README

An extension for silverstripe/fluent to automatically translate content using AI services (ChatGPT, DeepL).

Installation

composer require s2hub/silverstripe-autotranslate

Silverstripe CMS Versions

The current version of this module is for Silverstripe CMS 6.

Setup

1. Add the extension to your classes

# SiteTree already has fluent applied
SilverStripe\CMS\Model\SiteTree:
  extensions:
    autotranslate: S2Hub\AutoTranslate\Extension\AutoTranslate

My\Namespace\Model\Foo:
  extensions:
    fluent: TractorCow\Fluent\Extension\FluentExtension
    autotranslate: S2Hub\AutoTranslate\Extension\AutoTranslate
  # if you have a manual `translate` config on this class, you must add these fields explicitly:
  translate:
    - IsAutoTranslated
    - LastTranslation

The AutoTranslate extension adds two fields to each locale:

• IsAutoTranslated – flag that editors can toggle to mark a translation as manually reviewed
• LastTranslation – timestamp of the last auto-translation

⚠️ Some extensions from other modules define translated config on a class. If that applies to your class, you must add IsAutoTranslated and LastTranslation to the translate list manually (see Troubleshooting).

2. Choose and configure a translation backend

Two backends are available: ChatGPT (default) and DeepL.

Set the active backend in your config or via environment variable:

S2Hub\AutoTranslate\Translator\TranslatableFactory:
  backend: DeepL  # or ChatGPT (default)

The environment variable FLUENT_TRANS_BACKEND takes precedence over the config value:

FLUENT_TRANS_BACKEND=DeepL

ChatGPT

API Key

CHATGPT_API_KEY=your-api-key

Configuration

S2Hub\AutoTranslate\Translator\ChatGPTTranslator:
  gpt_model: gpt-4o-mini
  # %s will be replaced with the target locale name
  gpt_command: 'You are a professional translator. Translate the following text to %s language. Please keep the json format intact.'

Customising the prompt dynamically

Add an extension to ChatGPTTranslator and implement updateGptCommand:

public function updateGptCommand(&$command, $locale)
{
    $command = 'Translate the following JSON to ' . $locale . '. Preserve the JSON structure.';
}

Finding available GPT models

In ssshell you can list models available for your API key:

$gpt = new S2Hub\AutoTranslate\Translator\ChatGPTTranslator(Environment::getEnv('CHATGPT_API_KEY'));
$gpt->getModels();

DeepL

API Key

DEEPL_API_KEY=your-api-key

Enabling DeepL

S2Hub\AutoTranslate\Translator\TranslatableFactory:
  backend: DeepL

or via environment variable:

FLUENT_TRANS_BACKEND=DeepL

Locale mapping

The module ships with locale mappings for 40+ languages in _config/locales.yml. DeepL uses different language codes than SilverStripe (e.g. en_US → EN-US, de_DE → DE). Override or extend mappings in your project config if needed:

S2Hub\AutoTranslate\Translator\DeepLTranslator:
  source_locales:
    de_DE: DE
    en_US: EN
  target_locales:
    de_DE: DE
    en_US: EN-US
    en_GB: EN-GB

Glossaries

DeepL glossaries let you enforce consistent terminology (e.g. brand names, product terms). Create glossaries in your DeepL account, then map their IDs to DeepL target language codes in your config:

S2Hub\AutoTranslate\Translator\DeepLTranslator:
  glossaries:
    EN-US: 'xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx'
    DE: 'yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy'

The key must match the DeepL target language code (not the SilverStripe locale). The glossary is applied automatically whenever a translation targets that language.

HTML handling

DeepL receives the SilverStripe field values as a JSON object. If a field value contains HTML markup, the translator automatically enables DeepL's HTML tag handling (tag_handling: html) to preserve markup structure. Plain text values are handled separately, with HTML entities decoded back after translation.

Large HTML content is split into chunks at block-level tag boundaries to stay below DeepL's 75 kB request limit.

Running translations

CLI task

sake tasks:FluentAIAutoTranslate --do_publish=1

Parameters

sake tasks:FluentAIAutoTranslate --help

CMS UI

The AutoTranslate extension adds an Auto Translate button to the CMS actions bar. The button is only shown when editing a record in the default locale – it is hidden for translated locales.

Requires the s2hub/silverstripe-cms-popup module, which provides the modal infrastructure.

Clicking the button opens a modal with four options:

The modal processes items one by one and displays per-locale feedback (translated, published, skipped, error) for each item as it completes.

Owned objects (e.g. Elemental blocks, Links, related media records) are always translated inline as part of the parent record – they do not appear as separate queue items. The Recursive option only controls whether child pages are added to the queue.

Translation behaviour

• Translation always reads from the default locale.
• A record is skipped if IsAutoTranslated = false (manual edit detected), unless force_translation is set.
• A locale is skipped if its LastTranslation timestamp is newer than the source record's, meaning it was manually edited after the last auto-translation, unless force_translation is set.
• IsAutoTranslated is set to true and LastTranslation is updated after each successful translation.
• Publishing only works if the object uses FluentVersionedExtension instead of FluentExtension.

Troubleshooting

[Emergency] Uncaught RuntimeException: My\Namespace\HomePage does not have IsAutoTranslated as translatable field

Your class defines a manual translate list. Add the required fields:

SilverStripe\CMS\Model\SiteTree:
  extensions:
    autotranslate: S2Hub\AutoTranslate\Extension\AutoTranslate
  translate:
    - IsAutoTranslated
    - LastTranslation

DeepL API character limit reached

The task throws a RuntimeException when the DeepL character quota is exhausted. Check your usage in the DeepL account dashboard and upgrade your plan or wait for the quota reset.

Thanks to

This module is based on the fluent-export-import-module by wernerkrauss. Thanks to Nobrainer and Adiwidjaja Teamworks for sponsoring this module ❤️.

Thanks to TractorCow and all contributors for the great fluent module. And thanks to the folks at Silverstripe for their great work.

S2-Hub

This module is published and maintained by S2-Hub. S2-Hub is a non-profit organisation that consists of Silverstripe CMS professionals and agencies around Europe with the goal of setting up a dedicated European professional hub for all things Silverstripe CMS.

See you on next Stripecon!