Glossary rules are checked on every translation request, before the translator sees your content. Whether a rule replaces text outright or merely advises the translator depends on one thing: if the rule matches the entire string, or only part of it.
That distinction explains three questions people ask about the glossary: does a rule cost me words, why did my change not appear, and which rule wins when two could apply.
Whole string, or part of one
Your pages are broken into strings before translation: a heading, a paragraph, a button label. A rule either matches one of those strings completely, or it matches a term inside one.
A whole-string match never reaches the translator. The rule supplies the result directly.
rule: Keep as is, "Ember"
page string Ember
result Ember, used as-is, no translator call
A match inside a longer string still goes to the translator, along with an instruction about your term.
rule: Keep as is, "Ember"
page string Welcome to Ember, the coffee people
sent onward the full sentence, plus "never translate Ember"
For a pattern rule, the instruction names the text that actually matched rather than the pattern, so the translator is told to keep STK110 rather than being shown STK{n:3}.
The translator follows these instructions in most sentences. On long or unusual ones it can occasionally inflect or reposition the term to fit the grammar around it. Where a specific sentence has to be exact, edit that string on the Translations screen.
What it costs
A whole-string match costs nothing. No words are counted and no translation is stored, because no translation was produced. A page of product codes covered by one pattern rule is the cheapest path through the system.
A match inside a sentence costs the sentence. The string is translated and stored as normal. The rule changes the wording, not the price.
Which rule wins
Several rules can match the same text. The most specific one is used, in this order:
- An exact term matching the whole string.
- A pattern matching the whole string.
- An exact term inside a longer string.
- A pattern inside a longer string.
Exact terms beat patterns at the same level, because you named the text precisely. Whole-string beats in-sentence, because it is a complete answer rather than a hint.
Two patterns that both match are resolved by which is more specific, so STK{n:3} is preferred over STK{n}. That choice is deterministic: the same page produces the same result on every request.
Scope and language narrow things further, before any of this: a project rule beats a workspace rule, and a named language beats Any language. See Rule scope and targeting.
What happens to translations you already have
Rules apply when text is translated. They do not go back and rewrite translations already stored.
Adding or editing a rule takes effect on the next translation request.
- A whole-string rule shows up immediately. It is applied ahead of anything stored or cached, so the next page load reflects it without you clearing anything. The previously stored translation stays in place, unused while the rule exists.
- A rule matching a term inside a sentence does not change that sentence. The stored translation is served as before. The instruction only takes effect when that string is translated again. Use Retranslate with AI on the strings that matter, on the Translations screen.
Deleting a rule returns the term to normal translation for anything not yet translated. Whatever was stored before the rule existed is served again. Deleting does not trigger a fresh translation, so if the old wording was the problem, retranslate the affected strings.
Cached pages can keep serving a previous result for a while after any change. See Clear cache and refresh translations.
Why a rule can look correct and do nothing
Reading the order above explains most of it:
- The term is part of a sentence, so the translator was advised rather than overridden, and it chose otherwise.
- A stored translation for that sentence already exists, so nothing was sent to the translator at all.
- A more specific rule matched first.
- The rule's language, scope, or casing excludes the page you are looking at.
See Glossary rules are not working for how to tell these apart.