Reference language (English)

Actualog is a multilingual system, but every entity has one reference language used as the canonical source for shared names, translation alignment, search, and stable indexing.

In Actualog, the reference language is English.

What “reference language” means

When you create or edit entities in Actualog (Category, Attribute, Product, Company, Brand, Catalog, etc.):

  • English Name and English Description are required (the reference record).
  • Other languages are localized versions of the same entity.
  • The English version is used to keep the platform consistent across countries, standards, and communities.

Why English is required

1) Duplicate prevention in a multilingual environment

Different experts can create the same concept in different languages at the same time.

Example:

  • RU expert creates: «Трансформатор»
  • DE expert creates: «Übertrager»

Without a shared reference name, the system may end up with two separate records describing the same thing.
With English as the reference language, both concepts converge to “Transformer” (plus synonyms), and Actualog can detect duplicates earlier and more reliably.

This concerns duplicate shared concepts and terminology. The reference language does not decide whether two product records are the same product. Exact product duplicate prevention uses the category identity policy and the stored Product Identity Hash.

2) Stable keys for search, matching, and integrations

English reference values support:

  • consistent search indexing,
  • better matching during imports,
  • safer mappings to external classifiers and standards,
  • predictable identifiers in integrations and APIs.

3) Better cross-company collaboration

Even when users work in different UI languages, the reference language keeps shared definitions aligned across:

  • Communities (taxonomy/terminology governance),
  • Company workspaces (operational data),
  • Catalogs (publishing and exchange).

Best practices

  • Use singular names for Categories and Attributes (better templates and auto-generated naming).
  • Add synonyms in English when possible (industry synonyms, abbreviations, legacy naming).
  • Treat English as the “master wording”, and translations as “presentation layers”.

Tip: If English is not your daily working language, you can still work comfortably in your UI language — just make sure the English reference values are correct and reviewed.