Machine translation in Speedy Translate
Speedy Translate can ask a translation service for a first draft of any field. You read it before it goes in, and you use your own account with the provider.
How it works
- Nothing is sent until you ask. Opening a language tab sends nothing; pressing Translate from en-GB does.
- You see it before it is used. The translation opens in a preview, and goes into the field only when you press Use this translation.
- Your account, your bill. You enter your own key. The provider charges you at its price; Speedy Translate charges nothing for it.
- Long texts arrive whole. A long article is sent in pieces cut between HTML elements, so headings, lists and tables come back as they went. If one piece fails, the whole translation fails, and nothing half translated is saved.
Choose a provider and add its key
In Speedy Translate → Options → General, choose the Auto translation service. The field for that provider's key appears below it.
| Provider | Edition | What to enter |
|---|---|---|
| Lite and Pro | Google credentials: in Google Cloud, either paste the JSON key of a service account (Credentials → Service Accounts → Keys → Add key, JSON), or an API key restricted to the Cloud Translation API (Credentials → Create credentials → API key). The Cloud Translation API must be enabled in the project. | |
| DeepL | Lite and Pro | DeepL: your DeepL API key. A key of DeepL's free plan (it ends in :fx) is sent to DeepL's free endpoint automatically. |
| Yandex | Lite and Pro | Yandex Cloud API key: the API key of a Yandex Cloud service account with the ai.translate.user role. Keys of the retired Yandex Translate API do not work. |
| ChatGPT | Pro | ChatGPT API key from OpenAI, and the Model to ask. |
| Claude | Pro | Claude API key from the Claude Console, and the Model to ask. |
| Gemini | Pro | Gemini API key from Google AI Studio, and the Model to ask. |
For ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini the model is a text field with a sensible default. Type the name of any model your account can use, as the provider writes it: a model released tomorrow works without a Speedy Translate update.
Translate a field
- Open the item and click the flag of the language you want under the field.
- Press Translate from en-GB (the site's default language).
- Read the translation in the preview. It names the provider, and for an AI provider the model.
- Press Use this translation to put it in the field, then correct it as you like and save.
The French translation of an article's text, before it goes into the field.
The button translates a field that already has a translation as well: the preview lets you compare before replacing it. To translate many items at once, see Bulk translation PRO. The language string tools use the same provider for their suggestions.
AI translation settings PRO
The AI translation tab of the options holds what ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini share:
- Prompt template field: the instruction sent with each text. Use the tags
[source_language],[target_language]and[input_text]. Leave it empty to use the default prompt. - Chunking option: how long texts are split, Large or Small, with the Max token of each (10,000 and 4,000 by default). Small pieces are safer with models that have short outputs; large ones keep more context together.
An answer that stops at the model's output limit, or that the provider declines or blocks, counts as a failure: nothing half translated is used.
A provider for each language PRO
Some providers are better at some languages, and agencies often translate with the client's own account. The Advanced tab of the options lets you choose per language:
- Turn on Enable advanced configuration.
- Add your accounts. Each has a Service ID of your choosing (unique), a Service provider, a Service type (the free or paid endpoint, where the provider has both), its Service credentials, and for an AI provider an optional Model that overrides the provider's model for this account.
- Add assignments: a Service ID and the Assigned language it translates into.
A language without an assignment uses the service chosen in the General tab.
Glossary PRO
The Glossary tab lists terms machine translation must keep as they are, such as brand and product names, or translate a fixed way.
| Term | Language | Translation | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speedy Translate | All | empty | Kept as it is in every language |
| check-in | Français (France) | arrivée | Translated “arrivée” in French only |
- A term is found as a whole word, whatever its case, and never inside an HTML tag. Longer terms are matched first.
- An entry for one language wins over an entry for All languages.
- Google, DeepL and Yandex are told to leave each term untranslated, and the fixed translation is put in afterwards. ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini get the terms of each text with the prompt.
- The glossary applies everywhere machine translation runs: the language tabs, bulk jobs and the language string tools.
When a translation fails
Instead of the preview, a message says No translation came back. The reason, as the provider gave it, is written to administrator/logs/com_speedytranslate.errors.php, with keys masked. The usual causes are a wrong or expired key, an API not enabled in the provider's console, an exhausted quota, or a model name the account cannot use.
With Action Log - Speedy Translate enabled, each machine translation is also recorded in Users → User Actions Log: who translated what, into which language, with which service.