Granular Translation Method settings for the Link field type

[rsgd]

The Link field is a powerful field, we enjoy using. However, the current Translation Method setting applies globally to all subfields, which can be limiting in some use cases.

We have encountered a scenario where we want the entry relation or URL to remain non-translatable, while allowing the label to be translatable per site. This granular control over the translation settings for each subfield would significantly enhance the flexibility of the Link field and accommodate a broader range of use cases.

For instance, a typical scenario might involve:

• A consistent entry relation (e.g., linking to the same page or asset across sites)
• A localized label (e.g., translating a "Read More" button label or link description)

We are maintaining a multi-language site with seven languages. If there is a change in the related entry, the content team will need to update the relation on all sites then. We are afraid, that this will eventually lead to errors.

We propose introducing separate Translation Method settings for:

• Allowed Link Types
• Label (or any other subfields managed by the Link field?)

Thank you for considering this feature request! Please let me know if you’d like further clarification or details.

[gregorterrill]

Also would like to add a +1 to this. Having to maintain linked entries separately in multiple languages is a pretty big burden on content entry all just so that the label field (in our case) can be translated.

I would also like to add that our normal use case is that 95% of the time, we want linked entries to be maintained across different languages. For linked assets, its probably more like 60%, because often times there will be a language-specific PDF download or something. For external links, it's probably around 70% - often the link is the same but sometimes the external site has a language-specific version of the content.

I almost think the ideal translation setting for the Link field would be to have the label be translateable, have the link itself default to being consistent across languages but have the option to opt-out and set a language-specific link in specific instances where it makes sense.

[rsgd]

I am assuming that with the latest Craft release we are supposed to create a custom Content Block and build our own Link field. So I guess this feature idea may be of the table …

[brandonkelly]

Not off the table, but the idea isn’t really achievable at the moment in the first place. We don’t have a mechanism for partially translatable fields right now.

[rsgd]

Thanks for the reply. At least its good to know, that we shouldn’t wait for this to happen soon. We are great fans of the new Content Block feature and will give it a try. It seems like it is all we need right now.

[angelokeirsebilck]

@rsgd Did you manage to create reusable content block for the links?

I've just tried creating a content block with a native link field which is set not to translate and other fields like title, aria label to translate but I'm running into the issue if I choose a link on locale A and then check what link/url is used on locale B the entry is indeed the same but its pointing to the url of locale A. So the url is wrong on the other locale.

@brandonkelly Is there a way a native link field could automatically get the correct entry url of the locale if the field is set to not translate?

So for example if i have 2 locales: EN (base url /en) and NL (base url /nl).

I've got an EN entry with slug about-us and I link to this entry (url will be /en/about-us), is it possible the link in the NL locale is linked to /nl/over-ons ?

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[rsgd]

@angelokeirsebilck We have a similar content block setup as you described and it works for us. However, in this case we are using Craft as a headless system, where only the UID of the linked entry gets published to a custom API. Within the output the UID of the native link field stays the same for every locale – but I am not sure, how Craft would resolve that in a coupled frontend.

[brandonkelly]

@angelokeirsebilck Think of the entry selection as basically a shortcut for typing the full URL in manually. So if you entered /en/about-us manually, you would need to make the field translatable so that other sites can link to a site-specific URL, like /nl/over-ons.