Translate with AI
The translation panel on an item offers a per-language action that translates its fields for you. It fills the form; you review and save.
Where it is
On the item edit screen, in the Translations panel. Each language other than the item's own carries a translate action, translating from the item's language into that one.
Use it
- Open the item.
- Select the language tab.
- Select the translate action for that language.
- The fields fill with the translated text.
- Read and correct it.
- Select Update to save.
Nothing is stored until you update the item, so a translation you dislike costs nothing but the credit.
What it translates
The item's translatable fields for that menu type: the title, subtitle, description and long description, and — on tasting and set menus — the block titles, block contents and the footer note.
It does not translate prices, allergens, images or the category assignment, because those are shared across languages rather than translated.
Restaurant language needs correcting
This is where review earns its place. Recurring corrections:
| Problem | Correction |
|---|---|
| Proper names translated | Keep txuletón, pintxo, jamón ibérico, pil-pil |
| Regional terms replaced | Keep the term, add a short explanation |
| Length inflation | Cut back to the source's length; the layout depends on it |
| Register drift | Menus are terse; general translation is not |
| Inconsistent terminology | Use the same word for the same thing across the whole menu |
The working rule: translate the explanation, keep the name.
Build a correction list
Translate one item, correct it completely, and note what you changed. The same three or four corrections will apply to the whole menu. Applying a known list to a section is fast; discovering it per dish is not.
Cost
Each translation consumes POM AI credit, with an estimate shown before the operation. Translate section by section rather than a whole menu in one action, and only once the source text is final — retranslating a rewritten description spends the credit twice.
Category names
Categories are separate records and are not covered by this action. Translate section names where categories are managed, and do it before the items, so a translated menu never shows English dishes under Spanish headings.
A human should read the result
Ideally someone who speaks the language. A menu is the restaurant's voice, and a guest reading an awkward translation forms an opinion about the kitchen rather than about the software.
If nobody on the team speaks the language, that is an argument for publishing fewer languages, not for skipping review.
After translating a section
- [ ] Proper names survived.
- [ ] Descriptions are comparable in length to the source.
- [ ] Terminology is consistent across the section.
- [ ] Category names are translated too.
- [ ] Prices and allergens are identical — they are shared.
- [ ] The section was read signed out, on a phone, in that language.
Full checklist: Translation review.