Translating macros using dynamic content

What's my plan?

If you support multiple languages, you can translate, or localize, your macros. That way, when an agent needs to use a macro to provide quick and efficient support, they can do so in the right language.

To learn more about creating macros, see Creating macros for tickets. To learn more about how dynamic content works, see Providing multiple language support with dynamic content.

This article contains the following topics:

• Creating and using dynamic content for macros
• Creating localized categories for macros
• Viewing your localized macros

Creating and using dynamic content for macros

To localize your macros, you’ll create dynamic content, which includes a default language along with additional variants for the other languages you want the macro to be available in.

To fully localize a macro, you’ll need to create two pieces of dynamic content: one for the macro name and one for the macro body.

Tip: Before you get started, make sure you’ve already created the macro you want to localize. Also, make sure you have the translations of the macro content in your supported languages.

To create dynamic content for a macro name or body

1. In Admin Center, click Workspaces in the sidebar, then select Agent tools > Dynamic Content.
2. Click Add item.
3. Under Dynamic content item title, enter a descriptive title for your new piece of dynamic content. To make it easier to find and manage your localized macros, Zendesk recommends naming the dynamic content the same as the macro name in your account's default language (for example, "Macro - <Macro name> - Name" or “Macro - <Macro name> - Body”).
4. Select the Default language for your dynamic content. This field shows all of the languages that you have enabled for Zendesk Support.
5. In the Content field, enter the text you want to see for the default language (for either the macro name or the macro body).
   Tip: Remove any trailing spaces or line breaks before saving your text, as this might cause issues when used within other Zendesk products.

   

6. Click Create. You're redirected to a screen where you can add variants for the languages you want your macro to be available in.
7. Click Add variant and fill out the following fields:
   1. Language: Select a language you want the macro to be available in.
   2. Status: Select Active.
   3. Default: Leave this checkbox blank. Select it only if you want to change the macro's default language from the one you created earlier to this one.
   4. Content: Enter the text of the macro in the language you just selected. In other words, this is the translation of the text you entered in your initial piece of dynamic content.

      

8. Click Create. You’re redirected to the variants page.
9. (Optional) Repeat steps 7-9 for any additional languages you want the macro to be available in.
10. Near the top of the variants page, copy the Placeholder text for your dynamic content. You'll need this for the next step.

    

11. In the sidebar, click Workspaces, then select Agent tools > Macros.
12. Select the macro you want to localize.
13. Paste your dynamic content placeholder into the appropriate field:
    1. If you created dynamic content for the macro name, paste it into the Macro name field.

       

    2. If you created dynamic content for the macro body, paste it into the Rich content field (which is available when your macro has an Action of Comment/description).

       

       Note: If you no longer have your placeholder copied, don’t worry—just reopen your piece of dynamic content (Workspaces > Agent tools > Dynamic content) and copy the placeholder again.
14. Click Save.

Creating localized categories for macros

If you’ve categorized your macros, you can also localize the category names.

To localize macro categories

1. Create another piece of dynamic content for the macro category name.
2. Open the macro you want to categorize and localize.
3. Update the macro’s name to include the dynamic content for the category and the dynamic content for the macro name, separated by two colons.

   

4. Click Save.

Viewing your localized macros

You can view and manage your localized macros on the Macros administration page.

To view and manage your localized macros

• In Admin Center, click Workspaces in the sidebar, then select Agent tools > Macros.

When viewed here, localized macros show the placeholder name in the Name column.

For more on managing macros, see Organizing and managing your macros.

Agents can also view and select localized macros in the Agent Workspace.

To view and use your localized macros

• In the Agent Workspace, open a ticket and click the Apply macro field.

When viewed here, localized macros appear in the agent’s selected language.

For more on using macros, see Using macros to update tickets.