This feature is available for Translation Resources via the Jobs Dashboard. You can export and import content for all languages and workflow steps in a job at once. If you are an Agency Account Owner or Translation Resource Manager user, read our documentation on Export and Import Jobs for Offline Translation.
There may be occasions when you need to take a job offline and work on it locally. To avoid having your work lost for future reference, it is important to remember to import translations back to Smartling once complete. As a requirement, this functionality needs to be enabled on the workflow the job is authorized in by your client.
It's always advised not to take your work offline, unless absolutely necessary. Working offline means you lose all the features of Smartling that make translation quick and seamless, such as easy access to the Translation Memory, Glossary, Style Guide, the ability to open Issues, and translate with Visual Context. Here are some important considerations when using exporting and importing content off the Smartling platform.
Important Considerations for Exporting/Importing Jobs
Loss of access
When translating offline, you no longer have access to the most up-to-date content for translation, or linguistic assets for your client.
Furthermore, if a Content Owner modifies the job at all, such as by excluding strings or updating the source content, these changes will not be reflected in your exported files. This can result in you translating strings that no longer require translation, leading to unpaid work.
Loss of data
All data gathered in Smartling reports does not apply to offline translations. This means that your client has no insight into translation velocity, and changes will not have the data needed to evaluate how long it took for the content to be translated, edited, and how many changes were made by editors. This can also lead to unpaid time and effort.
Loss of context
Translating offline means you lose the ability to get the contextual view provided by Visual Context in the CAT Tool, which is key for ensuring you are translating the content under the right context. It is also a vital feature for you to minimize questions around what the content is about, and resolving issues with bad translations.
Loss of direction
If character limits have been applied to strings, this direction will be lost in the exported job. Because the limits are lost in the exported file, they are not present in the imported file either, meaning strings exceeding character limits can be imported and submitted to the next step in the workflow.
Furthermore, if you have a question about the source content, you won't be able to use Smartling's Issue feature to ask for clarification. Of course, you can take your conversation offline, but you lose the convenience of a threaded dialog directly linked to the string.
Loss of leverage
Although a TMX file of your Translation Memory can also be included in the export, your client's leverage configuration and SmartMatch settings will no longer apply, resulting in the job taking longer to complete.
Loss of quality checks
The Quality Check Profile that your client configured to suit their translation requirements will not assess translations offline. Furthermore, when translations are imported, they can be submitted to the next step in the workflow, regardless if they flag an error, even if it is set to high severity. Poor offline translations that are not corrected can then be saved to the Translation Memory (see Saving imported translations to the Translation Memory).
Translation Memory integrity risks
As imported translations are completed without Quality Checks, without context or direction, your client's Translation Memory is exposed to contamination of poor translations. Imported translations can even be in a different language than the target language requested in the job. The process to remedy this error in their TM is painstakingly long and time-consuming, and could result in putting credibility at risk.
Markup and code integrity risks
When working online in Smartling, we ensure that all underlying code and markup is protected. Translators cannot alter it, since we protect it by masking it. When you export the content under a flat file (.xliff) all code is visible, and can be altered by anyone with access to the file. This can result in broken code and functionality, leading to more developer time spent on QA and resolving any issues that might come up because of changed code.
Time & cost
The above list of important factors when translating offline, ultimately results in your translations taking longer, neglecting quality, possibly spoiling your client's translation memory and target codebase.
We recommended proceeding with caution with offline jobs.
Prerequisites
Assignment and offline translation must be enabled for the translation step the job is in.
Content Owners can enable this in the workflow's settings.
The job must be authorized and in progress - not awaiting authorization or published.
How to Export Content
The Actions menu on the Jobs Dashboard offers two ways to work offline. The actions appear only on jobs that have at least one workflow step with offline work enabled.
Export Content and Import Content: work with multiple languages and workflow steps at once. Use these when the job has more than one language or you want everything in a single export. Follow the steps in this section and in How to Import Content.
Export translations and Import translations: work with one language and workflow step at a time. Use these when you only need a single task. Follow the steps in Export and Import One Language.
From the Jobs Dashboard, locate the job you want to export and click the ellipsis (⋯).
Select Export Content. If the job has multiple languages, the menu also lists an Export translations entry for each language and workflow step. Select one of those instead if you only need a single task (see Export and Import One Language).
Under Export Options, choose which optional files to include. XLIFF is always included (20,000 string limit).
Include Translation Memory files (TMX, 1GB limit)
Include Glossary files (TBX)
Under Select Files To Export, select the languages and workflow steps you want to export. Select a language to include all of its workflow steps, or click the arrow next to a language to choose individual steps. Select Select All Languages and Workflow Steps to include everything. Only workflow steps that contain content are listed, and a count at the bottom of the dialog shows how many languages and steps you have selected.
Click Export Content. Depending on your selections, the export can take several minutes. When it is ready, the download starts automatically.
Downloading your export
Your export downloads as a single .zip file. Inside the .zip:
Each language has its own folder named with the locale (for example, fr-FR). The folder contains the XLIFF file and, if you included Translation Memory files, a TMX file for that language.
If you included Glossary files, they are in a Glossaries folder at the top level of the .zip, with one .tbx file per glossary.
If preparing the export package takes a while, a notifier tells you that Smartling will send a download link to your email address. The link is valid for 7 days and only works for the user who started the export.
How to Import Content
From the Jobs Dashboard, locate the job that you want to import translations to, and click the ellipsis (⋯).
Select Import Content to import files for one or more languages. If you only need to import a single task, you can select Import translations for that language instead (see Export and Import One Language).
Select or drag and drop one or more translated .xliff files.
Only .xliff files are supported for content import.
Choose an import option:
Save and remain in current step: keeps the content you are importing in the current workflow step. You can review and submit it later.
Save and submit to next step: saves the content you are importing and moves it to the next workflow step.
Click Import Files.
Smartling shows the import result for each file. After the import completes, the Import Files button changes to View Strings. Click it to review the imported content.
Saving imported translations to the Translation Memory
The imported translations are not saved to the Translation Memory (TM) immediately. This allows you to review the imported translations before they get stored in the TM.
Once the translations are edited manually in Smartling, or - if no edits are made - once they reach the Published step in the workflow, they get saved to your client's Translation Memory.
Export and Import One Language
If you only need one language and workflow step, use the per-task actions in the same Actions menu instead of Export Content and Import Content. The menu has an Export translations and an Import translations entry for each task assigned to you, with the workflow step and language in parentheses, for example Export translations (Translation - French (France) [fr-FR]). A job with several languages lists one pair of entries per language.
From the Jobs Dashboard, click the ellipsis (⋯) on the job and select Export translations for the language and step you want.
In the Export Task dialog, click the download link for each file you want: Download Content (XLIFF), Download Glossary (TBX, one link per glossary), or Download TM (TMX).
When your translations are complete, select Import translations for the same language and step.
In the Import Translations dialog, select or drag and drop the translated .xliff file and click Upload.
When the upload finishes, the dialog shows Import completed successfully and how many strings were uploaded. Click Review and submit translations to open the strings, or close the dialog to leave them for later.