Writing a description in several languages
Running an event for people who read different languages? Write one description with a section per language. Each visitor sees the section matching the language they are using Cloomba in — on one event page, with one link and one guest list.
Nothing is translated for you. You write each section yourself.
How to write it
Mark each language with a # heading whose entire text is the language code:
## Postgres evening
Doors 18:00 · Bratislava · free
# en
Join us for an evening of Postgres talks.
# sk
Príďte na večer prednášok o Postgrese.
Someone reading Cloomba in Slovak sees the Slovak lines. Everyone else sees the English ones. Both see the two lines above the first language heading.
The part everyone sees
Everything above the first language heading is shared. It goes to every reader, above their own section — so it is where the facts that need no translating belong: the venue, the time, the price, the poster.
You can skip it and start straight at # en.
Two rules
One #, and nothing but the code. # en and # SK work. ## en, # ENG, # en talks and #en do not — those stay as ordinary text.
At least two languages. A description with a single # en in it is not a translated description, so it is left exactly as written.
Both rules fail the same way. If what you wrote is not unmistakably a set of language sections, your text is shown as you typed it — nothing is hidden and nothing is guessed.
Your own headings start at ##
Since # marks a language, write the headings inside each section as ## or ###. See formatting text with markdown.
Which codes work
Any language Cloomba's interface is available in, written as its two-letter code — the same code you see in the address bar when you switch languages. Capitals are fine.
What each visitor sees
- The section in their language, if you wrote one.
- Otherwise the English section.
- Otherwise the whole description, headings and all — showing someone every language beats handing them one they cannot read with no sign the rest exists.
Where else your sections are used
Event emails use the section matching the language of the person receiving them.
Calendar files, feeds, and the preview text shown when your link is shared carry one language only, because there is nowhere in them to choose.
Two fields work this way: an event's description and the description under a guest question. The question's own wording and its answer options are single-language, as are titles, updates, and comments — see language and locale settings.
Keep it short
Two well-written paragraphs per language beat a full translation nobody finishes. Let the shared part at the top carry everything factual — date, place, price — so each language section only has to make the case for coming.