We recently imported French and German language packs into our Vault QMS instance (23R2) to support our European operations. The standard object labels and picklist values updated correctly, but our custom Change Control workflow labels are still displaying in English for users who have switched their profile language settings.
I’ve verified that:
Language pack import completed without errors
User profile language settings are set to French/German
Standard workflow labels (like Submit, Approve) are translating correctly
Only our custom workflow states and action labels remain in English
The custom workflow states include things like “Technical Review Pending” and “Manufacturing Impact Assessment” - these were created before we implemented localization. Is there a separate process for mapping custom workflow labels to translated values? Our French and German users are getting confused by the mixed language interface, which is impacting adoption of the new Change Control process.
I want to add some additional context about the workflow entry actions point. Make sure your criteria are using state API names, not labels - that’s a best practice regardless of localization.
Let me provide a complete solution covering all three key aspects of your localization challenge:
Language Pack Import Process:
First, verify your language pack import was comprehensive. Go to Admin > Configuration > Languages and confirm that both French (fr) and German (de) show as “Active” with import dates. Check the import log to ensure workflow-related components were included in the package. Sometimes partial imports can miss workflow metadata.
Custom Workflow Label Mapping:
For your custom Change Control workflow labels, you need to use the MDL approach:
Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Workflows
Select your Change Control workflow and use the “Export” option
Open the exported MDL file and locate each custom state definition
Add localized label entries for each state:
Find: `label__v: “Technical Review Pending”
Add below it:
`label_fr__v: “Révision Technique en Attente”
`label_de__v: “Technische Überprüfung Ausstehend”
Repeat for all custom states and user actions (“Manufacturing Impact Assessment”, etc.)
Save the MDL file and reimport via Admin > Configuration > Workflows > Import
Deploy the updated workflow
User Profile Language Settings:
Even with correct MDL configuration, users may not see changes immediately due to session caching:
Have affected users navigate to their profile settings
Verify Language is set to French or German (not “Default”)
Important: Users must fully log out (not just close browser) and log back in
Clear browser cache if labels still don’t update
For testing, use an incognito window with fresh login
Additional Validation Steps:
Check that your custom workflow action buttons also have localized labels in the MDL
Verify any workflow email notifications reference the correct language-specific templates
Test with a non-admin user account, as admin accounts sometimes cache differently
Document your MDL label additions for future workflow changes
The mixed language interface issue should resolve once the MDL is properly configured and users refresh their sessions. If specific labels still appear in English after following these steps, export the workflow again and verify the label_fr__v and label_de__v entries are present in the MDL for those specific elements.
Good catch - I should have been clearer about the MDL approach. Also worth noting that after you update the workflow MDL with translated labels, you may need to have users log out and back in for the changes to take effect. The language preference is cached in the session, so a simple page refresh won’t always show the new labels immediately.
We ran into this exact issue last quarter. One thing to watch out for: if you have any workflow entry actions or user actions that reference these custom states in their criteria, you’ll need to update those separately as well. The localization only affects the display labels, not the underlying API names that your action logic might be checking against. Caused us some confusion when French users couldn’t trigger certain actions because our criteria were still checking for English label text instead of API names.