Add French content

We understand that language can be a barrier when growing in French-speaking Belgium. That's why we ensure that items eligible for selling via bol in French-speaking Belgium are automatically translated from Dutch to French. For now, this also applies to new product ranges. However, original (French) item titles and descriptions are often of better quality. Therefore, it is advisable to provide high-quality translations for the content yourself, where possible. Here's how you do it.

When making adjustments to Dutch content, only changes to item characteristics that are selected from fixed options in a drop-down menu are translated. Changes to item characteristics that are free-text fields, such as the title and description, are only translated once into French. Of course, you can easily adjust existing French content via the bulk editor.

Not all item characteristics you can fill in Dutch will also appear on this French editing page. Some item characteristics are automatically translated from Dutch. These are characteristics that you can select from options in a drop-down menu, not free-text fields. If the information on the website is incorrect because of this? Then adjust this item characteristic in Dutch, as this will automatically be applied in French as well.

For some items, additional information is requested about the item's language, manual, and packaging. This does not concern the item's description, but rather the ‘language characteristics’ you assign to an item. For example, this includes filling in the correct item language so that Dutch-language games are not shown in the French-speaking environment, while French-language games are.

Language characteristics have been mandatory since August 1, 2020. Therefore, we ask you to fill these in to put the item online. This means that items for which language characteristics are not filled in – but are relevant – will not be put online in both the French and Dutch-speaking environments.

• Is the language characteristic not relevant? Then you don't need to fill in a language characteristic. Then the content is automatically machine-translated and published live in the French-speaking app/website. You don't need to do anything for this.
• Is the language characteristic relevant? Then you need to fill in the language of the item, the manual, and/or the packaging. For the relevant item type, what is relevant has already been pre-selected – so a language manual will not be requested for every item.
• Is the language characteristic relevant and the language is French, English, universal, not applicable, no language, or registered as '-'? Then the content is automatically machine-translated and published live in the French-speaking app/website. You don't need to do anything for this.
• Is the language characteristic relevant and something other than the above options is filled in? Then the item will not be shown to French-speaking customers, and no translation will occur.
• Exceptions are Dutch-language books and CDs. These are shown in the French-speaking app and not translated, making it clear that it is a Dutch-language book or CD.

It is possible to fill in the language attributes for each item individually or in bulk. The possible values for the language attributes are: "German", "English", "French", "No language", "Dutch", "Universal".

1. Per item: on the 'My Items' page, you can edit each item individually. On the item page, go to the 'Content' tab and fill in the correct information for the language attributes under 'Required'.
2. In bulk: if you select more than one item on the 'My Items' overview page, you will gain access to the bulk content editor. In the bulk content editor, you can edit the information of multiple items simultaneously.

To ensure that the items are available online, all mandatory attributes marked in red must be filled with values. Language attributes are part of this group of attributes: they must therefore be filled with one or more languages.

Via the data model, for product categories where language is relevant, you are asked to fill in language attributes. The number of language attributes that need to be filled in depends on the product category.

The data model determines which languages can be added per category or item. In most cases, you can choose from the following values: German, English, French, No language, Dutch, and Universal. Please note: these attributes are ‘multivalues’. This means they can support multiple values.

If an item is relevant for the Belgian French-speaking market, you must indicate that the item and/or the manual and/or the packaging language can be used by French-speaking customers. You do this by adding ‘French’ or ‘Universal’ or ‘No language’ (if not applicable) as a value.

‘Universal’ can be used if an item is available in multiple European languages.

To sell via bol in Belgium, Belgian regulations legally require you to provide a manual in both Dutch and French. This does not mean you are obliged to make them available online, but you must physically include them with the shipment. Exceptions to this are smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. For these, you must also make the manuals available online in Dutch and French. When uploading the manuals online, ensure that both versions (Dutch and French) are in the same file.