Comparing Multilingual Solutions in Confluence: A Guide for Intranet and Content Collaboration

The ability to manage content in multiple languages within Confluence can significantly improve collaboration and accessibility. It ensures that all team members, regardless of their linguistic backgrounds, have equal access to company policies, procedures, and collaborative projects. This article explores how you can leverage Confluence’s powerful tools to facilitate language translation of your pages/contents. It delves into use cases and compares different approaches. 

Setting Up Confluence for Multilingual Use & User Language Preferences

To begin using Confluence in multiple languages, the first step is to access the language settings. Here, administrators can enable various language options, allowing users to select their preferred language. 

Now, users can easily set their language preferences in their profile settings. This personalization affects how they view the Confluence interface, including menus, buttons, and help text.

Multilingual Confluence Implementation Approaches

However, the content of Confluence pages will not be translated automatically. But there are apps available to help you out. These tools facilitate seamless content management across different languages. We will explore two different approaches to implementing language translations for your content in Confluence. The question is whether to maintain multiple versions of the same page (separate-page approach) or store all translations together in one place (single-page approach). Each model presents specific benefits and trade-offs, which we explain below.

Two approaches to multilingual Confluence

Separate Pages for Each Language

This approach involves creating a dedicated Confluence page for each language version of the Confluence page. It allows easy integration with external machine translation tools such as DeepL or Google Translate. However, managing multiple language versions means you must carefully maintain links between pages and keep them updated. Users searching for content in Confluence may see all translated pages in their results, which can be confusing and cluttered.Typical apps in this category include Easy Translator, Lango Translator, and Interlingo on Confluence Cloud, along with Scroll Translations and Easy Translator for Confluence on Data Center. These solutions often allow you to translate page titles and export or import translations using XLIFF (Scroll Translations). Although this setup is convenient for external translators, it can be complex to manage large documentation sets and may conflict with strict company data policies if machine translation is involved.

Single Page Multiple Translations

All language versions reside on a single Confluence page. This means readers can switch the page language via a simple toggle. Searching for content in Confluence returns just one-page entry, regardless of how many languages it supports. Collaboration stays centralized, and you can easily see which translations still need updates.One example is Translations for Confluence (available for both Cloud and Data Center), which requires manual or offline-based translations rather than built-in machine translation. Although this means additional translation steps, it can be a relief for companies with strict data protection rules since no content is sent to external providers. The downside is that in Confluence Cloud page titles cannot be translated using this approach. Still, it offers a compact, manageable approach for teams that want to maintain a single point of truth per page.

Pros and cons in brief

• Separate-page model: This model allows page title translations and integrates with automated translation services, but it clutters search results and can be more complex to maintain.
• Single-page model: Simplifies search results, centralizes collaboration, doesn’t rely on external translation providers, yet cannot translate page titles in Confluence Cloud and requires manual or offline translations.

Everyday use cases 

Managing multilingual content in Confluence is a key challenge as companies expand globally. Different solutions address this by ensuring accessibility and efficiency for international teams. Here are three common use cases:

1. Global Knowledge Base: A multinational company centralizes knowledge in Confluence with a single-page solution that lets users switch between translations. This ensures consistency, improves search, and keeps everything within the platform for easy access and security.
2. Documentation Management: For businesses that frequently update documentation, a separate-page approach automates the process. Pages are replicated across languages, simplifying updates and reducing translation errors while integrating with translation services for faster turnaround.
3. Collaborative Technical Documentation: A global product team uses separate pages for multilingual technical documentation. Writers create original content, and translators handle language-specific versions independently. This method allows flexibility and maintains clear links between each language version and the original.

The table below provides a detailed breakdown of each use case, highlighting key features and benefits.

Use case	Separate-page solutions (e.g., Easy Translator, Lango, Interlingo, Scroll Translations)	Single-page solution (Translations for Confluence)
Translation Method	Works well with external APIs (DeepL, Google Translate)	No built-in machine translation—manual insert or private TMS
Data protection	Potential risk when sending sensitive data to external services	Data remains internal; no external API calls
Search experience	Displays multiple pages, may overwhelm search results	Displays one page, simpler for end users
Title translations	Separate pages = separate titles in each language	Only possible in Data Center
Large-scale documentation	Might require careful linking and tracking across pages	Single-page approach makes it easier to track missing translations
Team collaboration	External translators can work on separate pages or XLIFF exports	Centralized approach, but no XLIFF-based workflows

Best practices and recommendations

Before choosing a solution, clarify your primary needs. If you require seamless integration with machine translation, investigate which apps connect to your preferred service. If sensitive data must remain in-house, verify that external APIs are not used. Carefully consider how your users navigate Confluence. If duplicate content is a concern, a single-page approach might be best.

Planning content architecture will also pay off. Many teams use specific naming conventions or page trees to keep track of language versions. Providing clear documentation to end users—whether you manage content on separate pages or a single page—will be essential.

Key apps at a glance

Confluence Cloud

• Separate pages: Easy Translator, Lango Translator, Interlingo
• Single page: Translations for Confluence – Cloud

Confluence Data Center

• Separate pages: Scroll Translations, Easy Translator
• Single page: Translations for Confluence – Data Center

Conclusion: Navigating Multilingual Challenges in Confluence

Each approach has its strengths, depending on the complexity of documentation and team workflows. Organizations must consider factors like ease of navigation, translation management, and security when choosing the best multilingual solution for their Confluence workspace.

If you want to learn more about Translations for Confluence, check out the documentation and FAQ. You can also consult the Atlassian Marketplace for more details on the various apps mentioned here.

Disclaimer: bitvoodoo is the vendor of Translations for Confluence. This blog post presents an unbiased overview of available multilingual solutions on the Atlassian Marketplace.

---