A rule that exists in the list but has no effect on the page almost always comes down to one of six things. Work through them in order: the first two are the most common and the quickest to check.
Check the basics first
Is the project on a paid plan? Glossary rules need one. On a free project the Glossary screen shows an upgrade prompt instead of the rules list, and no rule is applied when pages are translated.
Does the rule's language cover the page you are looking at? A rule set to French does nothing on your German pages. Open the rule and check Language.
Does the casing match? Case sensitive is on by default, so a rule for Order does not fire on order. Either turn it off or add a rule for the other casing.
Does the scope include this project? A rule set to This project only affects the project it was created on. Workspace-wide rules are badged in the list.
The term is inside a sentence, and the translator ignored it
If the term appears in the middle of a longer sentence, the rule is passed to the translator as an instruction rather than replacing the text outright. That instruction is usually followed, but not always: on long or unusual sentences the translator can inflect or reposition your term to fit the grammar.
How to tell: the same rule works where the term stands alone, such as a button or a heading, and fails inside prose.
What to do: edit that specific string on the Translations screen. For a term you need exact everywhere, a rule cannot guarantee it inside arbitrary sentences.
The sentence was already translated
A rule matching a term inside a sentence does not rewrite translations you already have. The stored translation is served, and your instruction only applies the next time that string is translated from scratch.
How to tell: the rule works on pages added after you created it, and not on pages that were already translated.
What to do: use Retranslate with AI on the affected strings on the Translations screen. Clearing the cache does not help here, because the stored translation is served again.
A pattern is refused when you save
Read the message under the field. Each one names the fix, and the most common is not enough fixed text: a pattern like {n} or a{w} would match far more than you meant, so it is rejected.
One character of fixed text is enough when an ordinary word could not contain it, so #{w} and /{n} are accepted. Hyphens, apostrophes, periods, and underscores do not count, because words contain them.
See Pattern matching for every rule a pattern must satisfy.
A pattern saves, but never matches
Paste a real string from your page into the test box in the rule drawer. It runs the same matcher the translator runs, so it is the fastest way to find the mismatch. Four frequent causes:
A bound that is too tight. STK{n:3} does not match a four-digit code. Widen it to {n:3-4} or drop the bound.
A slot that cannot hold the characters present. {n} is digits only, so it does not match 12a. {w} is letters and digits, so it does not match a hyphen or underscore. Use {s} for slugs that contain them.
The term is glued to another word. A pattern matches a whole word, not part of one. #{w} matches #hashtag in “This is #hashtag here” but not in “This is#hashtag here”, because the word does not start with #.
Punctuation inside the word. Only . , ; : ! ? ( ) ' " are trimmed from the edges of a word. A colon or hyphen in the middle stays, so ref:STK110 does not match STK{n}.
A pattern with a space does not match on the page
Patterns tolerate ordinary spacing differences, including a line break or a doubled space where you typed a single one.
They do not match a non-breaking space, which some page builders and pagination widgets emit instead of a plain one. This is a known limitation.
How to tell: a rule like Page {n1} of {n2} matches in the test box but not on the live page.
What to do: there is no pattern that works around it. If it affects a page that matters, contact support with the URL so it can be counted toward fixing it.
The text is not translated at all
No glossary rule reaches text that is excluded from translation in the first place. If the term sits inside an excluded element or an excluded page, the rule has nothing to act on.
Check your exclusions on the Translation Rules screen. See What Universally translates.
You cannot delete a rule
Deleting needs the workspace admin role. Editors can add and edit rules but not delete them. See Roles and permissions.
Still stuck
Note the rule as it appears in the list, the exact page string it should affect, and the URL of a translated page where it does not. See Contact support.