WCN ships in two languages, treated as equals: English and Simplified Chinese. This defines the pair, the surfaces it covers, and the principle that neither is a second-class afterthought.

PAIREN ↔ 简体中文 SCOPEAll surfaces PARITYBoth first-class FUTUREExtensible

A01.1 · THE PAIR

Two, by design.

English and Simplified Chinese are the launch pair — chosen for WCN’s actual audience, not as a generic “add languages later.” The system is built bilingual from day one.

A01.2 · SCOPE

Every surface.

Both languages cover the full brand — site, product, docs, social. There is no “English site, partial Chinese”; parity of coverage is the standard.

A01.3 · PARITY

Neither is an afterthought.

Chinese isn’t a translation bolted onto an English product — it’s designed alongside, with its own type, layout and tone considerations. Equal status, equal craft.

A01.4 · EXTENSIBILITY

Built to add more.

The architecture supports adding languages without rework — keys, fallback and tooling are language-agnostic. The pair is the start, not the ceiling.

In a bilingual system, one language has to be authoritative or the two drift apart. English is WCN’s source of truth — content originates there and flows to Chinese through a defined process.

SOURCEEnglish FLOWTo 简体中文 SYNCOn change AUTHORITYEN

A02.1 · WHY A SOURCE

Drift needs an anchor.

Without one authoritative language, edits happen in both and the two slowly diverge. A single source of truth is the anchor that keeps them aligned.

A02.2 · THE FLOW

EN, then ZH.

Content is written and approved in English, then translated to Chinese. New copy never originates only in Chinese — it would have no source to sync back to.

A02.3 · SYNC

Change here, flow there.

When English changes, the affected Chinese strings are flagged for re-translation. The flow is triggered by change, so Chinese never silently lags an English update.

A02.4 · PREVENTING DRIFT

Caught by the process.

Out-of-sync strings surface in QA before release. The source-of-truth model only works if the sync is enforced — so it’s built into the workflow, not left to memory.

Translatable text lives behind keys, not inline in code. This defines the next-intl key structure — how keys are named and nested — so translation is systematic and nothing hides hardcoded.

SYSTEMnext-intl NAMINGSemantic NESTINGLogical RULENo copy in code

A03.1 · NAMING

Meaning, not content.

Keys are named for what the text is, not what it says — home.hero.title, not home.welcome_to_wcn. Semantic keys survive copy changes without becoming lies.

A03.2 · NESTING

Grouped by place.

Keys nest by feature and screen — a logical tree that mirrors the product. Translators get context from the path; developers find keys by where they live.

A03.3 · CONVENTIONS

One way, everywhere.

Casing, separators and pluralisation follow one documented convention. Consistency means a developer can guess a key’s name and usually be right.

A03.4 · THE RULE

No copy in code.

The non-negotiable: no user-facing string is hardcoded. A lint rule enforces it, so a forgotten string fails the build rather than shipping un-translatable.

The brand name and mark never translate. In Chinese copy, “WCN” and the W³ mark stay in their Latin form — this defines how the name behaves inside another script without breaking.

NAMELatin always MARKUnchanged IN-SENTENCEMixed-script RULENever transliterate

A04.1 · STAYS LATIN

One name, every language.

“WCN” is written in Latin letters in Chinese copy, never transliterated into characters. A single global name is stronger than a different one per market.

A04.2 · THE MARK

The W³ is universal.

The W³ mark is identical in every locale — it’s a logo, not a word. It needs no localization and must never be redrawn with characters.

A04.3 · IN-SENTENCE

Latin inside Chinese.

When “WCN” sits in a Chinese sentence, mixed-script spacing rules apply so the Latin name sits comfortably among characters — covered in the type cluster.

A04.4 · THE RULE

Protected, everywhere.

The rule is absolute: the name and mark are never translated, transliterated or localized. It’s documented for translators so it’s never “helpfully” converted.

Key terms — product names, crypto vocabulary, brand phrases — must translate the same way every time. The termbase is the approved bilingual glossary that keeps translation consistent across everyone who touches it.

TERMSBilingual pairs APPROVEDYes USEConsistency OWNERLinguist

A05.1 · THE TERMBASE

The approved pairs.

The termbase lists each key term with its single approved Chinese translation. “Network,” “staking,” product names — fixed once, used by all, so the brand speaks consistently.

A05.2 · WHAT GOES IN

Terms that matter.

It covers crypto vocabulary, product features, brand phrases and anything ambiguous to translate. Common words are left to translators; pivotal terms are pinned.

A05.3 · IN USE

Consistency, enforced.

Translation tools surface the termbase so the right term is used in context. It removes the guesswork that produces three translations of one feature name.

A05.4 · GOVERNANCE

Owned, and growing.

A lead linguist owns the termbase, approving new entries as the product grows. An ungoverned glossary fills with conflicting entries and stops being authoritative.

Some terms are clearer left in English — established Web3 vocabulary, technical standards, the brand name. This is the policy for what is deliberately not translated, and why.

POLICYKeep-in-EN list EXAMPLESWeb3 · brand REASONClarity REVIEWPeriodic

A06.1 · THE POLICY

A list, on purpose.

Certain terms are on an explicit keep-in-English list. Leaving them untranslated is a deliberate decision, not an oversight — and documenting it stops well-meaning over-translation.

A06.2 · EXAMPLES

Where English is clearer.

The list includes established Web3 terms the audience already knows in English, technical standard names, and the brand name. Translating these would add confusion, not clarity.

A06.3 · THE REASONING

Clarity beats purity.

The principle is reader clarity, not linguistic purity. If the Chinese-speaking audience genuinely knows and uses the English term, forcing a translation serves no one.

A06.4 · REVIEW

Language shifts.

The list is reviewed periodically — as Chinese Web3 vocabulary matures, some English terms gain accepted translations and move off the list. It’s a living policy.