In ChurchTools, translations are used to convert technical terms into understandable language. We call these technical terms keys and they are used by ChurchTools in the background.
Keys open up some great opportunities for you:
- Introduce your own designations: You can customize the translations for keys. This is useful if you use different terms in your church than those used by ChurchTools by default.
- Create new languages: You even have the option of translating ChurchTools into a language that we do not provide.
- Create new keys: You can also create new keys in ChurchTools. For example, you can display names for your church rooms in several languages or personalize declarations of consent.
How to update translations? #
We always provide you with the latest translations available to us. They are incorporated into your ChurchTools with every release.
If you would like to have the latest changes that we offer for the translations, you can manually initiate the update between your Church Tools and our systems via Update translations (1). Your Church Tools will then retrieve the latest version and add it to your system.
If you maintain a language yourself, you will of course have to make the entries manually. You can find more information on this below.
What options do the filters offer me? #
You have three options for filtering the available keys.
With the filter module name (2), you can only display the keys that are used in a specific ChurchTools module.
With Incomplete translations (3) you can filter the keys by language and the respective status of the translations, for example to find missing or outdated ones. After selecting the language, the following filters are also available: All, Missing, Outdated, Check.
With the classic search field (4) you can search for keywords in all currently displayed entries.
How to adapt the translations of existing keys? #
To customize a translation for a key, click once on the desired key (5). The list of existing translations opens. You can enter a new translation (7) for the key using the pencil symbol (6) at the end of the line.
For example, if you call your small groups in your church “small groups”, you can search for the term ” small group” in the search field and replace the word with “small groups” in the keys found.
What do the colored symbols mean? #
Occasionally, colored symbols (8) are displayed during a translation.
Yellow warning triangles indicate outdated translations. In these cases, the German text has been adapted, but the respective language has not yet been adapted.
The green tick symbol can be used to accept a translation that is highlighted in yellow. This should only be done if the translated text still matches the German translation.
How to create and use new keys? #
You can create new keys for everything that is managed in the master data. To create a new key, click on the Create new translation button (9) at the top left.
A configuration window opens. As an example, we will create a key for a room here:
- Under Key, enter a name for the new key. You are free to choose your own name. However, we strongly recommend that you use names that can be found quickly and easily using the search field. For example, put the abbreviation of your church first, as shown in the image. This will ensure that you can find and edit the keys you have created yourself at any time.
In the example, the room is named “Room1”. - Under Module name, you must select the module in which the new key is to be used. Each key must be assigned to a module and can only be used there.
Example: As the room is a resource, we assign it to the churchresource module.
The technical terms used here are explained in our reference Technical terms for ChurchTools modules. - Add translations for all languages relevant to you. Depending on the system language set, the respective translation for your key will then be displayed.
“Room1” from our example is the “kitchen”, so we enter the respective term for all relevant languages. - Click Save to save your entries.
