This app is available starting from the Pro plan and can also be purchased on other paid plans.
The Contentful Native app runs directly within the Contentful Editor, allowing you to seamlessly translate your content without leaving the platform. If you’re looking for a Lokalise-first solution, check out the Contentful article for more info on using Lokalise’s standalone app.
Main features of the native app:
Easily import and export content between Contentful and Lokalise
Limited support for RichText capabilities
Can be installed separately in different spaces and environments
Installation
Open Contentful and navigate to the Apps section.
Select Marketplace, then choose the Translation and Localization category.
Find Lokalise and click on it:
Press Install.
Select the environment where you want to install the app. The Lokalise app works with any environment, but it can only be installed in one environment at a time:
After selecting the environment, you'll be prompted to connect to Lokalise. Click Connect.
A new browser tab will open for the connection process (keep the original tab open; you’ll need it in a moment). Review the requested permissions and click Allow access:
You should see a confirmation message that the plugin has been authorized. Now it's safe to close the new tab.
If you're unable to connect to Lokalise, check your browser notifications as the authorization popup might have been blocked.
Go back to the original tab where the Contentful app is still open. Select the content types that should display the Lokalise app in the Contentful entry Editor or Compose app sidebar, and click Install in the top right corner:
Review the default settings and click Save in the top right corner.
Exporting entries from Contentful to Lokalise
Once installed, the Lokalise section will appear in the sidebar for entries of the content types you selected during installation. If you don’t see this section, refer to the Adding plugin below.
Open the entry you want to export.
In the sidebar, find the Lokalise section.
Click Export content to Lokalise to export the value of the default locale.
Translating exported entries on Lokalise
After exporting, head over to your Lokalise project and open the editor. You’ll notice that the relevant Lokalise tags have been automatically linked to the keys created from the exported entries.
The following tags are added by default:
contentful-native – identifies the keys exported via the Contentful Native app.
[Page] ... – shows the title of the entry that was initially exported to Lokalise.
Key names are generated using the Entry ID and Field ID, separated by a : (colon).
To view the fields in the same order they appear in Contentful, sort the keys by First added in the Lokalise editor.
Importing translations from Lokalise to Contentful
To import translations back into Contentful, use the Lokalise section in the sidebar. You can choose to import one or multiple locales at once.
Open the entry you want to update in Contentful.
In the Lokalise sidebar section, select the locales you want to import.
A dialog will appear showing a preview of the translations. Review the changes and click Import from Lokalise to update the translations in Contentful.
How composable pages with referenced entries are exported
When you run an export using the Lokalise app, it exports the entry where the export was initiated, along with all referenced entries from the page. This includes references in both separate fields and within RichText content.
In the export dialog, you can preview the entries that will be exported.
Unchecking a referenced entry will exclude it and all entries below it from the export.
Export selections are saved for each content type, so once you've configured an export, you won’t need to re-configure it for future exports of the same content type.
The Lokalise app follows all linked entries, except for those considered separate pages. An entry is treated as a separate page if it contains a field with the slug ID.
Fields from referenced entries are exported as separate keys, with key names containing the ID of the referenced entry. The connection between exported and referenced entries is maintained via tags, where referenced entries will have a tag that includes the title of the originally exported entry.
Fields that can't be exported to Lokalise
Not all fields are eligible for export to Lokalise. Fields that cannot be exported will have greyed-out checkboxes, and tooltips will provide explanations. For example, in the screenshot below, the ISBN field is not exportable.
Common reasons why fields or entries may not be exported
Localization is not enabled for the field: Non-localized fields cannot be imported to Lokalise because Contentful won't accept translations for them. Check the section below for details on how to enable localization.
The field type isn't text-based: Only the following text-based field types can be exported to Lokalise:
Symbol – short text
Text – long text
RichText – formatted text
The entry is archived: Translations cannot be updated for archived entries.
Enabling localization for a field
To enable localization for a specific field in Contentful:
Go to the Content model tab.
Click the name of the desired item.
Select Edit for the field you want to configure.
Check the Enable localization of this field option.
Don’t forget to save your changes!
Adding the Lokalise plugin to the sidebar
If you're working with custom content types and need to connect them to Lokalise, follow these additional steps. You can also find more details in the Contentful documentation.
Navigate to the Content model tab in Contentful.
Click on your desired content type and go to the Sidebar section.
Add the Lokalise plugin to the sidebar.
Don’t forget to save your changes.
Known limitations
Exporting and importing can only be performed within Contentful (not directly on Lokalise).
Cross-space references are not supported.
Automated export and import processes are not supported.
Only field-based localization is supported.
Images and other assets cannot be localized via Lokalise.
Fields containing Markdown markup will be imported as plain text, without Lokalise placeholders.
Lokalise automations are always enabled when exporting from Contentful to Lokalise via the native app.