Translations: import and export XLIFF for translation tools

CreateUpon lets you translate a whole course in a professional translation tool, then bring the translation back into the same course. You export the course text as an XLIFF file, translate it in your translation tool, and import the translated file to update the course.

Availability: available on the Enterprise plan.

What XLIFF import and export is

XLIFF is the standard file format that professional translation tools use. CreateUpon exports your course text as an XLIFF 1.2 file. You translate that file in a computer-assisted translation (CAT) tool such as Trados Studio, memoQ, Phrase, or any XLIFF 1.2 editor, then import it back. The controls sit in the Translations panel, next to AI translate.

Before you start

Tip: duplicate the course first, then translate the copy. After you export, do not edit the course until you have imported the translation. Edits made in between can move the imported text to the wrong place.

Export a course for translation

1. Open the course, then open the Translations panel.

2. Under Translate with a translation tool, select Export XLIFF.

3. Save the course.xlf file that downloads.

4. Open the file in your translation tool and translate it.

Note: the file is XLIFF 1.2. If your translation tool offers a choice, keep the target file in its original format.

What text gets exported

CreateUpon exports only the text you can edit, as plain-text segments. Formatting, layout, and internal IDs stay out of the file, so there is nothing for a translator to break. The exported text includes:

• Course, module, and lesson titles

• Lesson objectives and the course description

• Rich text on cards

• Quiz, true or false, ranking, sorting, and matching questions, answers, and explanations

• Open answer text

• Flip card and carousel text

• Image alt text and markers

• Chart titles, labels, and series

• Media titles

Import a translated file

1. Open the same course you exported from.

2. Open the Translations panel.

3. Under Translate with a translation tool, select Import XLIFF.

4. Choose your translated file.

CreateUpon matches each translated segment back to its place in the course and updates the lessons.

How CreateUpon keeps the import safe

CreateUpon applies a translation only when the exported source text still matches the current course text. Anything you changed after exporting is reported as skipped rather than placed in the wrong spot. Matching allows for the small whitespace and Unicode changes that translation tools make. A file exported from a different course is rejected.

The import summary

After an import, CreateUpon shows a summary of what happened. Every segment in the file is accounted for, so you can see exactly what was applied, skipped, or missing:

• Imported: the segments applied to the course, and the number of lessons updated.

• Skipped because the course text changed after export: re-export, translate just those segments, then import again.

• Skipped because CreateUpon could not find where they belong: this can happen if a lesson was opened in the editor between export and import.

• Already up to date: the translation matched the text already in the course.

• Left blank by the translation tool.

• Lessons in this course that had no segments in the file.

Select Download report to save a CSV of the skipped segments, then select Reload course to load the translated content.

Note: if most of the file has no translation, CreateUpon stops before making any changes and shows how many segments are translated, which lessons came back empty, and which are missing from the file. Nothing is saved at this point. Select Cancel to leave the course unchanged, or Import anyway to apply the partial translation. A later import updates only the segments it carries and leaves the rest alone.

See also