Customizing GravityBoard translations
GravityBoard uses WordPress’s built-in @wordpress/i18n system for all translatable text. You can customize any label in the interface using standard WordPress JavaScript translation hooks — no custom plugin APIs needed.
This guide shows how to rename “cards” to “jobs”, “lanes” to “departments”, or any other terminology that fits your use case.
Where to Put Your Code #
Before adding any custom code, you need to decide where to place it. There are two recommended approaches:
Option 1: Code Snippets Plugin (Recommended)
The safest way to add custom code is using the Code Snippets WordPress plugin. This method is recommended by GravityKit’s documentation because:
- Safer: If something goes wrong, you won’t break your website
- Theme-independent: Your customizations won’t be lost when you update your theme
- Easy to manage: You can easily enable/disable code snippets
After installing the Code Snippets plugin:
- Go to Snippets > Add New in your WordPress admin
- Give your snippet a descriptive title like “GravityBoard Custom Translations”
- Paste your code in the editor (without
<?phptags) - Set the snippet to run “Run Everywhere”
- Click Save Changes and Activate
Option 2: Theme’s functions.php File
You can also add the code to your active theme’s functions.php file. For detailed instructions, see GravityKit’s guide on where to put code samples.
Method 1: Exact Phrase Overrides #
The simplest approach — override specific strings with exact replacements. This is best when you know the exact text you want to change.
/**
* Override specific GravityBoard text labels.
*
* Each key must match the exact English string used in the interface.
* The value is an array with the replacement string as the first element.
*/
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function() {
wp_add_inline_script( 'gravityboard-app', "
if ( typeof wp !== 'undefined' && wp.i18n && wp.i18n.setLocaleData ) {
wp.i18n.setLocaleData( {
'Add a card': ['Add a job'],
'Add card': ['Add job'],
'Edit card': ['Edit job'],
'Delete card': ['Remove job'],
'Move card': ['Move job'],
'Card Title': ['Job Title'],
'Card options': ['Job options'],
'New Card': ['New Job'],
'Card: %s': ['Job: %s'],
'Cards in %s': ['Jobs in %s'],
'Add Lane': ['Add Department'],
'Edit Lane': ['Edit Department'],
'Lane Title': ['Department Title'],
'Move lane left': ['Move department left'],
'Move lane right': ['Move department right'],
'Add a card': ['Post a job'],
'Add card to %s': ['Post job to %s'],
'Close card details': ['Close job details'],
'Move all cards in this lane': ['Move all jobs in this department'],
'Search cards, assignees, labels, and more.': ['Search jobs, hiring managers, labels, and more.']
}, 'gk-gravityboard' );
}
", 'before' );
});Important: Each key must match the exact English string used in GravityBoard. For example, 'Add a card' will override the “Add a card” button text, but 'card' alone will not change “Add a card” — it would only affect places where the word “card” appears by itself.
How to Find the Exact Strings
To find the exact string to override:
- Open your browser’s Developer Tools (F12 or right-click → Inspect)
- Right-click on the text you want to change
- Look at the text content — that’s the string you need to match exactly (including capitalization)
Method 2: Word-Level Replacement (Automatic) #
If you want to replace a word everywhere it appears — across all strings, including ones you haven’t listed — use WordPress’s i18n.gettext filter. This performs word-boundary replacement on every translatable string automatically.
/**
* Replace words throughout GravityBoard using WordPress i18n hooks.
*
* This automatically replaces "card" with "job" in ALL strings:
* "Add a card" becomes "Add a job", "Edit card" becomes "Edit job", etc.
*/
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function() {
wp_add_inline_script( 'gravityboard-app', "
if ( typeof wp !== 'undefined' && wp.hooks && wp.hooks.addFilter ) {
wp.hooks.addFilter(
'i18n.gettext_gk-gravityboard',
'my-custom-translations',
function( translation, text ) {
return text
.replace( /\\bcard\\b/g, 'job' )
.replace( /\\bCard\\b/g, 'Job' )
.replace( /\\bcards\\b/g, 'jobs' )
.replace( /\\bCards\\b/g, 'Jobs' )
.replace( /\\blane\\b/g, 'department' )
.replace( /\\bLane\\b/g, 'Department' )
.replace( /\\blanes\\b/g, 'departments' )
.replace( /\\bLanes\\b/g, 'Departments' );
}
);
}
", 'before' );
});The \b in the regex means “word boundary”, so card matches the word “card” but not “cards” or “postcard”. Each replacement is case-sensitive, so you need separate lines for card/Card/cards/Cards.
Combining Both Methods
You can combine exact phrase overrides with word-level replacement. Exact overrides are applied first, so they take precedence. This is useful when word replacement produces awkward grammar:
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function() {
// First: exact overrides for phrases that need custom grammar.
wp_add_inline_script( 'gravityboard-app', "
if ( typeof wp !== 'undefined' && wp.i18n && wp.i18n.setLocaleData ) {
wp.i18n.setLocaleData( {
'Add a card': ['Post a job opening'],
'New Card': ['New Job Posting']
}, 'gk-gravityboard' );
}
", 'before' );
// Second: word-level replacement for everything else.
wp_add_inline_script( 'gravityboard-app', "
if ( typeof wp !== 'undefined' && wp.hooks && wp.hooks.addFilter ) {
wp.hooks.addFilter(
'i18n.gettext_gk-gravityboard',
'my-custom-translations',
function( translation, text ) {
// If setLocaleData already translated this, use that.
if ( translation !== text ) {
return translation;
}
return text
.replace( /\\bcard\\b/g, 'job' )
.replace( /\\bCard\\b/g, 'Job' )
.replace( /\\bcards\\b/g, 'jobs' )
.replace( /\\bCards\\b/g, 'Jobs' );
}
);
}
", 'before' );
});In this example, “Add a card” becomes “Post a job opening” (exact override), while “Edit card” becomes “Edit job” (word replacement), and “Delete card” becomes “Delete job” (word replacement).
Feed-Specific Translations #
If you have multiple boards and want different terminology for each, you can scope your overrides by feed ID. The feed ID is shown in the [gravityboard id="123"] shortcode.
/**
* Apply different translations per GravityBoard feed.
*/
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function() {
// Only run on the frontend, not admin.
if ( is_admin() ) {
return;
}
wp_add_inline_script( 'gravityboard-app', "
if ( typeof wp !== 'undefined' && wp.hooks && wp.hooks.addFilter ) {
wp.hooks.addFilter(
'i18n.gettext_gk-gravityboard',
'my-feed-translations',
function( translation, text ) {
var feedId = window.gravityBoardSettings
&& window.gravityBoardSettings.current_feed_id;
if ( feedId == 123 ) {
// HR Job Board
return text
.replace( /\\bcard\\b/g, 'applicant' )
.replace( /\\bCard\\b/g, 'Applicant' )
.replace( /\\bcards\\b/g, 'applicants' )
.replace( /\\bCards\\b/g, 'Applicants' )
.replace( /\\blane\\b/g, 'status' )
.replace( /\\bLane\\b/g, 'Status' )
.replace( /\\blanes\\b/g, 'statuses' )
.replace( /\\bLanes\\b/g, 'Statuses' );
}
if ( feedId == 456 ) {
// Customer Support
return text
.replace( /\\bcard\\b/g, 'ticket' )
.replace( /\\bCard\\b/g, 'Ticket' )
.replace( /\\bcards\\b/g, 'tickets' )
.replace( /\\bCards\\b/g, 'Tickets' )
.replace( /\\blane\\b/g, 'status' )
.replace( /\\bLane\\b/g, 'Status' )
.replace( /\\blanes\\b/g, 'statuses' )
.replace( /\\bLanes\\b/g, 'Statuses' );
}
// All other boards: no changes.
return translation;
}
);
}
", 'before' );
});Note: Replace 123 and 456 with your actual feed IDs from your shortcodes.
Troubleshooting #
Translations Not Appearing
- Clear any caching plugins (page cache, object cache, CDN)
- Make sure the Code Snippets snippet is set to “Run Everywhere” (not “Only Admin”)
- Open your browser’s Developer Tools console and check for JavaScript errors
- Verify the text domain is exactly
'gk-gravityboard'(not'gravityboard')
Some Strings Not Changing
- Using exact overrides? The key must match the exact English string, including capitalization. Use Method 2 (word-level replacement) if you want to catch all variations automatically.
- Using word replacement? Make sure you include all case variants (
card,Card,cards,Cards). - Some text may come from Gravity Forms itself (like field labels) — those are not controlled by GravityBoard translations.
Feed-Specific Overrides Not Working
- Check that
window.gravityBoardSettings.current_feed_idmatches the ID in your shortcode. You can verify by opening your browser console and typinggravityBoardSettings.current_feed_id. - Use
==(not===) for comparison since the feed ID may be a string.
Common Translatable Strings #
Here are the most commonly overridden strings for reference:
| Original String | Where It Appears |
|---|---|
Add a card | Button at the bottom of each lane |
Card Title | Placeholder text in the card title field |
Edit card | Card context menu |
Delete card | Card context menu |
Move card | Card context menu / modal title |
New Card | Default title for new cards |
Add Lane | Button to add a new lane |
Edit Lane | Lane context menu |
Lane Title | Lane name input placeholder |
Cards in %s | Lane accessibility label (%s = lane name) |
Add card to %s | Add button accessibility label (%s = lane name) |
Move all cards in this lane | Lane context menu |
Search cards, assignees, labels, and more. | Filter search placeholder |
Close card details | Card modal close button |
Card options | Card menu button accessibility label |
Move lane left / Move lane right | Lane context menu |
Keyboard Shortcuts | Help modal title |
