As a content owner, you can categorize strings in a project using tags for quick and easy filtering. For example, you might tag key SEO strings that are frequently audited so you can locate and act on them in seconds. Tags are applied from the Strings View. Account Owners and Project Managers can also view, search, and delete tags from the Tags Management page.
Considerations
- Tags are applied at the string level. Adding a tag to a string in one language applies it to that string across all languages.
- Tags are not case-sensitive. Searching for a tag in upper or lower case returns the same results.
- You can apply up to 250 tags per string.
- Each tag has a maximum length of 127 characters.
- Deleting a tag is permanent and irreversible. It removes the tag from every string it was applied to, across all languages.
Add tags
To apply tags to one or more strings:
- In a project, click the Strings tab.
- Select the strings to which you want to add tags.
- Click Actions and select Add / Remove Tags.
- Under Add Tags, enter the tag name.
- Click Add.
Add tags based on multiple filters (Advanced Bulk Action)
The filters in the Strings View sidebar (Source keyword, Translation keyword, Key/Variant, Namespace, and File/URL) only accept one value at a time. If you need to find and act on strings that match many values at once, for example, dozens of keys or keywords, use Advanced Bulk Action.
With Advanced Bulk Action, you can paste or type a list of values for one or more filters, then tag the matching strings in a single operation. Once the strings are tagged, you can use the Tags filter to quickly find and work with them in the Strings View.
Advanced Bulk Action is available in both the project-level Strings View and the account-level Content Search (accessible from Search in the top navigation bar).
How filter matching works
When you open the Advanced Bulk Action modal, any search filters you've already applied in the strings view (such as job, language, or status) carry over automatically. These appear in the Active search filters section at the top of the modal. The filters you set inside the modal are combined with these active filters to determine which strings are affected.
Available filters
You can add one or more of the following filters inside the modal:
- Source keyword: Match strings by source text. You must select a match mode (see below). Not case sensitive.
- Translation keyword: Match strings by translation text. Same match modes as Source keyword. Not case sensitive.
- Key / Variant: Match strings by their key or variant value.
- File / URL: Match strings by the source file or URL.
- Namespace: Match strings by namespace.
For each filter, you can enter up to 50 values (one per line). You can add multiple filters to narrow your results further.
Keyword match modes
The Source keyword and Translation keyword filters require you to select one of three match modes:
- Contains (default): Returns strings where the text includes the keyword anywhere, even as part of a longer word. For example, searching for "cat" also returns strings containing "category" or "concatenate."
- Whole Word: Returns strings where the keyword appears as a standalone word, not as part of another word. For example, "cat" returns "the cat sat" but not "category."
- Exact Match: Returns only strings where the entire text matches the keyword exactly. For example, "cat" returns only a string whose full text is "cat" and nothing else.
Add tags to strings in bulk based on multiple filters
- Navigate to the Strings tab in your project, or open Content Search from the top navigation bar.
- Apply any search filters you want to carry into the bulk action. For example, in Content Search, filter to a specific project. These become the active search filters for the bulk action.
- Click Advanced Bulk Action.
- Review the Active search filters section at the top of the modal to confirm which filters have carried over from your search.
- Under Filters, click Select filter and choose a filter type.
- Enter your filter values in the text field, one per line (up to 50 values). For Source keyword and Translation keyword, select a match mode: Contains, Whole Word, or Exact Match.
- To narrow your results further, click Add filter and configure additional filters.
- Under Action, Add tag is selected by default.
- Under Tags, select an existing tag or type to create a new one.
- Click Run.
Smartling applies the tag(s) to all strings that match your combined filters. This operation runs asynchronously in the background. Depending on how much content you have and how many values and filters you used, it may take several minutes to complete.
Once the operation finishes, you can use the Tags filter in the Strings View to find the newly tagged strings and take further action on them. See Filter tagged content below.
Filter tagged content
Once tags have been applied, use the Tags filter in the Strings View to quickly locate the relevant content. To filter by tag:
- In a project, click the Strings tab.
- Using the Tags filter, select the tags you want to search for.
Use the Actions menu to apply different actions to the strings you have filtered by tag.
Remove tags from strings
To remove tags from one or more strings:
- In a project, click the Strings tab.
- Select the strings from which you want to remove tags.
- Click Actions and select Add / Remove Tags.
- Under Remove Tags, select the tags to remove.
- Click Remove.
Tags management
Account Owners and Project Managers can view, search, and delete tags from the Tags Management page. This provides a centralized list of all tags in use across the project.
Tags Management is available in both the project-level Strings View and account-level Content Search.
To open Tags Management:
- Go to the Strings View in a project or the account-level Content Search.
- Click the Tags button in the top-right toolbar.
Search for a tag
Use the Search Tags field at the top of the Tags Management page to filter the tag list by name.
Delete a tag
Deleting a tag permanently removes it from all strings it was applied to. This action cannot be undone.
To delete a single tag, click the Delete button next to the tag name.
To delete multiple tags at once:
- Select the checkboxes next to the tags you want to delete.
- Click the Delete button in the top-right corner of the page.
The top-right Delete button becomes active only when at least one tag is selected.
Why a deleted tag may still appear
Tags are managed at the project level, not the account level. A tag with the same name (for example, "Q1-review") can exist independently in multiple projects. When you delete a tag, it is only removed from the project it is associated with. If you still see the same tag name after deleting it, it exists in one or more other projects.
Delete a tag from all projects
Because tags are managed at the project level, there is no single action to delete a tag across your entire account at once. There are two ways you can go about deleting a tag across your entire account (that is, across all projects).
Search and delete
- On the Tags Management page, use the Search Tags field to search for the tag by name.
- Select all matching tags on the current page.
- Click Delete.
- If the forward arrow is active (indicating more pages), navigate to the next page and repeat: select all matching tags and click Delete.
- Continue through all remaining pages until the tag no longer appears. Up to 50 tags are displayed per page.
Select all and deselect as needed
- On the Tags Management page, select all tags on the first page. Deselect any tags you want to keep.
- Click Delete.
- Navigate to the next page using the forward arrow and repeat: select all, deselect any you want to keep, and click Delete.
- Continue through all remaining pages.