django-live-translations

In-browser translation editing for Django superusers.

Edit translations directly on any page of your Django application. Toggle edit mode, click any translatable string, and save changes that take effect immediately - no deployment, no restarts, no context switching to .po file editors.

Features

• Inline editing - click any translatable string to open a multi-language editor
• Live preview - changes appear on the page instantly after saving
• Preview mode - review inactive translations before making them live
• Draft language support - prepare translations for unpublished languages before going live
• Edit history - word-level diffs with one-click restore
• Bulk activation - select and activate multiple pending translations at once
• Two storage backends - PO files (default) or database with cache-based sync
• Custom permissions - control who can edit with a simple callable
• Django admin integration - manage translation overrides from the admin panel
• Zero frontend dependencies - vanilla JS widget, no build step required

Quick start

pip install django-live-translations
# or
uv add django-live-translations
# or
poetry add django-live-translations

# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    "django.contrib.staticfiles",
    "live_translations",
]

MIDDLEWARE = [
    # ...
    "django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware",
    "live_translations.middleware.LiveTranslationsMiddleware",  # after auth
    # ...
]

Log in as a superuser and press Ctrl+Shift+E to activate edit mode.

For the full setup guide, see the documentation.

Demo app

The repository includes a working example app:

git clone https://github.com/vojtechpetru/django-live-translations
cd django-live-translations
pip install -e ".[dev]"
cd example
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Open localhost:8000 and click "Quick Login" to auto-create a superuser.

Compatibility

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how to get started:

Setup

git clone https://github.com/vojtechpetru/django-live-translations
cd django-live-translations
uv sync --all-extras
pre-commit install

Development commands

This project uses just as a task runner:

just unit          # run unit tests
just e2e           # run e2e tests (both backends)
just e2e-po        # run e2e tests (PO backend only)
just e2e-db        # run e2e tests (DB backend only)
just bench         # run performance benchmarks
just demo          # start the example app
just docs-serve    # serve docs locally

Code quality

The project enforces strict quality standards through pre-commit hooks and CI:

• Formatting: ruff format (120 char line length)
• Linting: ruff check
• Type checking: pyrefly
• Test coverage: 90%+ required
• Test suite: 650+ unit tests, 290+ Playwright e2e tests

Pull requests

1. Fork the repo and create your branch from main
2. Add tests for any new functionality
3. Ensure just test passes and coverage stays above 90%
4. Make sure pre-commit hooks pass (ruff, pyrefly)
5. Open a pull request with a clear description of the change