Draft Translation
A Draft Translation is a non-master language version of a Salesforce Knowledge article in Draft state, waiting to be reviewed and published.
Definition
A Draft Translation is a non-master language version of a Salesforce Knowledge article in Draft state, waiting to be reviewed and published. When an English (master language) article changes, Salesforce Knowledge can automatically queue Draft Translations in each enabled language for translators to work on. Each Draft Translation is its own KnowledgeArticleVersion record with the same parent article but a different Language value. Until the translator publishes it, the previous translated version (if any) stays live.
Draft Translations are the bridge between source-language authoring and multi-language Knowledge deployment. Without them, the platform would have to wait for all languages to be ready before any could publish, which would slow content delivery. With them, English ships immediately and French, German, Japanese, and Spanish trickle in as their translators complete the work, each on its own schedule.
How Draft Translations work in Salesforce Knowledge
The translation lifecycle
Salesforce Knowledge in a multi-language org maintains parallel article versions: one per language. When the master language article is updated, the platform creates or refreshes Draft Translations in each enabled language and routes them to the Translation Queue. Translators (or external translation services) pull from the queue, work on each Draft, and publish when complete. The published translation replaces the previous one in its language.
Translation Queue and the routing model
The Translation Queue is a list view of pending Draft Translations. Salesforce can route translations automatically (every Draft enters the queue) or selectively (only Drafts with specific data categories). Translators can claim items from the queue or be assigned by an admin. Many orgs integrate with external translation vendors (Lionbridge, SDL, TransPerfect) that pull from the queue, translate offline, and push results back through an API.
The KnowledgeArticleVersion record per language
Each language version is a separate KnowledgeArticleVersion (Knowledge__kav) record, all sharing the same KnowledgeArticle (Knowledge) parent. Querying for all language versions of an article: SELECT Id, Language, PublishStatus FROM Knowledge__kav WHERE KnowledgeArticleId = parent-id. The PublishStatus values (Draft, Online, Archived) and Language values (en_US, fr, de_DE, ja) drive lifecycle tracking.
Field-level translation versus full-article translation
Some fields on a Knowledge article (Title, Body, Summary, custom rich-text fields) are translatable. Other fields (Validation Status, Article Number) are global across languages. The Draft Translation editor exposes only the translatable fields; the non-translatable ones inherit from the master language. This split keeps the translation effort focused on what actually needs different text per language.
Bidirectional sync between master and translation
When the master language article changes, existing Draft Translations are marked as Outdated. Translators see this flag and can choose to update their Draft or leave it (if the master change does not require translation). Once the master is republished, the platform can optionally re-route the language versions back to the Translation Queue. This bidirectional sync prevents stale translations from staying live indefinitely.
External translation service integration
Salesforce''s Knowledge Translation API lets external services pull Draft Translations, translate them offline, and write back the translated content. The standard workflow: the article enters the queue, the integration polls the API, retrieves the Draft, sends to the translator (human or machine), receives the translation, writes it back through the API, and optionally publishes. This is how major nonprofits and multinational corporations operate Knowledge in 20-plus languages at scale.
Reporting on translation backlog and SLAs
Translation operations need metrics: how many Drafts are in the queue, how old is the oldest item, what is the average time-to-publish per language. Salesforce reports on KnowledgeArticleVersion filtered by PublishStatus = Draft and IsMasterLanguage = false expose this. Many orgs build a Translation Dashboard with charts for queue depth per language, average translation latency, and publish rate.
How to manage Draft Translations in a multi-language Knowledge base
Managing Draft Translations means enabling languages on the article type, configuring the Translation Queue, and either assigning translators internally or integrating with an external service. The setup is one-time; daily operations focus on the queue.
- Enable additional languages on Knowledge
Setup, then Knowledge Settings, then Languages. Enable the languages your business supports (French, German, Japanese, Spanish, and so on). Each enabled language becomes available for Draft Translations.
- Configure the Translation Queue
Setup, then Translation Queue. Set whether translations are auto-routed (every Draft enters the queue) or manually assigned. Define data category filters if you want to limit which articles route to translators.
- Assign translators
Translators need the Manage Articles permission and access to the relevant data categories. For external vendors, expose the Knowledge Translation API and provide credentials.
- Trigger Draft Translations
When the master language article is published, Draft Translations are created automatically in each enabled language (if configured). Translators see them in the Translation Queue view.
- Translate and publish each language
Each translator opens a Draft Translation, replaces the master text with the translated version, and clicks Publish. The translated article goes live in its language; the previous version (if any) is archived.
- Monitor the queue
Build a dashboard tracking queue depth per language, oldest item age, and average publish time. Pure operational metrics; tune them based on your service-level commitments for content availability per region.
Every master-language Draft creates Draft Translations in all enabled languages. Default for most multi-language deployments.
Drafts only enter the queue when an admin assigns them. Use when only some articles need translation.
Programmatic access for translation vendors. Industry-standard for large multi-language operations.
Translators work inside Salesforce. Good for small teams with bilingual staff.
- Enabling a new language does not retroactively create Draft Translations for existing published articles. You need to manually trigger them or use the Knowledge Translation Queue Refresh tool.
- Translators need Knowledge User licenses just like authors. Cost scales with the number of translators; budget for licenses if you operate at scale.
- Outdated translations stay published until republished. The Outdated flag is informational; the live translated article is whatever was last published in that language, even if the master language has changed since.
- Some Knowledge customizations (custom Apex triggers, validation rules) need to handle the multi-language case explicitly. Trigger logic that fires on Knowledge__kav inserts will fire for every Draft Translation.
Trust & references
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Draft Translation.
- Translate Knowledge ArticlesSalesforce Help
- Manage Translation QueueSalesforce Help
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
Test your knowledge
Q1. What is a Draft Translation?
Q2. Why is translation quality important?
Q3. How do orgs typically handle translation workflows?
Discussion
Loading discussion…