diff --git a/vignettes/_translation_links.R b/vignettes/_translation_links.R
index d384f43e3..1d66c08a0 100644
--- a/vignettes/_translation_links.R
+++ b/vignettes/_translation_links.R
@@ -1,23 +1,39 @@
 # build a link list of alternative languages (may be character(0))
 # idea is to look like 'Other languages: en | fr | de'
-.write.translation.links <- function(fmt) {
-    url = "https://rdatatable.gitlab.io/data.table/articles"
-    path = dirname(litedown::get_context("input"))
-    if (basename(path) == "vignettes") {
-      lang = "en"
-    } else {
-      lang = basename(path)
-      path = dirname(path)
-    }
-    translation = dir(path,
-      recursive = TRUE,
-      pattern = glob2rx(litedown::get_context("input"))
-    )
-    transl_lang = ifelse(dirname(translation) == ".", "en", dirname(translation))
-    block = if (!all(transl_lang == lang)) {
-      linked_transl = sprintf("[%s](%s)", transl_lang, file.path(url, sub("(?i)\\.Rmd$", ".html", translation)))
-      linked_transl[transl_lang == lang] = lang
-      sprintf(fmt, paste(linked_transl, collapse = " | "))
-    } else ""
-    litedown::raw_text(block)
+.write.translation.links <- function() {
+  url = "https://rdatatable.gitlab.io/data.table/articles"
+  # this guard is needed because pkgdown::build_article does not use litedown 
+  # https://github.com/yihui/knitr/issues/926#issuecomment-68503962
+  knitr = isTRUE(getOption('knitr.in.progress'))
+  if (knitr) {
+    path = knitr::current_input(TRUE)
+    i18n_msg = knitr::opts_current$get("i18n_msg")
+  } else {
+    path = normalizePath(litedown::get_context("input"))
+    i18n_msg = litedown::reactor("i18n_msg")
+  }
+  rmdfile = basename(path)
+  rmddir = dirname(path)
+  if (basename(rmddir) == "vignettes") {
+    lang = "en"
+    main_dir = rmddir
+  } else {
+    lang = basename(rmddir)
+    main_dir = dirname(rmddir)       # should be "vignettes"
+  }
+  # search for translated rmd's with same name in subfolders
+  translation = dir(main_dir, recursive = TRUE, pattern = glob2rx(rmdfile))
+  transl_lang = dirname(translation)
+  transl_lang[transl_lang == "."] = "en"
+  if (any(transl_lang != lang)) {
+    link_path = file.path(url, sub("(?i)\\.Rmd$", ".html", translation))
+    linked_transl = sprintf("[%s](%s)", transl_lang, link_path)
+    linked_transl[transl_lang == lang] = lang
+    block = sprintf(i18n_msg, paste(linked_transl, collapse = " | "))
+  } else {
+    block = ""
+  }
+  cat(block)
+
 }
+.write.translation.links()
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-benchmarking.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-benchmarking.Rmd
index ce13108ec..a997505e0 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-benchmarking.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-benchmarking.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Benchmarking data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format:
     options:
@@ -30,9 +30,8 @@ h2 {
 }
 </style>
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 This document is meant to guide on measuring performance of `data.table`. Single place to document best practices and traps to avoid.
 
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-faq.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-faq.Rmd
index 406dbdaf0..f5f503f88 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-faq.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-faq.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Frequently Asked Questions about data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format:
     options:
@@ -26,9 +26,8 @@ h2 {
 }
 </style>
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 library(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-fread-and-fwrite.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-fread-and-fwrite.Rmd
index 4d1e9aefc..af8890292 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-fread-and-fwrite.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-fread-and-fwrite.Rmd
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`r .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-importing.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-importing.Rmd
index 6b93a38ad..a49bec9e5 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-importing.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-importing.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Importing data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -20,9 +20,8 @@ h2 {
 }
 </style>
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 This document is focused on using `data.table` as a dependency in other R packages. If you are interested in using `data.table` C code from a non-R application, or in calling its C functions directly, jump to the [last section](#non-r-api) of this vignette.
 
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-intro.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-intro.Rmd
index 5fb3cdad4..d0ad7d3a2 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-intro.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-intro.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Introduction to data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 library(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-joins.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-joins.Rmd
index 94167655b..a63e2df0f 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-joins.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-joins.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Joins in data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -16,9 +16,8 @@ library(data.table)
 litedown::reactor(comment = "# ")
 ```
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 In this vignette you will learn how to perform any join operation using resources available in the `data.table` syntax.
 
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-keys-fast-subset.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-keys-fast-subset.Rmd
index 6eee37e58..d14257d74 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-keys-fast-subset.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-keys-fast-subset.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Keys and fast binary search based subset"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 library(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-programming.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-programming.Rmd
index a4049a66f..52337e3d2 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-programming.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-programming.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Programming on data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 ```{r init, include = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-reference-semantics.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-reference-semantics.Rmd
index edca8a7be..20aacca25 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-reference-semantics.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-reference-semantics.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Reference semantics"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 library(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-reshape.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-reshape.Rmd
index 1cdbeac0c..121a591cc 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-reshape.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-reshape.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Efficient reshaping using data.tables"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 library(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-sd-usage.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-sd-usage.Rmd
index 6b21b5117..0b388f0e0 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-sd-usage.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-sd-usage.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Using .SD for Data Analysis"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format:
     options:
@@ -21,9 +21,8 @@ vignette: >
 }
 </style>
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 library(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/datatable-secondary-indices-and-auto-indexing.Rmd b/vignettes/datatable-secondary-indices-and-auto-indexing.Rmd
index 9cb7f1cab..4af895919 100644
--- a/vignettes/datatable-secondary-indices-and-auto-indexing.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/datatable-secondary-indices-and-auto-indexing.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Secondary indices and auto indexing"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Translations of this document are available in: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Translations of this document are available in: %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 library(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-benchmarking.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-benchmarking.Rmd
index c8120dd36..b0a6791c0 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-benchmarking.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-benchmarking.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Analyse comparative (benchmark) de data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format:
     options:
@@ -18,9 +18,8 @@ h2 {
 }
 </style>
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 Ce document a pour but de guider la mesure de la performance de `data.table`. Il centralise la documentation des meilleures pratiques et des pièges à éviter.
 
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-faq.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-faq.Rmd
index 1b27adcb7..464325b61 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-faq.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-faq.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Foire aux questions de data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format:
     options:
@@ -26,9 +26,8 @@ h2 {
 }
 </style>
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 library(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-fread-and-fwrite.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-fread-and-fwrite.Rmd
index fac8ee50d..6b1a08286 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-fread-and-fwrite.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-fread-and-fwrite.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Lecture et écriture rapides"
-date: "`r Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output: 
   markdown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-importing.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-importing.Rmd
index bc7931dd6..863a7f598 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-importing.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-importing.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Importation dans data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -20,9 +20,8 @@ h2 {
 }
 </style>
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 Ce document se concentre sur l'utilisation de `data.table` comme dépendance dans d'autres packages R. Si vous souhaitez utiliser le code C de `data.table` à partir d'une application non-R, ou appeler directement ses fonctions C, passez à la [dernière section](#non-r-API) de cette vignette.
 
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-intro.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-intro.Rmd
index 7dc3d138c..67ffc9da7 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-intro.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-intro.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Introduction à data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-joins.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-joins.Rmd
index 591decdc6..8d9acb95b 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-joins.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-joins.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Jointures avec data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   litedown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -16,9 +16,8 @@ require(data.table)
 litedown::reactor(comment = "# ")
 ```
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 Dans cette vignette nous apprendrons à réaliser les opérations de jointure en utilisant les ressources de la syntaxe `data.table`.
 
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-keys-fast-subset.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-keys-fast-subset.Rmd
index 1f37331ad..116a6422d 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-keys-fast-subset.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-keys-fast-subset.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Extraire des sous-ensemble avec les clés et la recherche binaire rapide"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-programming.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-programming.Rmd
index bee4d7973..0d10b4d4c 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-programming.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-programming.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Programmation avec data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 ```{r init, include = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-reference-semantics.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-reference-semantics.Rmd
index 31ffc89b7..1939a1f96 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-reference-semantics.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-reference-semantics.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Sémantique de référence"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-reshape.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-reshape.Rmd
index 15c158dae..92dd3c774 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-reshape.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-reshape.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Restructurer efficacement avec les data.tables"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-sd-usage.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-sd-usage.Rmd
index bc6467b24..47613c879 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-sd-usage.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-sd-usage.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Utiliser .SD pour l’analyse de données"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format:
     options:
@@ -21,9 +21,8 @@ vignette: >
 }
 </style>
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/fr/datatable-secondary-indices-and-auto-indexing.Rmd b/vignettes/fr/datatable-secondary-indices-and-auto-indexing.Rmd
index 6cde5b3d9..0b255542f 100644
--- a/vignettes/fr/datatable-secondary-indices-and-auto-indexing.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/fr/datatable-secondary-indices-and-auto-indexing.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Indices secondaires et auto-indexation"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Une traduction de ce document est disponible en : %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/ru/datatable-importing.Rmd b/vignettes/ru/datatable-importing.Rmd
index 5b058a606..82c608066 100644
--- a/vignettes/ru/datatable-importing.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/ru/datatable-importing.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Использование data.table в других пакетах"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -20,9 +20,8 @@ h2 {
 }
 </style>
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Данное руководство также доступно на следующих языках: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Данное руководство также доступно на следующих языках: %s")`
 
 Этот документ рассказывает об использовании `data.table` в качестве
 зависимости в других R-пакетах. Если вас интересует использование C-кода
diff --git a/vignettes/ru/datatable-intro.Rmd b/vignettes/ru/datatable-intro.Rmd
index 9ae91d994..c06d84ce6 100644
--- a/vignettes/ru/datatable-intro.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/ru/datatable-intro.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Введение в data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Данное руководство также доступно на следующих языках: %s'}
 ```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Данное руководство также доступно на следующих языках: %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
diff --git a/vignettes/ru/datatable-reshape.Rmd b/vignettes/ru/datatable-reshape.Rmd
index feb98e756..f65c86450 100644
--- a/vignettes/ru/datatable-reshape.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/ru/datatable-reshape.Rmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: "Быстрое изменение формы данных с помощью data.table"
-date: "`{r} Sys.Date()`"
+date: !r Sys.Date()
 output:
   markdown::html_format
 vignette: >
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ vignette: >
   \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
 ---
 
-```{r echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
+```{r, echo=FALSE, results='asis', file='../_translation_links.R', i18n_msg='Данное руководство также доступно на следующих языках: %s'}
 ```
-`r .write.translation.links("Данное руководство также доступно на следующих языках: %s")`
 
 ```{r, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE}
 require(data.table)
@@ -19,9 +18,6 @@ litedown::reactor(comment = "# ")
 .old.th = setDTthreads(1)
 ```
 
-```{r, echo=FALSE, file='../_translation_links.R'}
-```
-`{r} .write.translation.links("Данное руководство также доступно на следующих языках: %s")`
 
 В этом руководстве рассматривается стандартное использование функций
 изменения формы данных `melt` (из широкой в длинную) и `dcast` (из длинной в