Introduction
A single survey can be fielded in multiple languages, with all resulting data combined into one dataset. To get started, from the Create tab, navigate to Settings and click Languages.
Multi-language surveys
The default language
Newly created surveys default to English. The first language listed in the table is always the default; it serves as the base for translations and is the language displayed in the survey builder.
To use a different default language, update the survey and error messages shown to respondents in Survey text & messages, or use the translation import feature. If your survey was authored in a language other than English, you can update the "English" label in the table to reflect your actual default language at any stage of authoring.
Adding languages
Each language in the table has three fields to configure.
Language name
The name used to identify the language throughout the survey setup, including in the translation template file headers and the respondent-facing language selection question. Avoid changing language names after setup — any deviation, including capitalization, will create a new language rather than updating the existing one.
Language tag
Assign a language tag to improve accessibility and browser interpretation.
Common tags:
en — English
es — Spanish
fr — French
de — German
Pass-in/data value
The value saved to respondent data records for the language variable, and used to set the survey language via URL if the pass-in variable method is enabled. Each language must have a unique value. Something meaningful like “en” or “es,” or numbers like 1 and 2, both work well.
Translations
Add translated text for each language by downloading a template file, filling in your translations, and importing it back into Discover.
Template files
Download a translation template file to add translated text for additional languages. Two download options are available:
- Click the download icon (
) next to a language in the table to download a file for that language only.
- Click Export text for translation to download a spreadsheet containing all defined languages.
Template files are formatted the same way regardless of which download option you use:
- Column 1: Field IDs — unique identifiers for every piece of content in your survey. Do not modify these.
- Column 2: Field descriptions.
- Column 3: Text from the default language.
- Column 4 and beyond: Translation columns for each additional language.
Importing
Click Import translations and select your template file. Both single-language and all-language spreadsheet formats are accepted.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Translations are matched to languages by comparing the language name in the table to the column header in the spreadsheet. Any deviation, including capitalization, will create a new language instead of updating the existing one.
- Importing new translations replaces any previously imported text, except for blank cells — if a cell is blank, the previously imported text for that field is preserved.
- You can add new languages at any time by adding a new column with the language name as the header in your template file.
- You can also modify and reimport the default language text — useful for correcting multiple spelling errors across the survey at once.
Setting the survey language
When two or more languages are added, the Set survey language settings become available. At the top of this section, enter a name for the language variable. This name is used in three places:
- To save each respondent's language selection in their data record.
- As the name of the language selection question shown to respondents (if respondent choice is enabled).
- As the name of the URL variable (if pass-in variable is enabled).
Changing the variable name in any location updates it everywhere automatically. To view or manage it alongside other variables, click the Variable manager link next to the input field.
Two methods are available for setting the survey language:
Respondent choice
A single-select question is added to the beginning of the survey, letting respondents choose their preferred language. The question is prefilled with an editable prompt and the language labels defined in your table.
To display a different label than the language name, enter alternate text in the field next to the language name in the question. Languages cannot be removed as options here. To remove a language, delete it from the languages table. Similarly, the language select question cannot be removed while multiple languages exist; revert to a single language to remove it.
Pass-in variable
Toggle on Enable language pass-in (URL) variable to set the survey language via a value in the survey URL. Values correspond to the pass-in/data values defined in the languages table.
Respondents with a matching URL value skip the language question. If the value doesn't match or is empty, the language question appears instead.