Translating technical documentation in SharePoint requires updating both body canvas text and underlying page metadata. PointFire Translator translates classic and modern SharePoint pages, modern web parts, page canvas content, text metadata, titles, and file names.
For teams managing documentation across multiple languages, PointFire integrates directly with SharePoint’s native Multilingual Page Publishing model. Automated machine translation, site-level glossaries, draft editing, and timestamp-based version auditing layer directly onto that native structure.
Start With the Original SharePoint Page
SharePoint Online’s native multilingual page functionality creates copies of source pages for target languages, but it does not machine-translate the content. PointFire Translator translates page content directly into any target language configured on the site.
The process keeps the original page at the center of the translation workflow. With PointFire Translator Express, SharePoint page translation executes via three discrete steps: text extraction, machine translation, and applying target language strings to page fields.
A manual “Translate Now” action executes immediate processing on pages and documents, placing the output into a draft state for review prior to publication.
Keep Technical Terminology Consistent
Technical documentation depends on translating specific terms consistently across every page. PointFire Translator supports translation glossaries configured at the site, hub, or tenant level.
When a machine-generated translation uses wording that is not preferred, the corrected term is added directly to the glossary. Future translation jobs then apply the preferred translation automatically instead of producing the unwanted wording.
Glossaries enforce rules for:
- Terms requiring a specific approved translation
- Words that must remain untranslated (Do Not Translate)
- Trademarks retaining their original form
- Corrections to baseline machine-translation output
This provides a centralized mechanism to manage selected vocabulary rather than manually correcting terminology on individual translated pages.
Adapt Machine Translation to Organizational Language
Azure AI Custom Translator integration routes translation calls through custom neural network models trained on parallel translation memory files (e.g., TMX or dual-language document pairs) to align machine output with company-specific terminology and style .
This gives SharePoint machine translation two distinct terminology controls. Glossaries manage individual words or expressions, while Custom Translator uses organizational content to adapt translations to a broader vocabulary, context and style.
For technical documentation containing recurring product names, specialized terminology, or internally standardized wording, these controls incorporate directly into the automated translation process.
Review Translations Before Publishing
PointFire outputs machine-translated content into a draft state, allowing page authors to modify strings in the page canvas or document properties before publishing. This establishes a formal review gate between initial translation generation and public release.
The system checks whether an original SharePoint page has a more recent Modified timestamp than its target-language versions. Re-translating an updated page generates a new draft that replaces the previous translated version. Reviewing the updated draft occurs before final publication.
The new translation becomes a draft that replaces the previous translated version. PointFire’s workflow lets you review the updated draft before publishing.
A documentation workflow can therefore include:
- Translating the original SharePoint page
- Reviewing and editing the generated translation
- Publishing the reviewed version
- Re-translating when source content or metadata changes
- Checking the new draft before republishing it
Identify Content That Needs Translation Attention
The PointFire 365 Recommended Actions web part queries site list items, document libraries, pages, and UI elements. It compares source vs. target Modified date properties to automatically flag missing translations or out-of-sync content.
For technical documentation subjected to frequent revisions, this automated auditing isolates outdated pages without relying on manual tracking. The updated source then moves through the automated re-translation, editing, draft-review, and publishing process again.
Want to check your site for missing or outdated translations? Run a translation audit here!
