WebTranslateIt includes a validation system that checks translations for common errors and formatting issues. When you save a translation that has issues, a modal window appears showing the problems and helping you fix them.

Validation Checks#

We currently have 8 validations in place:

Variable placeholders#

There are validation checks to see if the translation uses the variable placeholders properly.

• The original text does not contain variables but the target text does include a variable
• The original text does contain a variable but no variables were found in the target text
• The original text does not contain the variables found in the target text
• A variable is incorrect in a plural segment.

The variable placeholders currently supported by WebTranslateIt are:

• {{variable}}
• {variable}
• %{variable}
• {!1}, {!2}, …
• %1$s, %2$s, …
• %1$d, %2$d, …
• %d, %,d
• %@
• %02d
• %s
• %%s
• <%%= @variable %>, <%%= variable %>
• <%%# @variable %>, <%%# variable %>
• <%% variable %>, <%% @variable %>
• <%% variable -%>, <%% @variable -%>
• $t(__variable__)
• @variable@, @variable.variable@, @variable:variable@, @variable"variable"@, @variable'variable'@

Do you use a different kind of variable placeholders you’d like us to support? Drop us a line to let us know.

Linebreaks#

There are validation checks to see if the translation uses the new line character properly.

• The original text starts with a new line character but no new line character was included in the target text
• The original text ends with a new line character but no new line character was included in the target text
• The original text doesn’t start with a new line character but a new line character was included in the target text
• The original text doesn’t end with a new line character but a new line was included in the target text

Spaces#

There are validation checks to see if the translation uses the space character properly.

• The original text starts with a space character but no space character was included in the target text
• The original text ends with a space character but no space character was included in the target text
• The original text doesn’t start with a space character but a space character was included in the target text
• The original text doesn’t end with a space character but a space was included in the target text

CDATA tags#

CDATA tags are sometimes used in XML files. Usually, when a CDATA tag is included in the source text, it should also be included in the target text and these validations make sure they are present.

• The original text has a CDATA tag but no CDATA tag was included in the target text.
• The original text doesn’t have a CDATA tag but a CDATA tag was included in the target text.

Maximum characters#

There is a validation check to see if the translation doesn’t exceed the character limit set on a segment.

Keyboard shortcuts symbols “&”#

There are validation checks to see if the translation contains the keyboard shortcut symbol & in some language files.

• The original text contains a keyboard shortcut symbol & but it isn’t present in the translation.
• The original text doesn’t contain a keyboard shortcut symbol & but it is present in the translation.

Ellipsis#

There is a validation check to see if a translation is using a proper ellipsis sign (…) if the source text uses a proper ellipsis sign too.

Parenthesis#

There are validation checks to see if a translation makes proper use of parentheses.

• The translation doesn’t have the same amount of opening parentheses ( as the source text
• The translation doesn’t have the same amount of closing parentheses ) as the source text
• The translation doesn’t have the same amount of opening and closing parentheses.

Highlighted Errors#

When validation issues are found, a modal window shows:

• A text preview of your translation with the problematic parts highlighted in color. Each issue is highlighted with a distinct color so you can easily tell them apart.
• A list of issues found in the translation, each with a colored indicator matching its highlight in the text.

Hovering over an issue in the list highlights the corresponding text in the preview, and hovering over a highlighted section in the preview highlights the matching issue — making it easy to understand exactly what needs fixing.

AutoCorrect#

Many validation issues can be fixed automatically. When issues are detected, the validation modal offers three options:

• Ignore (⌘I) — Bypass the validation and save the translation as-is. Use this when you are certain the translation is correct despite the warnings.
• Correct Manually (Esc) — Close the modal and return to the text editor to fix the issues yourself.
• AutoCorrect (Enter) — Automatically fix all detected issues. This applies deterministic corrections first (such as adding a missing ellipsis or fixing variable placeholders), then uses AI to fix any remaining issues that require contextual understanding.

AutoCorrect requires Machine Translation to be enabled for AI-powered corrections.

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