How translation works

What is translated

In a group where the bot is enabled, Polyglot translates:

• text messages;
• the captions of photos, videos, GIFs and video messages.

The translation is posted as a reply to the original message, in the same topic, and the original stays untouched.

What a translation looks like

• The bold header shows the pair of languages. The names are written in the language of the translation.
• Under the text, in italics, the bot says that the translation can be replied to. When the original is itself a reply to someone, or mentions a person, the bot addresses that person by a link, so they get a notification. See Replying to a translation.

How long it takes

The bot waits about 5 seconds before it starts. That gives moderation bots, such as ChatZilla, time to delete spam first, so spam is not translated. While it works, the bot shows a "Translating…" message and removes it when the translation is posted.

When it stays silent

Polyglot posts nothing when:

• Bot enabled is off for the group or the topic;
• the message is already in the target language;
• the message starts with a slash, as commands do;
• the message mentions a bot (a username that ends with "bot");
• the message was written by another bot, including automatic forwards of channel posts into the discussion group;
• the message has no text or caption: stickers, voice messages and files without a caption are not translated.

If the translation fails, the bot shows "Translation failed" for 30 seconds and then removes that message.

If the original disappears

If the original message is deleted, the bot's translation is deleted too. The bot checks this for about 10 minutes after the translation. If the original is deleted before the translation is ready, nothing is posted.