Some characters in a segment take up no space on screen but still change how the text is shown: a non-breaking space, a soft hyphen, or a mark that sets the direction of the text. This article shows how to make them visible in the wxrks Editor, see what each one does, and insert them yourself, so you don't delete or duplicate them by accident.

💡 Who is this for? Vendors (linguists) who translate or review in the Editor, and Project Managers who edit segments there. Everyone sees and inserts these characters the same way. No permission is needed to show or insert them. Only when shared Editor preferences lock the option does changing it take a permission (see "When the option is locked" below).

Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu are written from right to left. When a segment mixes them with text that runs left to right, such as numbers, product names or web addresses, the text is bidirectional: the screen has to decide the order of every word, number and punctuation mark. Files often carry invisible direction marks that settle this order, for example a right-to-left mark (RLM) next to a number, or an isolate (LRI, RLI or FSI) that keeps a name in its own direction and ends with a PDI.

You can't see these marks, so it's easy to delete or duplicate one while you edit. The translated file then shows the text in the wrong order. Other invisible characters work the same way: a soft hyphen (SHY) decides where a long word may break, and a zero width joiner (ZWJ) joins the parts of a composed emoji such as 👩‍💻.

First, open the task in the Editor. Only the way in differs by role:

Then:

The change applies to the segments right away, in the source and in the target. Your choice is saved with your user preferences, so it also applies to the other tasks you open in the Editor. Other users keep their own setting.

ℹ️ Note: Turning the option off only hides the marks. The characters stay in the text and keep their effect.

With the option on, regular spaces show as small dots, and each invisible formatting character shows as a small badge with its abbreviation:

The NBSP and ZWSP badges, like the narrow no-break space (NNBSP), always show, even with the option off.

The zero width non-joiner (ZWNJ), used in Persian, and the zero width joiner (ZWJ), used in composed emoji, get a smaller badge above the join. The letters stay connected and the emoji stays whole.

Point to a badge to see a tooltip with the character's name and abbreviation, its Unicode code (U+…) and what it does.

💡 Tip: Compare the badges of the source and the target. If the source has an RLI and a PDI around a name, the target usually needs them too.

The picker inserts the real character, not a placeholder. With Show invisible characters on, its badge appears in the target, so you can check where it went.

Besides the characters in the table above, the Invisible and direction block also has the en, em, thin and hair spaces, the narrow no-break space and the non-breaking hyphen.

The isolates (LRI, RLI and FSI) always need a closing PDI, so the picker adds it for you:

ℹ️ Note: Each insertion is one undo step. Press Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) to remove it, together with the PDI the picker added.

An Account Admin can lock Show invisible characters with shared Editor preferences for the whole account, an organizational unit (a unit of an organization with its own settings) or a single project, so the whole team works with the marks on (or off). See How to lock linguists' Editor settings with shared Editor preferences.

When the option is locked, the switch is greyed out and shows a lock icon. Point to the lock to see where the lock comes from, for example "Locked by the Custom editor preferences of this project." You can still insert characters with the picker; you just can't turn the option on or off.

Users who hold the Override Locked Editor Preferences permission (Editor module) can still change the options that Editor preferences lock. For them, the switch stays active, without the lock icon, and a line under it explains the lock, for example "Locked by your account. You have permission to change it." Their choice is saved and applies to their other tasks too.

No role has this permission by default. An Account Admin grants it to each user in People > Users > [user] > Permissions, and it applies in the organizational unit of the task's project. If you need it, ask your Account Admin.

Badges help you spot a missing mark while you translate. To have wxrks check every segment, a Project Manager or Account Admin can turn on the Directional formatting characters QA check, under Whitespace & characters. It is off by default. See How to use the wxrks QA Check Tool.

Both shortcuts work while the cursor is in a target segment. They are listed, and can be changed, in the Editor's keyboard shortcuts list, which opens from the help icon in the Editor header. See How to use the wxrks Editor Shortcuts.