About languages

Languages in Flexmail determine how your contacts experience your emails. When you set a language for a contact, Flexmail automatically shows them your footer, unsubscribe page and profile page in that language, without any extra effort on your part.

Communication languages vs. account language

Communication languages

These are the languages you send emails in. You set these during onboarding and they determine which languages are available across the entire platform, in forms, workflows, segmentation conditions and field translations.

If you only send in one language, Flexmail keeps the interface simple and hides multilingual settings you do not need. If you send in multiple languages, you also set a default language.

Account language

This is the language in which the Flexmail interface is displayed to you. This has no effect on your contacts or your emails. You can change this in your profile settings. The available options are Dutch, French, English and German.

The fallback language

If you have selected multiple communication languages, you need to choose a fallback language. This is the language Flexmail uses for any element that has not been translated yet, such as a custom field that exists in only one language.

The fallback language is shown to a contact when the translated version of an element is not available for their specific language.

Available languages

The most commonly used languages in Flexmail are Dutch (nl), English (en), French (fr) and German (de). Flexmail also supports a wide range of other European languages, including Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Czech, Croatian, Hungarian, Finnish, Danish, Greek and more.

The ISO value shown next to each language is what you use in your CSV import file to assign a language to a contact.

Assigning languages to contacts

Via import

Add a language column to your CSV file and enter the ISO value for each contact. If some contacts do not have a language in the file, or if you do not include a language column at all, Flexmail asks you to choose a default language for those contacts during the import.

Via opt-in form

You can add a language field to your opt-in form so contacts can choose their preferred language when subscribing. You can also pre-set a language for all contacts from a specific form, which is useful if you have separate Dutch and French forms.

On the contact detail page

You can update a contact's language manually, directly on their detail page in the contact overview.

What the contact language determines

• The language of your email header and footer
• The language of the unsubscribe page and the browser view link
• The language of your contact's profile page
• Which translations of your custom fields are shown to the contact
• Segmentation and workflow conditions based on language

Common mistakes to avoid

Not setting a default language

If you send in multiple languages but do not configure a default language, contacts without a matching language get an inconsistent experience. Set a default language that covers the largest part of your target audience, typically the language most of your contacts understand.

Confusing account language with communication language

Changing your account language alters how you see the Flexmail interface. This has no effect on what your contacts receive. Communication languages are set at the account level during onboarding and require support to change.

Leaving contacts without a language

Contacts without an assigned language still receive the default version of your footer and profile page, but they cannot be targeted in language-based segments. If you import contacts from a multilingual audience, include a language column in your file.

Next steps

• Read "Adding contacts" to see how to include a language column in your import file
• Read "Contact fields" for information on how language-specific field translations work
• Read "Getting started with opt-in forms" to set up a language selector on your subscription form