Communicate with Content Owners and Translators Using Issues

The Issues feature allows platform users to communicate about original source content or translations directly in the Smartling platform. Ensure your Global Notification Preferences are enabled to receive Issue notifications.

There are two types of Issues; source issues, and translation issues. A translator might create a source issue to ask a question about terminology in a particular string. Similarly, a Project Manager might create a translation issue to ask a question about translation in a particular string.

A string can have up to 30 source issues and 30 translation issues. If you create a duplicate issue (same string, issue type, severity, and issue text), you will be prompted to review existing issues first.

Getting answers to questions about content helps the translation process move quickly and effectively. Similarly, providing feedback about translations can ensure consistency. All issue correspondence history is stored in-platform, allowing you to access it at any time. 

Finding Jobs With Open Issues

A job with an open issue with can be identified by the red flag icon under the job name in your Jobs Dashboard. Simply click the flag to open the thread. You will find all open thread in the Issues Report.

Accessing the Issues Report

The Issues Report displays a list of all issues associated with you or your team. To access the report:

Click the top menu: Reports > Issues

From there, you can filter the report, assign individual issues or multiple issues in bulk using the Actions menu (learn more about issue assignment here), or download a CSV report. To export the CSV report, select all issues or use the top checkbox and then choose Select all matching current filter.

How to Open an Issue

1. Navigate to the string you want to ask a question about, either from the Strings View or from within the CAT Tool.
2. If you are in the Strings View, click the ellipsis menu under the Actions column and select View String Details/Issues. From the Issues tab, click Add Issue.  If you are in the CAT Tool, within the Language Resources panel on the right, find the Issues section and click Open New Issue. 
3. Decide if the issue is related to the source or the translation by selecting an issue type.
4. Categorize the issue further by selecting a subtype from the drop-down menu.
5. Choose a severity level for the issue.
6. In the description box, type the question or feedback for the users assigned or associated with the string to address. 
7. You can mention specific people in the issue by tagging them with @username. Type @, then begin typing a user’s name or email address. Select the relevant person from the drop-down list.
8. Click Create Issue. 
   

Issue Types

Source

Source issue notifications are sent to the Account Owner and Project Manager users on the account (if preferences are enabled). For questions/comments relating to the source copy, you can open a source issue under the following subtypes;

• Question/Clarification: Question about the source content (e.g. what is a "Smart Inbox"). 
• Typo/Misspelling: Mistake in the source content (i.e. were vs. where).

Translation

Translation issues are comments, questions or queries relating to the translation submitted to a string. In order for an email notification to be sent to the translation resource user who submitted the string, the user opening the issue must do so by rejecting the translation. However, slack notifications will be sent regardless if the string is rejected. Account Owner and Project Manager users can reject a string in the Strings View Actions or, like Agency Account Owner, Translation Resource Managers and Translation Resource users, by clicking X on a string from within the CAT Tool.

Translation issues are locale-specific, meaning only the Translation Resource user working on a locale for that string, will receive a notification, by default. Any other user may receive a notification on translation issues after they participate in the issue (open an issue /comment on an issue). A translation issue can be opened without moving the string back a step - i.e. a reviewer can open a translation issue on a translation without rejecting the string. However, it is important to note that a notification will not be sent if the string is inaccessible to the user who needs to revise the translation.

If the workflow is configured to allow users to reject content to another step (e.g., the review step), then the translation issue created when rejecting a string will be sent to the user who submitted the string to that specific step (e.g., the reviewer).

• Review Translation: Translation requires revision.
• Doesn't Fit Space: The translation does not fit the space allotted in the asset design. You can then apply a character limit to the string for further guidance.
• Placeholder Issue: Placeholder balancing or ordering is incorrect.
• Poor Translation: Translation does not meet tone, brand, or quality guidelines.

Subtypes can be customized for the account. Your Account Owner or Project Manager can contact a Smartling Customer Success Manager to request custom subtypes. They are specific to either source or translation type.

Related Issues

Related issues allow users to view source issues for different strings, with different hashcodes, that have the same source text. This helps linguists avoid repetitive questions and enables content owners to answer common questions once across multiple strings. Related issues are visible in the string details view and in the CAT Tool, within the Issues panel, for any user with access to the string.

Source strings are considered related if they share the same translatable text (disregarding whitespace, capitalization, and placeholder values). Since these are source issues, they don't show which locale the original reporter was working in.

Anyone can interact with related issues through commenting, resolving, watching, or reassigning. For example, an en-CA linguist can comment on or resolve a source issue originally created by a zh-CN linguist if the issue is shared between both strings. The creation of a related issue doesn't automatically generate email notifications for linguists working on different strings, direct tagging or reassignment is required to trigger a notification.

Severity

To highlight the priority of the issue, you can select a severity level from the dropdown from High, Medium, or Low. The default severity will always be Medium and can be modified at any time, even for "closed" issues. This field is optional.

Following Issues

Any user can subscribe themselves as an issue watcher by clicking "Start watching this issue." They will be notified about future issue updates, including new comments and issue resolution. Once a user has begun watching an issue, they can unsubscribe at any time by clicking "Stop watching this issue" in the same window.

Watchers added in this method can be seen and removed by Account Owners, Project Managers, and Agency Account Owners.

Watchers

Any email address can be added as a watcher by an Account Owner, Project Manager, or Agency Account Owner users. Watchers receive notifications about an issue being opened, commented on, or closed. This field is optional.

A watcher can add comments and add attachments to issues via email. Other aspects of the issue must be managed via the web dashboard.

Account Owner, Project Manager, or Agency Account Owner users can remove any watcher from the list, regardless of which user added the watcher to the list. A watcher can also remove themself by replying to any watcher notification email with "unwatch" or "unsubscribe."

Tagging People in Issues

You can mention people in any issue by tagging them with @username. Once you type @ a dropdown list of all related users appears for you to select from. Once you click save, a notification is triggered to that user, and they are automatically added as a watcher on the thread. The user will automatically receive a notification for any other comments on that thread, regardless if they have been mentioned again. 

Reply to a Comment

To ensure you will receive email notification relating to issues, ensure notifications are enabled. You will then receive an email when an issue is opened or commented on. Click the link in the email to go directly to the open issue, where you can add a comment and/or close the issue if your question is answered. Alternatively, you can reply to the issue via email.

To view and respond to an issue:

1. Go to Content > Translations. The number of open issues will be displayed in the upper-right corner of the screen.
2. Click on Translation issues or Source issues to filter on strings with open issues.
3. Hover over a string and click View Issue.
4. Click on the Issue text to expose the comment field.
5. Enter your comment and click Comment to reply or Comment & Close to reply and close the ticket in one action.

You can also reply to issues in the CAT Tool and Transcreation Tool by clicking on Issues in the side panel.

Strings that are flagged with issues will have a red vertical bar on the left side of the string 

Close an Issue

Though all issue participants can close an issue, we recommend that the user who opened an issue is the one to close the issue once their question has been answered.

Issue Assignment

Source Issues

• If the string was authorized by a content owner (i.e., an Account Owner, Project Manager, or Requester), the user who authorized the string will be automatically assigned to the issue.
• Otherwise, the issue will be assigned to the user who created the issue.

Translation Issues

• If the translation was not rejected and the user who authorized the string is a content owner (i.e., an Account Owner, Project Manager, or Requester), the user who authorized the string will be automatically assigned to the issue.
• Otherwise, the issue will be assigned to the user who created the issue.

Open Issue Quality Checks

Account Owner and Project Manager users can enable quality checks for open issues. This checks if a string has an open source and/or translation issue, and depending on the severity, will flag strings with open issues to you when you submit the strings to the next step. If this setting is set to a high severity, you won't be able to submit the translations to the next step until all open issues are closed.

Issue Visibility and Notifications

Notifications are sent depending on the notification type, the condition, and whether the user has opted to receive that kind of notification.

• All Source Issues are sent to Account Owners and Project Managers (from the project that the job is in).
• All Translation Issues are sent to the translator who translated the string.
• Any user who opens or comments on any Issue will be notified of subsequent comments and when the issue is closed, even if the translations are published.
• If an issue is automatically assigned to a user and the assignee is later changed, the new assignee will receive a notification.

Smartling User	Source Issue	Translation Issue
Account Owner / Project Manager	Can view, update, and close. Receives notifications for all source issues.	Can view, update, and close. .Receives notifications for translation issues they participate in (e.g., opened it, commented on it).
Requester	Can view, update, and close. Receives source issue notifications only if they participate in the issue (e.g., opened it or commented on it).	Can view, update, and close. Receives translation issue notifications only if they participate in the issue (e.g., opened it or commented on it).
Agency Account Owner	Can view, update, and close. Receives source issue notifications only if they participate in the issue (e.g., opened it or commented on it).	Can view, update, and close if they have access to the relevant language. Receives translation issue notifications only if they participate in the issue (e.g., opened it or commented on it).
Translation Resource / Translation Resource Manager	Can view, update, and close. Receives source issue notifications only if they participate in the issue (e.g., opened it or commented on it).	Can view, update, and close if they have access to the relevant language. Receives notifications if they worked on the translation or if they participate in the translation issue (e.g., opened it or commented on it).
Watcher	Can comment and resolve via email reply. Receives notifications for all updates.	Can comment and resolve via email reply. Receives notifications for all updates.