Copying and Translating Content Across Locales

Overview

Once you've set up your locales, the next step is getting your content into them. Agility CMS can copy content to other locales at several sizes: a single item with Save & Localize, a selection of items with Bulk Copy to Locale(s), a page together with its content, a whole locale, or a single field. If the DeepL app is installed on your instance, copies can also translate the content into the target language as part of the copy.

If you are new to working across locales, start with Working with Localized Content for the bigger picture, then come back here for the mechanics. If you are still deciding how to organize your markets, see Choosing a Localization Strategy.

Which Copy Action to Use

Pick the action that matches how much you want to copy:

The Other Locales Column

When working in a content list, you'll see an Other Locales column that shows which locales each item has been copied to. Each locale appears as a small badge (e.g., "es-es", "ja-jp", "en-ca"). This gives you a quick, at-a-glance view of your translation coverage without opening each item.

The column always excludes the locale you're currently viewing. For example, if you're viewing content in English (en-us), the badges will show Spanish (es-es), Japanese (ja-jp), and any other locales the item exists in, but not English.

Filtering by Locale

You can filter your content list to show only items that exist in a specific locale:

1. Click the filter icon in the content list toolbar

2. Open the Filters dropdown and check Other Locales

3. Select the locale(s) you want to filter by

4. Click Apply

Save & Localize a Single Item

When editing a content item, you can copy it to one or more locales as part of the save action.

1. Open the content item you want to localize

2. Click the dropdown arrow next to the Save button, then select Save & Localize

3. In the dialog, select the locale(s) you want to copy the item to

4. Optionally, check Translate Content to translate the content into the target language with DeepL (see below)

5. Click Copy

💡 Tip: Save & Localize saves the item first, then copies it. You don't need to save separately before localizing.

Bulk Copy to Locale(s)

Need to localize multiple items at once? Use the bulk copy action from any content list.

1. In a content list, select the items you want to copy using the checkboxes

2. Click the selection dropdown (e.g., "2 items selected")

3. Select Copy to Locale(s)

4. Choose the target locale(s) from the dropdown

5. Optionally, check Translate Content

6. Click Copy

The Translate Content Option

Both Save & Localize and Bulk Copy to Locale(s) include a Translate Content checkbox. When enabled, Agility CMS uses DeepL to translate your content into the target language as part of the copy.

Here's how it works:

• Different-language locales are translated by DeepL (e.g., English to Spanish)

• Same-language locales are copied as-is without translation (e.g., English US to English Canada)

This means you can select all locales at once and Agility will intelligently decide which ones need translation and which ones should just be copied.

💡 Tip: DeepL translates both plain text and rich text (HTML) fields. After copying, you can always review and adjust the translated content in the target locale.

To translate individual fields on an item you are already editing, rather than at the moment of copying, see Translating Content with DeepL.

Initializing Pages in Another Locale

Pages work slightly differently from content items. When you navigate to a locale that has no pages initialized yet, Agility will prompt you with an Initialize Pages dialog.

1. Navigate to Pages and switch to the target locale using the locale dropdown

2. In the Initialize Pages dialog, select which pages to initialize

3. Optionally, check Translate Content to translate page component content into the target language with DeepL

4. Click Initialize

💡 Note: Initializing pages copies the page structure (components and layout) from the default locale. The content within each component will either be translated or copied depending on whether Translate Content is checked.

Copy or Translate a Page into Several Locales at Once

When you copy or translate a page to other locales, you can select several target locales in one go, instead of repeating the action for each locale.

Copy a Whole Locale or a Single Field

Bulk copy also works at both ends of the scale:

• A whole locale. Copy all of a locale's content into other locales in one action, for example to give a new market a complete first draft.

• A single field. Copy just one field to other locales, rather than the whole item, for example when only that field has changed in the source locale.

Before copying a whole locale, check which items already exist in the target locale with the Other Locales column, and try the copy on a few items first.

Copies Run in the Background

Bulk copies run as a background job, so you can keep working while they finish. Long-running actions such as bulk copies show their progress, so you can tell when one is still running. Wait for the copy to finish before you review or publish the target locale.

Review the copied content in each target locale before you publish it, then publish each locale on its own schedule.

Copying Content with the API

Developers can run the same copies from code with the Management API's Initialize and Translate endpoints. See Copy and Translate Content Across Locales with the API.