How does Machine Translation work on SUMO?

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  • Revision id: 316285
  • Created:
  • Creator: Kiki
  • Comment: formatting fixes and incorporate Donna's suggestions
  • Reviewed: Yes
  • Reviewed:
  • Reviewed by: kelimuttu
  • Is approved? Yes
  • Is current revision? Yes
  • Ready for localization: Yes
  • Readied for localization:
  • Readied for localization by: kelimuttu
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SUMO localization now has Machine Translation integrated and enabled in several languages. This article explains how the Machine Translation (MT) workflow works when it’s enabled for your locale.

What happens when MT is enabled in my locale?

When MT is enabled for your locale, two key things will happen:

  1. Automatic translation after RFL: As soon as an article is approved and marked Ready for Localization (RFL), MT will automatically generate a translated version.
  2. Daily MT translation on backlog: If your locale hasn’t reached 100% translation parity with the English source, MT will also run scheduled translations on a daily basis to address missing and stale content. This ensures articles remain fresh and consistent for our users—including archived articles.

What are “missing” and “stale” content?

  • Missing translations are articles that have never been translated before.
  • Stale translations articles that are more than 6 months out-of-date compared to the latest localizable revision of their English source.

How does MT work?

The MT works with the following principles:

  • Uses English as the source: MT automatically translates content based on the most recent localizable en-US article. “Localizable” refers to a revision that has been marked as Ready for Localization (RFL).
  • Community stays in control: Community has 7 days to review MT translation. During this window, you can approve, edit, or reject it before it goes live. If you miss the window, you can still edit the article anytime. Think about MT as a temporary version until your input fills the gap.
  • Automatic approval for archived content: MT revisions on archived KB articles are approved immediately to reduce review burden for contributors and to ensure full coverage across locales.

Is there a review window?

Yes! When an MT revision is created, it will stay in the review queue for 7 days, giving the community time to review and take action.

During this window, you can:

  • Approve the MT revision as-is
  • Propose an update by submitting a new revision on top of the MT version
  • Reject the MT revision entirely
If no action is taken by the end of the 7-day period, the MT revision will be automatically approved and shown to users with a clear label to indicate that it’s translated by AI. However, note that this label only appears on auto-approved MT content and not on revisions manually approved by a reviewer.

What is the MT bandwidth?

  • For active articles, the system checks for missing and stale content every 4 hours. During each cycle, MT processes up to 2 articles per locale (max 12 per locale per day).
  • For archived articles, the system updates up to 10 articles every 4 hours.

Can I edit articles that have undergone MT?

Absolutely! Contributors can edit an MT-translated article at any time—whether during the 7-day review period or after the automatic approval. You’re encouraged to make improvements, corrections, or adjustments whenever necessary.