SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

2089472 - Text Replacement Feature | How to change words across SuccessFactors?

Symptom

  • How to change words across SuccessFactors using text replacement?
  • How to customize words in several interfaces across SuccessFactors?
  • How to set custom values in some interfaces at the system?
  • Is that possible to change words/labels in SuccessFactors?

Image/data in this KBA is from SAP internal systems, sample data, or demo systems. Any resemblance to real data is purely coincidental.

Environment

SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite

Resolution

The Text Replacement Feature uses two keys in the language pack (TEXT_REPLACEMENT_KEYS and ADMIN_TEXT_REPLACEMENT_KEYS) for the UI labels that you wish to customize.

When you save custom values for the UI labels on the text replacement page, the default values of the UI labels are replaced with the new values, wherever the UI labels are used in the application.

When you customize UI labels in one language, the updates are applicable only for that language, and not for the other languages supported in the application.

Notes:

  • After making changes using this tool, always verify whether the values have been changed using Manage Languages, because changes done through Manage Languages always override the changes in the Text Replacement tool.

 

1. Prerequisites to have access to Text Replacement tool:

User has Administrator Permissions > Manage System Properties > Text Replacement permission.

2. Understand some behaviors and circumstances of modifying UI text:

  • Only UK English provides the same set of UI labels as U.S. English. All other locales have their own most common UI labels for customization. This means that every locale has an independent set of UI labels that can be customized, and the list may differ from one locale to another.

  • We have two tools for managing strings: the Text Replacement tool and the Manage Languages tool. Check both places. On the Text Replacement page, languages supported by this tool and labels supported for text replacement in each language are all shown on the page. We don't support adding other languages or labels for customization.

  • If you want to update an MDF object or field label, go to Admin Center  Configure Object Definitions   [search for object definition]. For more information, refer to Adding Fields.

  • Avoid adding HTML tags in your custom text. The Text Replacement tool doesn't interpret any HTML tags, and such tags may or may not be interpreted correctly on specific UIs.

  • If you've Succession & Development, and if you plan to export matrix grid reports, avoid text replacement labels that include a forward slash “/”, for example “Mitarbeiter/in”. The export function for the matrix grid reports can't process that special character.

  • Note: In some cases, it can take up to 24 hours for your changes to register in the User Interface (UI).

3. Necessary Steps:

  1. Go to Admin Center > Text Replacement
    • Notes:
      • Key/value pairs available for text replacement are shown in your default locale. Key contains the variable ID that is populated by the value in Default Text.
      • To validate the key, you need to switch your Language to English Debug. If you do not have this language pack listed on your instance's Change Language screen, check if it Enabled in Manage Languages. See KBA 3454401 - Can I disable the English Debug language in my SuccessFactors instance?
  2. Find the UI label you want to change. You can use the Search by Key and Search by Default Text filters to narrow down the list;
  3. On the same row, enter its custom value in the Replace With Text column;
    1. Repeat this step for all the UI labels you want to customize.
  4. Use Select Language to switch to other languages. Note: Setting a text replacement in one language will not set it for any other language;
    1. You'll need to manually provide text replacements for all words and phrases in all languages.
  5. (Optional) To keep the default term, leave the text field blank;
  6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.

**Note: If you are trying to use a & character in text replacement and it displays as &amp after saving. Please check in Admin Centre > application security feature settings > if “Sanitize All Rich Text Inputs" is enabled - then "&" is not a recommended character to use and security team will convert it to "&" according to w3schools's guidance, so it's the expected behavior in our system.

To solve it, you either could turn the sanitize feature OFF, or use "and" instead.

See Also

Keywords

SuccessFactors, SF, language, languages, manage language, Text Replacement, change words, change text, change labels, English debug, English, change language sf titles, label, button, words , KBA , LOD-SF-PLT-LAN , Manage Language & Text Replacements , LOD-SF-PLT , Platform Foundational Capabilities , How To

Product

SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite all versions