Payload Crowdin Sync Plugin

Automatically upload/sync localized fields from the default locale to Crowdin. Load translations from Crowdin into Payload CMS.

Table of contents:

• Install
• Database changes
• Options
• Sync translations
• Further documentation

Install

• Payload version 1.0.19 or higher is required

#npm
npm install payload-crowdin-sync

# yarn
yarn add payload-crowdin-sync

Add the plugin to your Payload configuration.

import { crowdinSync } from "payload-crowdin-sync";

export default buildConfig({
  plugins: [
    crowdinSync({
      projectId: 323731,
      token: process.env.CROWDIN_TOKEN,
      organization: process.env.CROWDIN_ORGANIZATION,
      localeMap: {
        de_DE: {
          crowdinId: "de",
        },
        fr_FR: {
          crowdinId: "fr",
        },
      },
      sourceLocale: "en",
    }),
  ],
  // The rest of your config goes here
});

Database changes

This plugin add three collections to your database:

• crowdin-files
• crowdin-article-directories
• crowdin-collection-directories

Localized documents have an extra field added to them - crowdinArticleDirectory.

For details, see docs/crowdin.md.

Options

projectId (required)

Your Crowdin project ID.

{
  projectId: 323731
}

localeMap (required)

Map your Payload locales to Crowdin locale ids.

{
  localeMap: {
    de_DE: {
      crowdinId: "de"
    }
  }
}

sourceLocale (required)

The Payload locale that syncs to source translations (files) on Crowdin.

{
  sourceLocale: "en"
}

token

Your Crowdin API token. If empty, changes to files are disabled.

{
  token: "xxxxxxx"
}

organizationId (required)

Your Crowdin organization ID.

{
  organizationId: 200000000
}

directoryId

Crowdin directory ID to store translations. To get the directory ID without making an API call, inspect the page source of your folder in Sources > Files.

{
  directoryId: 1169
}

collections

Define an array of collection slugs for which the plugin is active.

{
  collections: ['posts', 'categories']
}

If undefined, the plugin will detect localized fields on all collections.

{
  collections: undefined
}

Use an empty array to disable all collections.

{
  collections: []
}

Use an object to define a condition that activates Crowdin based on the document data.

{
  collections: [
    'posts',
    {
      slug: 'categories',
      condition: ({doc}) => doc.translateWithCrowdin
    }
  ]
}

globals

Define an array of global slugs for which the plugin is active.

{
  globals: ['nav']
}

If undefined, the plugin will detect localized fields on all globals.

{
  globals: undefined
}

Use an empty array to disable all globals.

{
  globals: []
}

Use an object to define a condition that activates Crowdin based on the document data.

{
  globals: [
    {
      slug: 'nav',
      condition: ({doc}) => doc.translateWithCrowdin
    }
  ]
}

slateToHtmlConfig

Pass a custom config for the slateToHtml serializer used to convert Payload CMS Slate JSON to HTML for Crowdin translation. See Serializer configuration.

{
  slateToHtmlConfig: undefined
}

htmlToSlateConfig

Pass a custom config for the htmlToSlate serializer used to conver HTML to Payload CMS Slate JSON when retrieving Crowdin translation. See Serializer configuration.

{
  htmlToSlateConfig: undefined
}

pluginCollectionAccess

access collection config to pass to all the Crowdin collections created by this plugin.

{
  pluginCollectionAccess: undefined
}

pluginCollectionAdmin

admin collection config to pass to all the Crowdin collections created by this plugin.

{
  pluginCollectionAdmin: {
    hidden: ({ user }) => !userIsAdmin({ user })
  }
}

tabbedUI

Appends Crowdin tab onto your config using Payload's Tabs Field. If your collection is not already tab-enabled, meaning the first field in your config is not of type tabs, then one will be created for you called Content.

{
  tabbedUI: true
}

lexicalBlockFolderPrefix

Default lex.. Used as a prefix when constructing directory names for Lexical block fields in Crowdin.

{
  lexicalBlockFolderPrefix: `blocks-`
}

Environment variables

Set PAYLOAD_CROWDIN_SYNC_ALWAYS_UPDATE=true to update all localized fields in Crowdin when an article is created/updated.

By default, updates will only be sent to Crowdin in the following scenarios.

• At least one of the localized text fields has changed: any change to a localized text field updates the compiled fields.json that is sent to Crowdin.
• A richText field is changed. Individual richText fields will only be updated on Crowdin if the content has changed - each field has its own file on Crowdin.

It is useful to have a convenient way of forcing all localized fields to update at once. For example, if the plugin is activated on an existing install, it is convenient to trigger all updates on Crowdin for a given article without having to change every richText field or one of the text fields.

Sync translations

Upload source translations

On save draft or publish, content from localized fields in Collections and/or globals is organised into directories and files in your Crowdin project as configured in options.

Download translations

To load translations into Payload CMS, use either:

• virtual fields added to each localized document (convenient); or
• endpoints added to the API (can do a dry run of changes).

Virtual fields

When in a locale other than the source locale:

• Check the Sync all translations checkbox on a given collection document/global and save draft (loads translations as draft) or publish.
• Check the Sync translations checkbox to synchronise for the current locale only.

Endpoints

API endpoints are added to the crowdin-article-directories collection.

Review (dry run)

To review translations, visit:

<payload-base-url>/api/crowdin-article-directories/<article-id>/review

e.g. https://my-payload-app.com/api/crowdin-article-directories/64a880bb87ef685285a4d9dc/review

A JSON object is returned that allows you to review what will be updated in the database. The JSON object will contain the following keys:

• draft indicates that on update, a draft will be created rather than a published version. See Drafts | Payload CMS.
• source review the source document. e.g. for the en locale.
• translations
  • <locale> e.g. es_ES
    • currentTranslations all current localized fields and values.
    • currentTranslations localized fields populated with values from Crowdin.
    • changed boolean to indicate whether any changes have been made in Crowdin.

Update

To update translations, visit:

<payload-base-url>/api/crowdin-article-directories/<article-id>/update

e.g. https://my-payload-app.com/api/crowdin-article-directories/64a880bb87ef685285a4d9dc/update

The document will be updated and the same report will be generated as for a review.

Notes

• Pass the draft=true query parameter to update as a draft rather than a published version.
• Pass a locale parameter to perform a review/update for one locale only. e.g. locale=fr_FR.
• The source locale (e.g. en) is not affected.
• Use the excludeLocales field on documents in the crowdin-article-directories collection to prevent some locales from being included in the review/update operation.
• If supplied translations do not contain required fields, translation updates will not be applied and validation errors will be returned in the API response.

Further documentation

• Development guidance: docs/development.md
• Engineering decisions: docs/enginering.md
• Crowdin collections: docs/crowdin.md
• NX generated docs: docs/nx.md

Note: This plugin is still in development. A todo list is maintained at docs/development.md.