SharePoint 2010 Ribbon Reusable Content DropDown list empty when using variations

When you have variations enabled on a SharePoint site collection, you may notice that the Reusable Content list in the ribbon is empty in certain languages.

All depends on the language of the root site collection and the language of the currently logged on user (display language). Let's suppose that you created the site collection in English and created a couple of variations (French, Dutch and German).

You have created entries in the Reusable Content list and are able to add them to your publishing pages. When you now go into a variation site (for example in the Dutch one) and you edit the page, you will notice that the Reusable Content list is empty. This happens because the display language is different than the language of the root site.

If you experience the same behavior, you can work around this by enabling alternate languages for the variation site (via Site Settings). As a result, the user will be able to change the display language of the site. By changing the display language to the language of the root site, you will be able to insert reusable content directly from the ribbon dropdown list.

(Notice that you can still click on the "more options" link which will open a dialog with all reusable content items displayed.)