String translations vs. Glossary — which one do I use?

LingoPress has two screens that both talk about “translating terms,” and it’s easy to mix them up. They do different things, at different moments. Here we explain each one in plain words so you know when to use which.

String translations (LingoPress menu → String translations)

This is for translating individual bits of text on your site that aren’t part of your posts or pages: for example, the title of a widget (those small blocks that show up in your sidebars or footer), or text that comes from your theme or from other plugins. These are texts that the theme or plugin has made available for you to translate.

• Who translates: you, by hand. You type the exact translation for each language.
• When it acts: every time someone visits your site. When a page is shown in a given language, the original text is replaced with the translation you saved, exactly as you wrote it.
• If you leave a field empty: the original text is shown.
• The AI is not involved on this screen.

Example: a widget title says “Últimas novedades.” In String translations you type its English version, “Latest news,” and that’s exactly what people browsing your site in English will see.

Glossary (LingoPress menu → Settings, AI section)

This is a list of vocabulary rules for the AI that does the translating. On its own it doesn’t translate anything and doesn’t change anything your visitors see: it only comes into play when you ask the AI to translate a post or a page.

You write one rule per line, in two formats:

muñeca = wrist
sentadilla = squat
BallesDev

• term = required translation — forces the AI to always use that translation for that term.

• A term on its own (without =) — tells the AI not to translate it. Handy for brand names and proper nouns.

• Who translates: the AI, following these rules over its own judgment.

• When it acts: only at the moment the AI does a translation. It doesn’t change translations that are already done, or anything you saved in String translations.

Example: on a fitness blog, “muñeca” always means the body part. With the rule muñeca = wrist, the AI will never translate it as “doll” (a toy muñeca), no matter the sentence.

Summary

Quick rule: if you want to change a fixed piece of text on your site into another language → String translations. If you want the AI to use (or respect) certain vocabulary when it translates your posts → Glossary.