Markdown

File format value

markdown

Markdown is a plain text file format that allows you to export (or import) every translation key into a single file. The Markdown file format in SimpleLocalize is a specialized format based on translation as file (TAF) format. The main difference between these two formats is that TAF one is more generic, and it can be used with any file extension you like. While markdown is prepared to work with Markdown files only, that has .md extension.

This file format requires SimpleLocalize CLI version 2.8.0 or higher.

SimpleLocalize will automatically recognize and remove .md extension from the translation key when you upload the file. When you download files, add the .md extension to the download path, because the translation key does not include it.

Learn how to set up a complete workflow in Markdown translations.

Special placeholder

With the Markdown format, you have to use a special placeholder {translationKey} that will be replaced with the actual translation key value.

Upload and download ZIP files via Web UI

You don't need the CLI to translate many Markdown files. Put them in a ZIP archive and upload it in the Web UI:

Choose Markdown as the file format and select the language of the files. All files in one ZIP must be in the same language.
Upload the ZIP file. Every .md file becomes one translation key, named after its path in the archive without the .md extension, for example docs/guide/intro.md becomes the docs/guide/intro translation key. Other files, including .mdx, are skipped; use translation as file format for them.
Translate the content in the translation editor.
Export translations in the Markdown format. When more than one file is exported, you get a ZIP archive with one folder per language and the same folder structure as the uploaded archive, for example de/docs/guide/intro.md.

A single ZIP archive can contain up to 200 files. Split larger sets of files into several archives.

Upload with CLI

Example command to upload markdown blog posts:

simplelocalize upload --apiKey <PROJECT_API_KEY> \
  --uploadFormat markdown \
  --uploadPath ./blog-posts/{lang}/{translationKey}

{translationKey} will be replaced with the actual translation key value, and {lang} will be replaced with the actual language code.

Example command to upload plain text files:

simplelocalize upload --apiKey <PROJECT_API_KEY> \
  --uploadFormat markdown \
  --uploadPath ./public/{translationKey}/{lang}

Learn more about SimpleLocalize CLI and translations upload feature.

Download with CLI

Example command to download markdown blog posts:

simplelocalize download --apiKey <PROJECT_API_KEY> \
  --downloadFormat markdown \
  --downloadPath ./blog-posts/{lang}/{translationKey}.md

Example command to download plain text files:

simplelocalize download --apiKey <PROJECT_API_KEY> \
  --downloadFormat markdown \
  --downloadPath ./public/{translationKey}/{lang}

Learn more about SimpleLocalize CLI and translations download feature.