The system allows for multiple language vers= ions (translations) of a Content item to be created. Translations are creat= ed per version of the item, so each version of the content can have a diffe= rent 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 numb= er 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 l= anguages at the same time.
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 t= o be Translatable or not.
Translating the Field values is natural in some cases, for example for t= he body of an article. However, there are Fields where translating is impra= ctical, 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 (conten= t manager's) decision to exclude the translation possibility for tho= se 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 versi= on is created. This copied value cannot be modified. When a Field is Transl= atable, 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. Allowin= g the translation of anything else than nationality would be pointless, sin= ce the values stored by the other Fields are the same regardless of the lan= guage 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= .
It is possible to control whether a User or User group is able to transl=
ate content or not. This can be done by adding a Language limitation to Pol=
icies that allow creating or editing content. This limitation lets you define which Role can work with which languages in the system. (Fo=
r more information of the permissions system, see Permissions.)
In addition, it is also possible to control access to the global transla= tion list by using the Content/Translations Policy. This makes it possible = to allow users other than the site administrator to add and remove translat= ions that can be used.