Spike: Test translate/locales feature in new Edit Contentlet mode against all field types

[erickgonzalez]

Research Question

Does the translate/locales feature in the new Edit Contentlet mode behave correctly and consistently with the old Edit Contentlet mode across all dotCMS field types?

Specifically:

• When translating content, do all field types populate correctly when the "populate with source language content" option is used?
• When translating content without population, do all field types start blank and accept input correctly?
• Are there any field types that break, misbehave, or produce unexpected results during translation?

Timebox

2 days

(Note: the spike template cap is 8h — this task is estimated at 2 full days given the breadth of field types and scenarios to cover.)

Acceptance Criteria

• Old Edit Contentlet mode explored hands-on and translate/locales scenarios documented (before testing the new mode, understand the reference behavior)
• Test plan covering all dotCMS field types (as defined in com.dotcms.contenttype.model.field) posted as a comment on this issue — includes at minimum the two example scenarios below for each field type
• Test plan reviewed and signed off by the Falcon team (feedback incorporated before execution begins)
• All test scenarios executed against the new Edit Contentlet mode
• Any bugs or inconsistencies found vs. old mode behavior are filed as separate GitHub issues with reproduction steps and linked back to this spike

Context

The new Edit Contentlet mode is a re-implementation of the content editing experience. The translate/locales feature allows users to create language versions of existing content. Before the new mode is considered feature-complete, the translate flow must be validated to ensure it matches the behavior of the old mode across every field type.

Example scenarios to cover (at minimum):

Scenario	Steps	Expected
Translate with population	Content exists in English → Translate to Spanish → Populate with English content	All fields populate with the English values; content can be saved without errors
Translate without population	Content exists in English → Translate to Spanish → Do not populate with English content	All fields start blank; user can fill them out and save without errors

Field type coverage: All field types defined in com.dotcms.contenttype.model.field must be tested. This includes (but is not limited to): TextField, TextAreaField, WysiwygField, DateField, DateTimeField, TimeField, CheckboxField, RadioField, SelectField, MultiSelectField, FileField, BinaryField, ImageField, CategoryField, TagField, KeyValueField, JSONField, RelationshipField, HostFolderField, CustomField, StoryBlockField.

Reference: When in doubt about expected behavior, the old Edit Contentlet mode is the source of truth. Do not hesitate to flag any behavior that looks inconsistent or unclear.

Links

Screen.Recording.2026-04-30.at.5.30.58.PM.mov

[jcastro-dotcms]

QA: FAILED ❌

• Docker image: trunk_f07b1df

In the New Edit Mode, an error indicating that the Time field is missing its required value, even though it's there:

Here's a screenshot of what my test Content Type looks like. It includes absolutely all field types:

Additionally, here are some notes regarding the behavior of the Old Edit Mode compared to the new one:

OLD EDIT MODE

• Switching to Spanish, and NOT populating with existing English content:

  • All fields are cleared, excepting the Relationships field which keeps the related content in the original language. This seems to be a bug.

• Switching to Spanish, and populating with existing English content:

  • The following fields have their contents cleared:
    • Binary field.
    • Tag field.
  • The following fields have their values incorrectly "copied" from the original language:
    • The Key/Value field is missing its first key/value pair. It's not showing up at all.

NEW EDIT MODE

• In the Time field, even after selecting a value for it, I'm getting an error message indicating that a value for such a field is required. This is not correct.

Additional Notes:

• In the Key/Value field, the first entry is NOT being displayed correctly. There seems to be an error in the Angular layer.

Potential Improvements

• In the File field, when you choose from existing sources, you have to click the image and then the Add button. This is not how it used to work in the old edit mode.
• In the Image field, when you choose from existing sources, you have to click the image and then the Add button. This is not how it used to work in the old edit mode.
• In the Time field, there's a button reading Today for selecting the "current time". Maybe this label could read something like Now instead.

[jcastro-dotcms]

After verification with @adrianjm-dotCMS , the following issues remain in the New Edit Mode:

• Switching to Spanish, and NOT populating with existing English content:

  • All fields are cleared, excepting the Relationships field which keeps the related content in the original language. This seems to be a bug.

• Switching to Spanish, and populating with existing English content:

  • The following fields have their contents cleared:
    • Binary field.
    • Tag field.