is Translatable, its value in a new language version will have to be entered by the user.
For example, let's say that you need to store information about marathon contestants and their results. You build a "contestant" Content Type using the following Fields: name, photo, age, nationality, time reached. Allowing the translation of anything else than nationality would be pointless, since the values stored by the other Fields are the same regardless of the language used to describe the runner. In other words, the name, photo, age and time reached would be the same in, for example, both English and Norwegian.
Access control
It is possible to control whether a User or User group is able to translate content or not. This can be done by adding a Language limitation to Policies that allow creating or editing content. This limitation lets you define which Role can work with which languages in the system. (For more information of the permissions system, see Permissions.)
In addition, it is also possible to control access to the global translation list by using the Content/Translations Policy. This makes it possible to allow users other than the site administrator to add and remove translations that can be used.