> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.tempoweave.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.tempoweave.com/special-topics/language-translations.md).
# Language Translations
## Customizing Translations
*Available on Desktop. The mobile app uses the built-in translations.*
TempoWeave Studio ships in English, French, German, Spanish, and Dutch. Weaving-related words vary by region and by tradition, so if a term in your language is not the one you use, you can change it. Your wording lives in a small file of your own, outside the program, and it persists through every update.
You never edit TempoWeave's deployed files. You write a short list of the words you want changed, and TempoWeave lays it over the built-in translation each time it starts.
***
### Before you start
* **Use a plain text editor**, not a word processor. Word and Pages turn straight quotes into curly quotes, which the file format does not accept. On Windows use Notepad; on macOS use TextEdit after choosing Format → Make Plain Text.
* **Changes appear after a restart.** Translations load when TempoWeave starts, so save your file, quit TempoWeave completely, and open it again.
* **Only the words you list change.** Everything you leave out keeps the built-in translation.
***
### Step by step
#### 1. Open your translations folder
Choose the language you want to customize in Settings and restart if you changed it. Then open **File (backstage) → Settings → Settings tab**, and in the **Language** section press **Customize Translations…**.
TempoWeave creates a folder for you and opens it. It contains:
| Item | What it is |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **`nl.json`** (named for your language: `de.json`, `fr.json`, `es.json`, `en.json`) | Your file. This is the only file you edit. It starts almost empty. |
| **`Reference/en.json`** | The full built-in English list. Search it to find the name of the word you want to change. Read-only. |
| **`Reference/nl.json`** (again named for your language) | The full built-in list for your language, so you can see how a word is currently translated. Read-only. |
The Reference copies are rewritten every time you press the button, so they always match the version you have installed. Anything you type into them is ignored.
#### 2. Find the key for the word
Every piece of text in TempoWeave has a **key**, a short English name such as `Threading` or `TieUp`. Your file tells TempoWeave "for this key, show this wording instead."
Open `Reference/en.json` and search for the English text you see on screen. Each line looks like this:
```json
"Treadling": "Treadling",
```
The part before the colon is the key. The part after it is the text.
Searching the English file works even when your screen is in another language: find the English wording for the button or label, and the key beside it is the one you need. If you would rather search for the current translation, open the reference file for your language instead; the keys are the same.
> **The same word can appear under several keys.** "Threading" is used as a menu heading, a dialog title, a column label, and in sentences. Each place has its own key. If you change one and the word still shows the old way somewhere else, search the reference file again and add the other keys too.
#### 3. Add the line to your file
Open your file, `nl.json` in this example. It looks like this when it is new:
```json
{
"_comment": "Your own wording for TempoWeave (nl). ...",
"_instructions": "...",
"_example_Threading": "Remove the _example_ prefix from this key to make it active"
}
```
Add one line per word you want to change, inside the curly braces, with a comma between lines. Say a Dutch weaver prefers *rijgen* to *inrijgen* and wants the tie-up called *binding*:
```json
{
"_comment": "Your own wording for TempoWeave (nl).",
"Threading": "Rijging",
"TieUp": "Binding",
"TieUpShifted": "Binding verschoven."
}
```
Rules that matter:
* Every key and every wording sits inside straight double quotes: `"Threading": "Rijging"`.
* Lines are separated by commas. A comma after the very last line is fine.
* Lines starting with `_` are notes and are ignored. Delete the `_example_Threading` line, or rename it, once you know how the file works.
* If the built-in text contains something like `{0}`, keep it in your wording. That is where TempoWeave inserts a number or a name. `"{0} picks removed."` becomes `"{0} inslagen verwijderd."`, with the `{0}` still there.
#### 4. Save, quit, and reopen
Save the file, quit TempoWeave completely, and open it again. Your wording is now in place, in the ribbon, the menus, and the dialogs.
If nothing changed, TempoWeave will tell you why: a file that cannot be read produces a warning at startup naming the file and the line where the problem is. The usual causes are a missing quote, a missing comma between lines, or curly quotes from a word processor. Fix the line, save, and restart.
***
### Going back to the built-in translation
Delete your language file from the translations folder (or remove the lines you no longer want) and restart. The Reference folder can stay; it does nothing on its own.
The button in Settings reopens the folder any time. If your language file already exists it is left exactly as you wrote it; only the Reference copies are refreshed.
***
### Sharing corrections with us
If you find a translation that is wrong or awkward, please send it to us so that we can improve TempoWeave translations for everyone. Send the key, the current wording, and the wording you suggest, and every weaver in your language gets the correction in the next release. The reference file is the quickest way to collect them: copy the lines you would change into an email.
***
### Where the folder is
The Customize Translations button opens it for you, and the path is shown under the button in Settings. For reference:
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Windows" %}
`C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\TempoWeave Studio\Locales`
AppData is a hidden folder. Paste the path into the Explorer address bar, or use the button in Settings.
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="macOS" %}
`~/Library/Application Support/TempoWeave Studio/Locales`
Library is hidden in Finder. Use the button in Settings, or in Finder choose Go → Go to Folder and paste the path.
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}
***
### Quick reference
| I want to… | Do this |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Change one word | Find its key in `Reference/en.json`, add `"Key": "wording"` to your language file, restart |
| See how a word is translated now | Open the reference file for your language and search for the key |
| Change a word everywhere it appears | Search the reference file for every key with that wording and add each one |
| Undo everything | Delete your language file and restart |
| Find out why a change did not appear | Read the warning at startup; check quotes and commas; confirm you restarted |
| Get the folder back on screen | Settings → Language → Customize Translations… |
