Multi-Language Surveys

Create surveys in multiple languages so respondents can take them in their preferred language. Translation management, respondent language selection, and automatic fallback are all built in.

How it works#

1. Pick a Base language for your survey, the language you author content in. A survey built from a Word questionnaire starts with the questionnaire's own language as its base language.
2. Use Add language to add the languages you want to offer (Spanish, French, German, and so on).
3. Translate content in the side-by-side editor, or let Auto-Translate draft it for you.
4. Publish, and send respondents a link that starts them in the right language, or switch them mid-survey with a Set Language flow block.

Supported languages#

18 languages are supported out of the box, including RTL (right-to-left) languages:

Translations tab#

The Translations tab in the builder is where all language management happens. It sits in the builder toolbar between Panels & Quotas and Settings.

Overview page#

When you open the Translations tab, you see:

• Languages sidebar on the left, listing every language on the survey. Your base language sits at the top with a Base marker, and each translation language below it shows a small progress bar. Hover a translation language to reveal its remove button. Removing one asks you to confirm with Remove Language, and it deletes that language's translations for good.
• Add language at the top of the sidebar, which opens a list of every supported language you have not added yet. Once they are all added, the list says All supported languages have been added.
• Translations overview on the right, a table with Language, Code, Translation progress, Strings, Stale and Actions columns. Translation progress is a bar with a percentage, Strings reads as "77 of 190" and counts both editor tabs (Content and Messages & Alerts), Stale counts translations whose base text has changed since they were written, and Actions holds Auto-Translate and Edit. The base language gets its own row, which simply reads "Base language" across those three columns.
• Base language below the table, a dropdown you can change at any time. The hint reads "We recommend selecting the language you wrote your survey in."

With no languages added yet, the right panel reads No translation languages added and points you at the sidebar.

Download and Upload in the top right of the overview let a translator work in Excel instead of the builder. See Translating in Excel.

Translating in Excel#

Use this when someone outside the builder translates or reviews the survey.

1. Optionally run Auto-Translate first, so the sheet arrives pre-filled.
2. Select Download and pick a language. You get one .xlsx file for that language.
3. Send the file to the translator. They fill in or correct the language column and send it back.
4. Select Upload and choose the file. A summary shows what will change. Nothing is saved until you select Import.

The sheet lists everything the editor lists for that language: the Content tab, the Messages & Alerts tab (including every Interface: row) and the system messages. Its visible columns are:

Two more columns are hidden: an ID that ties each row to its text in the survey, and a fingerprint of the base text at the time of the download. Placeholders appear as {{minValidateLimit}} and must stay in the translation, as with Auto-Translate.

When you upload:

• A file for another survey or another language is refused and nothing changes. So is any spreadsheet that was not downloaded here.
• The base-language column is never imported. If the translator edited it, the summary says so and the edit is ignored. Change the base text in the builder.
• An empty cell keeps the current translation. Upload never deletes a translation.
• Rows can be sorted or filtered freely. They are matched by their hidden ID, not their position.
• A text whose base changed after the download is imported but marked stale, so it shows in the Stale count for someone to re-check. If another language of that text is already up to date, the row is skipped instead (download a new sheet), so that language is not marked stale by mistake. Likewise, a translation imported for a text whose other languages are stale is marked stale too, so they still show up for a re-check.
• Type plain text in plain rows. Texts shown without markup (most questions and options) take plain text: an & or a line break you type is kept as typed, and markup such as <b> is not allowed there. Rows shown with HTML must keep the same tags, with the same links and attributes.
• A row is skipped, with the reason listed, when its question was deleted after the download, when its ID appears twice, when the translation dropped or changed a placeholder ({{minValidateLimit}}, {n}), piped text or formatting, when Excel turned the cell into a date, when the cell holds a control character (such as NUL) or when it is longer than one text can be (512 KB).
• A cell that only looks empty (spaces, an empty paragraph) counts as empty.
• Texts added to the survey after the download are not in the file. Download a new sheet for them.

The import is saved as one change, so a single Undo reverses all of it. While a teammate is editing translations, or while you are offline, Upload and Import are unavailable and Download still works. A file that would unpack to far more data than a sheet holds is refused without being read.

Two-tab translation editor#

Click a language in the sidebar, or Edit in the overview table, to open the editor. Back in the top left returns you to the overview. The editor is organised into two tabs, Content and Messages & Alerts, each carrying its own translated/total count.

Content tab#

Translate all survey content:

• The left column shows base language text, read only.
• The right column is where you type the translation.
• Covers question text, descriptions, answer options, matrix rows and columns, scale labels, and section titles and descriptions.
• Rich text is supported on question text, and piped text can be inserted into question text and answer options.
• Carry-forward options are shown read only, with a hint telling you to edit them at the source question.
• Sections are collapsible and grouped by survey section, each with its own progress.
• Each field is saved a moment after you stop typing in it. Text you typed just before moving to another field, or just before leaving the editor, is saved too.
• With live editing, a field that has no translation yet is pre-filled with its base text and follows a teammate's change to that text live. Your cursor stays in the field you are typing in.

Messages & Alerts tab#

Translate system messages, validation alerts, and survey messages:

• System Messages, a collapsible section described as "(Buttons, status screens, progress text, validation alerts)", with a customised count on the right. Inside, the strings are grouped as Navigation Buttons, Resume & Restart, Completion, Password Screen, Email Gate Screen, Status Screens, Progress & Footer and Validation Messages. Every field is pre-filled with the built-in wording for that language, and once you change one a Reset to default button appears in the field to put it back.
• Completion Message, the message shown when the survey is completed.
• Termination: and Quota: rows, one per rule, for the messages shown when a respondent is screened out or a quota is full. Each row is named after the rule.
• Required Message and Validation Message, the custom wording you set on a question.
• Alert: rows, one per validation message that question can raise, such as Alert: Required, Alert: Min Selections and Alert: Email. Which rows appear depends on what you have configured: a required question gets Alert: Required, a question with a minimum selections rule gets Alert: Min Selections, and so on. Overriding one changes that message for that question in that language only. Interface questions that check their own answers (Tap & Drag Rank, for example) show their own messages instead, as Interface: rows, so they get no Alert: rows.
• Interface: rows, for an interface question's own buttons, pop-ups and messages, such as Interface: Next button or Interface: Min-selection validation message. See Interface texts.

Both tabs share the same header:

• Search strings... searches base text, translated text and field labels as you type.
• A filter menu offering All Items, Incomplete items only and Stale translations. The button itself abbreviates the last two to "Incomplete only" and "Stale only".
• A progress bar showing translated/total and a percentage for the tab you are on.
• Auto-Translate, with the number of fields it would act on beside it. Once both tabs are finished it is replaced by a Fully Translated badge.
• A Stale marker on any translation whose base text has changed since it was written, labelled "base text changed".

What gets translated#

Automatic translations#

These translate automatically based on the survey's active language, with no manual work needed:

• Navigation buttons: Next, Back, Submit, Start Survey, Continue
• Resume and restart: Take Again, Resume, Start Fresh, and the unsaved progress message
• Status screens: Survey Closed, Survey Paused, Password Protected, Survey Ended, and the email gate heading (Start Your Survey in English)
• Progress and footer: "Question 1 of 10", "50% complete", "Powered by Intuify Survey Builder"
• Validation messages: required fields, minimum and maximum selections, minimum text length, email, phone, postal code, ZIP code, number, minimum and maximum dates, minimum and maximum cell values, must-total-to, and text entry required

All 18 supported languages have built-in translations for every one of these.

Survey content#

These need a translation from you, either typed in the editor or drafted by Auto-Translate:

• Question text, descriptions, and helper text
• The instruction header above the concept in Multi Swipe and Directional Swipe, shown as Concept Instruction
• Answer option labels
• Matrix row and column labels
• Scale labels, shown as Min Label and Max Label
• Section titles and descriptions

A Guided Story + Segmentation question's choices also appear under Segmentation choices from <tag> (Guided Story), the hidden question that holds the AI's pick. Respondents see those texts only where you pipe the picked choice. The AI always reads the choices in the survey's own language.

Per-language overrides#

System messages can be customised per language in the Messages & Alerts tab. For example, set the Next button to "Siguiente" in Spanish and "Suivant" in French independently. Each field is pre-filled with the built-in default for that language and can be put back with Reset to default.

Per-question validation alert overrides#

Each question's applicable validation messages can be customised per language in the Messages & Alerts tab, using the Alert: rows. For example, override "This question is required" with your own wording for one question in one language. When a respondent hits that validation, the wording is chosen in this order:

1. The per-question Alert: override for that language
2. The Required Message or Validation Message set on the question
3. The matching field under System Messages
4. The built-in translation for that language
5. English

Interface texts#

Interface questions draw their own buttons, pop-ups and validation messages. You set their wording in the question's Messages tab in Properties, in the survey's base language. To translate them, open Translations, pick the language, and go to Messages & Alerts: each one is listed under its question as an Interface: row, pre-filled with the base wording. Auto-Translate fills them too.

Some messages contain a placeholder the survey fills in for each respondent, such as minValidateLimit in "Please choose at least minValidateLimit items" (a number) or {item} in MaxDiff's messages (an item's name). Keep that word, untranslated, in your translation. If it is missing, the editor warns you, and respondents see the base wording until you fix it. Auto-Translate keeps these words on its own and skips a result that loses one.

If you change an interface text's base wording later, its translations are marked Stale, like any other field.

Interface texts are being added one interface at a time. Today they cover Tap & Drag Rank, Multi-Select Multi Tap, Timed Instruction, Instruction Swiper, Emoji Multi Tap, Transposed Matrix and Funnel, Statement Agreements, Five Point Single Select, Grid Statement Choice, Multi Swipe, Orientation Instruction, Agree Double Tap, Bipolar Double Tap, Claim Multi Tap, Constant Sum, Dial Gauge Grid, Info Icon Augment, Multigrid Carousel, Navigation Tree, Simple Icon Grid, Brand Projection (Top/Bottom), Directional Swipe, Group Rank, Fast Select, Pick Group Rank, Time-Based Rating, Falling Price, MaxDiff, Conjoint, Shelf Choice, Online Choice and Simplified Shelf Choice. Other interfaces still show their buttons and messages in the base language whatever the respondent's language.

Respondent experience#

Choosing the language#

The respondent's display language is decided by the survey itself. There is no permanent language switcher in the survey chrome. You can drive the language two ways:

1. From the URL. Link to the survey with ?lang=<code> (for example ?lang=es) to start the respondent in that language. The code must be one you have added under Translations, otherwise it is ignored.
2. From a Set Language flow block. Place a Set Language block in the Flow tab and set its Language Source. Survey base language switches back to the language you authored in, and Fixed language always switches to the one language you pick below it. Everything after the block is rendered in that language. See Flow editor → Set language.

Each new visit starts fresh from the URL parameter or the base language. Nothing a previous respondent saw carries over. The end screen (the thank-you page, or the page shown when a respondent is screened out) stays in the language the respondent was using.

Language priority#

The survey resolves the active language in this order:

1. Set Language block. Once a respondent passes one, it overrides everything else for every page after it.
2. URL parameter. ?lang=es starts the respondent in Spanish, when that code is one you added.
3. Base language. Everything else falls back to this.

Fallback behaviour#

If a translation is incomplete, the survey falls back to the base language text for the untranslated fields. Respondents always see complete content, never a blank field.

RTL support#

When a right-to-left language (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian or Urdu) is active, the survey lays itself out right to left automatically. There is nothing to switch on.

Rich text and piped text in translations#

Rich text formatting#

The translation editor offers the same formatting as the main question editor:

• Question text fields carry a small toolbar with Rich Editor..., Piped Text... and an HTML toggle that swaps the field for its HTML source.
• Answer option fields are plain until you hover them, when a chevron appears on the right offering Rich Content Editor... and Insert Piped Text....
• Min Label and Max Label are plain text fields with no toolbar.

Base language text in the left column renders its formatting properly, so you can see exactly how your source text looks while you translate it.

Piped text in translations#

You can insert piped text tokens (for example ${q://Q1/SelectedValue}) into your translation fields using Piped Text... or Insert Piped Text.... When a respondent takes the survey in a translated language, piped text resolves to the translated answer they selected. If a Spanish respondent picks "Rojo" for a colour question, a later question piping that answer shows "Rojo", not the English label.

Filtering incomplete items#

Use the filter menu at the top of the editor to switch between:

• All Items, which shows everything
• Incomplete items only, which shows only what still needs a translation
• Stale translations, which shows only translations whose base text has changed since they were written

This helps you find missing and out-of-date translations without scrolling through finished content. With nothing left to show, the Content tab reads All questions are fully translated! or No stale translations found.

Carry-forward translations#

If a question uses carry-forward, pulling its answer options from an earlier question, the carried options use the translated text from that source question. In the editor they appear read only with a hint reading "(from Q1 — edit there)". Translate the options at the source question and they flow through automatically. Carry-forward options do not count toward the translation percentage.

Previewing translations#

Open the full preview with Preview in the builder toolbar. When your survey has more than one language, a language picker appears in the top right, next to the device toggle and Restart. It lists each language by its own name, with (Base) beside your base language.

Pick a language to check:

• The automatic strings (Start Survey, Next, Back, Submit, the footer)
• Your translated content (questions, answer options)
• Right-to-left layout for Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu
• Any per-language overrides you set

The preview picker is preview-only. It does not change what a real respondent gets.

Distribution with languages#

When sharing survey links, append ?lang= to pre-select a language:

https://yoursite.com/s/SV_abc123?lang=es    # Spanish
https://yoursite.com/s/SV_abc123?lang=fr    # French
https://yoursite.com/s/SV_abc123?lang=de    # German

This is useful for email distributions where you already know the recipient's language.

To switch language partway inside the survey, add a Set Language block in the Flow tab. See Flow editor → Set language.

AI-powered translation#

Speed up your translation workflow with built-in AI translation:

1. Go to the Translations tab and click Auto-Translate. It sits both in the overview table's Actions column and in the editor header.
2. The Auto-Translate to language dialog tells you how many untranslated fields it will act on. Under How would you like to translate? choose:
   • All at once, which translates every field across all sections at the same time, split into smaller batches that run side by side
   • Section by section, which finishes one section before moving to the next. If a section fails, the rest still translate
3. Click Start Translation. The button reads Starting... while it kicks off and Done! when the run finishes, and fields fill in as each translation arrives.
4. Review and edit the translations as needed.

While a run is in flight, the Auto-Translate button counts up, reading "Translating 5/12...". Stale translations are picked up as well as untranslated ones, so a re-run refreshes anything whose base text has changed. Carry-forward strings are skipped, since they inherit their translation from the source question.

The dialog carries a warning worth taking seriously: AI translations should be reviewed by a qualified translator before you publish.

How it works behind the scenes#

• Translations stream in real-time via Server-Sent Events (SSE), so you see each field populate as it's translated
• The Auto-Translate button shows live progress ("Translating 5/12...") during active translation
• Carry-forward strings are automatically excluded (they inherit translations from their source question)
• If a network error occurs, the system retries once automatically
• If part of the survey cannot be translated, everything else still is; you get a message saying how many fields were left out, and running Auto-Translate again retries only those
• A run belongs to the Translations tab. If you leave the tab while it is running, or (with live editing) a teammate takes over Translations, the run stops: what was already translated stays, and you are told how many fields were translated and how many were not, so you can run it again for the rest
• Images inside question text are kept as they are; only the text around them is translated
• Supports OpenAI and Google Gemini as translation providers (configured by your administrator)