User Guide

How to use Loco

A plain-language guide to finding, editing and managing translations — no technical knowledge required.

What is Loco?

Loco is a tool your team uses to manage the text content of your apps and websites in multiple languages. Think of it as a shared workspace where every word, label, button and message in your product lives — organised, searchable, and always up to date.

Instead of sending spreadsheets back and forth or editing files by hand, everyone works from the same place. Translators and editors make changes directly in the browser — no installation required.

Edit in your browser

Click any text to update it. Changes are saved instantly — no files to send.

Multiple languages

Each piece of text can exist in every language your product supports. Loco shows you what is still missing.

Team access

Invite colleagues and give them exactly the right level of access — from read-only reviewers to full editors.

Full history

Every change is recorded with who made it and when. Nothing gets lost.

Signing In

Loco uses your company's existing sign-in system. You do not need a separate Loco password — just the same credentials you use for other internal tools.

Go to the Loco address your team uses.

Click Sign In on the homepage.

Enter your usual username and password on the login page.

After logging in you land on your Dashboard.

Cannot log in?

Contact your team administrator. They manage user accounts and can check whether your account has been created and that you have been added to the right applications.

Your Dashboard

The Dashboard is your home screen — an overview of everything happening across your applications.

What you see

Applications — the projects you have access to. Each card shows the name and your role.
Unedited translations — texts that have been added but not yet reviewed. This is your work queue.
Recent activity — the latest changes made by you and your team, with timestamps.
Language coverage — how complete each language is across your apps.

Finding and Editing Translations

This is where you will spend most of your time.

How to find a translation

Click the application that contains the text you want to change.

Select the language you want to edit from the sidebar.

Use the search bar to search by the text you see in the product. For example, type the word on the button you want to change.

You can also filter by namespace (a group like “checkout” or “common”) to narrow the list.

Each row shows a key (an internal identifier like button.submit) and a value (the actual text shown to users, like Submit). You only ever edit the value.

How to edit

Click the row you want to edit.

Type your new translation. The reference text from the default language is shown for comparison.

Click Save. The change is recorded immediately.

Keyboard shortcut

Press Ctrl+Enter (or Cmd+Enter on Mac) to save without reaching for the mouse.

What are unedited translations?

When new keys are added by the development team, they start as unedited. Loco flags them so you can review and confirm (or improve) the value before the next release. Use the Unedited filter to see only those that need attention.

Uploading translations from a file

If you have a large number of translations to add at once — for example a new language or a full set of new keys — you can upload them as a JSON file instead of typing them one by one.

What does a translation file look like?

A translation file is a plain text file that lists every key and its translated value, one per line. It looks like this:

{
  "button.submit": "Submit",
  "button.cancel": "Cancel",
  "nav.home": "Home",
  "login.title": "Sign in to your account"
}

The part on the left of the colon (button.submit) is the key — a fixed identifier your app uses internally. Never change the key name. The part on the right (“Submit”) is the value — the text shown to users. This is what you translate.

Adding a new key to the file

To add a new translation key, add a new line inside the curly braces following the same pattern — key name in quotes, a colon, then the translated text in quotes, followed by a comma:

{
  "button.submit": "Submit",
  "button.cancel": "Cancel",
  "button.save": "Save changes"
}

The last line before the closing } should not have a trailing comma. All other lines do. If you are unsure, paste your file into jsonlint.com to check it before uploading.

How to upload the file

Open the application and select the language you want to import into from the sidebar.

Click the Import button at the top of the translation list.

Select your .json file and choose the namespace the keys belong to (e.g. “common”).

Click Upload. Loco adds any new keys and updates existing ones. Nothing is deleted.

Tip

After uploading, all newly added keys will appear as unedited. Review them before the next release to make sure the values are correct for your audience.

Languages

Each application can support multiple languages. For every language, Loco tracks coverage — how many keys have been translated compared to the total.

A coverage of 100% means all texts have a value in that language. Anything below means some texts will fall back to the default language in your product.

Missing a language?

Only owners and administrators can add new languages. Ask your admin if a language you need is not listed.

Your Role

Your access depends on the role assigned to you for each application.

Role	What you can do
Guest	Read and browse translations. Cannot make changes.
Editor	Edit translation values. Cannot add or delete keys.
Developer	Edit translations and manage keys — add, rename, import, export.
Owner	Full control of the application including adding and removing users.
Admin	Everything an Owner can do, across all applications on the platform.

Need a different level of access? Contact the application Owner or your Loco administrator.

Platform roles

Separately from the per-application role, every user has a platform role that controls which administration features they can access.

Platform role	What it unlocks
Guest	Access is restricted to applications explicitly shared with you.
User	Standard access — can work within applications they are a member of.
Developer	Can view the Administration section scoped to their own applications.
Admin	Full access to the Administration section across all applications.
SuperAdmin	Full access plus the ability to change other users' platform roles.

Platform roles are set by a SuperAdmin from the Users section of the Administration area. If you believe your role is incorrect, contact your administrator.

History and Changelog

Every change made in Loco is recorded — who changed what, and when. You can always look back and understand the full history.

Dashboard Changelog — global history across all your apps.
Application Changelog tab — history for that specific app only.

Filter the history by author, date, language, key name, or event type to find exactly what you are looking for.

Achievements

Loco rewards activity with achievements — small milestones that track your progress as a translator and as an application owner.

User achievements — earned by logging in, editing translations, and reaching translation counts.
Application achievements — earned when an app reaches key milestones such as full translation coverage or a high number of keys.

A toast notification appears in the bottom-right corner when you unlock an achievement. You can review all achievements from your profile page.

Tips and Shortcuts

Search by what you see

Spotted a typo in the product? Copy that exact text and paste it into the search bar — Loco finds the right entry immediately.

Ctrl+Enter saves

Save any change without reaching for the mouse. Works in every editor in Loco.

Use namespace filters

Namespaces group related keys (e.g. all login-screen texts). Filter by namespace to stay focused on one area.

Dark mode

Toggle between light and dark mode from the icon in the top navigation bar.

Change the UI language

Loco is available in English, German, Italian and Slovenian. Switch from the language selector in the top bar.

Check the changelog first

Before asking a colleague if they changed something, check the Changelog — the answer is almost always already there.

Still have questions? Check the FAQ for quick answers.