LingoSync Documentation

LingoSync adds AI translation to your whole Sngine community. A member taps Translate (or content is translated automatically as they scroll) and reads it in their own language, with a clear "Translated from Greek · Show original" line under it. Links, @mentions, #hashtags and emojis stay exactly as they were.

Your API key never leaves your server. Every request is checked with Sngine's own privacy rules, every result is cached so you never pay twice for the same text, and you control the budget from AdminCP.

Highlights

• Smart AI Translation Engine – detects the language automatically, keeps links, mentions, hashtags and emojis, and never translates the same thing twice.
• VisionAI – reads and translates the text in images, screenshots, posters and infographics, and describes images in the reader's language.
• Translate Anywhere – posts, comments and replies, Groups, Pages, Events, Marketplace, blogs, profile bios, messages, group chats, forums and search.
• Privacy-first – members can only translate what they are allowed to see.
• Cost control – caching, per-member rate limits and daily, weekly, monthly and yearly budgets.
• Built for Sngine 5 – its own AdminCP page, the Nova design, light and dark mode, phone and desktop.

Perfect For

• International and multilingual communities
• Marketplaces with buyers and sellers in different countries
• Groups and forums where members write in many languages
• Communities that share screenshots, posters and infographics

Released October 27, 2026. LingoSync 1.4 is rebuilt for Sngine 5 and brings three big feature sets: the Smart AI Translation Engine, VisionAI Image Translation and Translate Anywhere.

Smart Engine VisionAI Translate Anywhere New AdminCP Phone & Dark Mode

Smart AI Translation Engine

LingoSync detects the original language on its own and shows it under every translation. Members switch between the original and the translation with one tap. Links, @mentions, #hashtags, emojis and line breaks are kept exactly, and content that is already in the reader's language is left alone.

Read more about the engine →

VisionAI Image Translation

A small button on photos reads the text in the image (screenshots, posters, infographics, signs), recognizes its language and translates it. Members can also get a short description of the image in their language, which LingoSync also uses as the image's alt text.

Read more about VisionAI →

Translate Anywhere

Translation now covers posts, comments and replies, Groups, Pages, Events, Marketplace listings, blog articles, profile bios, private messages, group chats, forum threads and replies, and search terms. Each one has its own switch.

Read more about Translate Anywhere →

A new AdminCP page

LingoSync now has its own page in AdminCP (left menu, under Reach): usage for the last 30 days, the share served from cache, detected languages, settings, glossary and blocked words, and per-group modes.

Take the AdminCP tour →

Made for phones and dark mode

Everything follows the Nova theme: the translation line, the buttons and the VisionAI window look right in light and dark mode, on phones and on desktop.

• Sngine 5.x with the Nova theme (the Sngine 5 default theme).
• PHP 8.1 or newer with the cURL and fileinfo extensions (both standard on Sngine hosting).
• MySQL / MariaDB – LingoSync adds its own lingosync_* tables and settings rows. Your content tables are never changed.
• An AI provider key – OpenAI or DeepSeek. Any OpenAI-compatible API also works (set its address as the endpoint).
• A way to run one command (SSH or your host's terminal) for the patcher. No SSH? The six changes can also be made by hand.

New installation of LingoSync 1.4. Updating an older version? Go to Updating.

1. Upload 2. Database 3. Patch 4. Settings 5. Done

Step 1 – Upload the files

Unzip lingosync-for-sngine.zip. Upload everything inside the Script/ folder to your Sngine root (the folder that contains admin.php), keeping the folder structure. LingoSync only adds new files; it does not replace any Sngine file.

includes/lingosync.php
includes/lingosync/admin.php
includes/lingosync/install.sql
includes/lingosync/patch.php
includes/ajax/lingosync/translate.php
includes/ajax/lingosync/vision.php
includes/ajax/admin/lingosync.php
includes/assets/js/lingosync/lingosync.js
includes/assets/js/lingosync/admin.js
includes/assets/css/lingosync/lingosync.css
content/themes/nova/templates/admin.lingosync.tpl
content/themes/nova/templates/__lingosync_assets.tpl

The package also contains Updates/ (update guides for every older version), How to Install.txt and Changelog.txt.

Step 2 – Import the database

1. Open phpMyAdmin and select your Sngine database.
2. Go to Import and choose includes/lingosync/install.sql.
3. Click Go.

It creates the LingoSync tables and default settings. It is safe to run more than once and never overwrites settings you already saved.

mysql -u DBUSER -p DBNAME < includes/lingosync/install.sql

Step 3 – Connect LingoSync to Sngine

LingoSync needs six small, clearly marked hooks in Sngine's own files. The patcher adds them, checks every file first, keeps a backup of each changed file in content/backups/lingosync/ and clears the template cache. From your Sngine root:

php includes/lingosync/patch.php --check
php includes/lingosync/patch.php

Every line should say PATCHED or OK. A file that says FAILED is not changed; make that change by hand.

The six changes (for a manual install)

1. includes/traits/translations.php – runs Sngine's translator on LingoSync when "LingoSync AI" is the provider.
2. admin.php – the AdminCP › LingoSync page.
3. content/themes/nova/templates/_admin_header.tpl – the LingoSync link in the AdminCP menu.
4. includes/ajax/admin/settings.php – accepts LingoSync as a translation provider.
5. content/themes/nova/templates/admin.settings.posts.tpl – adds "LingoSync AI" to Settings › Posts › Translation Provider.
6. content/themes/nova/templates/_js_files.tpl – loads LingoSync for members while it is on.

The exact code for each change is in How to Install.txt (Manual installation).

Step 4 – Settings

Go to AdminCP › LingoSync › Settings (left menu, under Reach).

1. Turn on LingoSync.
2. Choose the AI provider, paste your API key, click Save Changes, then Test connection.
3. Pick your Target languages (for example en,el,de,fr,es) or Any member language.
4. Keep Power Sngine's Translate buttons on, so Sngine's own Translate buttons run on LingoSync.
5. Choose what to translate under Translate anywhere.
6. Optional: turn on VisionAI and try Test VisionAI with an image.

Step 5 – Done

Open a post written in another language and tap Translate. You should see the translation with "Translated from …" and Show original under it.

All set!
Every member gets translations in their own Sngine interface language. Check usage and costs any time in AdminCP › LingoSync.

One update takes LingoSync 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 or 1.3 straight to 1.4. You keep your settings, API keys, usage statistics, custom translations, blocked words and group modes. The translation cache starts fresh, because 1.4 also stores the detected language.

Update from 1.0 – 1.3

1. Back up your database and files.
2. Update Sngine to 5.x first if you haven't yet. This replaces the Sngine files that LingoSync 1.0 – 1.3 had changed.
3. Delete the old LingoSync files listed in Updates/Update 1.3 to 1.4/How to Update.txt (old endpoints, the old script and stylesheet, and the old theme templates).
4. Upload everything inside Script/.
5. Import Updates/Update 1.3 to 1.4/lingosync_update_1.4.sql.
6. Run the patcher: php includes/lingosync/patch.php.
7. Open AdminCP › LingoSync › Settings, review the new options and click Save Changes.

Rolling back

Turn LingoSync off in its settings (this gives Sngine's Translate buttons back to your previous provider), restore the files from content/backups/lingosync/, and remove the LingoSync files from Step 1.

Everything LingoSync 1.4 does, at a glance.

• Detects the source language in the same AI call as the translation, so it costs nothing extra.
• Shows the original language and a translated indicator – "Translated from Greek" (or "Automatically translated from Greek"), in the reader's language.
• Original ↔ translation – "Show original" / "Show translation" switch instantly.
• Preserves emojis, mentions, links, hashtags and formatting – these never reach the AI as text, so it cannot change or drop them, and line breaks are kept.
• Skips content already in the reader's language – no second translation, no cost.
• Caches to reduce cost – the same text in the same language is never sent to the AI twice.
• Avoids retranslating unchanged content – each piece of content remembers its translation. When the author edits it, the next view translates the new version.

Translation modes

In automatic mode every member can tap "Don't translate automatically" under a translation, and turn it back on the same way.

When VisionAI is on, photos in posts get a small button. It opens a window with:

• Text in image – the text in screenshots, posters, infographics, signs and memes, its language, and the translation into the reader's language. The original text is one tap away.
• Describe image – one or two sentences describing the image in the reader's language. The description is also used as the image's alt text for screen readers.
• Captions – the post's own text is translated together with the post.

Optional, and respectful of private content

• Both features are off by default and can be turned on separately.
• Analysis runs only when a member asks, and only on images they can already see.
• Never on paid, subscribers-only or age-restricted posts the member hasn't unlocked.
• Images in private or secret groups and events are never sent unless you turn on Allow in private groups and events.
• Results are cached per image and language, and images count against their own per-member limit.

Each content type has its own switch in AdminCP › LingoSync › Settings › Translate anywhere.

Members see translations in their Sngine interface language. You can allow only the languages you choose, or any member language.

The browser only ever sends the id of the content. LingoSync loads the text on your server, with Sngine's own rules, before anything is sent to the AI:

• Post privacy – Public, Friends and Only me are respected.
• Private and secret groups and events – only approved members can translate their content.
• Blocked members – content from people who blocked each other is never translated.
• Private messages – only the people in the conversation can translate it.
• Paid, subscribers-only and age-restricted posts – translated only once the member can see them.
• Your API key stays on your server. It is never sent to the browser and never written to logs.

Everything lives in AdminCP › LingoSync:

• Overview – translations, AI calls, the share served from cache and failures for the last 30 days, a 14-day table, usage by content type, detected source languages, and buttons to clear the text or image cache.
• Settings – on/off, mode, languages, what to translate, AI provider, VisionAI, limits and safety filters, with Test connection and Test VisionAI with an image.
• Glossary & Filters – your own translations for exact texts (brand names, slogans, community terms), per language and content type, and your blocked words.
• Groups – a translation mode per group: follow the site, manual, automatic, both, or off.

All notable changes to LingoSync, newest first.

Quick answers to the most common questions about LingoSync.