Who can manage workflow assignments?

• Account Owners can manage workflow assignments for all workflows (account-level and project-level) for all non-agency Translation Resource Managers and Translation Resources. 
• Project Managers can manage workflow assignments for project-level workflows for non-agency Translation Resource Managers and Translation Resources. 
• Agency Account Owners can manage workflow assignments for Translation Resource Managers and Translation Resources within their agency.
• Translation Resource Managers can manage workflow assignments for Translation Resources within their agency.

If you are an Agency Account Owner or Translation Resource Manager, see Manage Workflow Assignments: Agency Account Owners & Translation Resource Managers.

Workflow Assignments page (recommended)

The Workflow Assignments page provides a centralized view of all workflows and their assignments. Use this page to quickly see which linguists and agencies are assigned to each workflow, and to add or remove assignments in bulk.

Accessing the Workflow Assignments page

To open the Workflow Assignments page, go to Team > Workflow Assignments from the top navigation bar.

This page displays all workflows across your account in a single view. Account Owners can see all account-level and project-level workflows, while Project Managers will only see workflows for the projects they have access to.

Understanding the workflow list

The workflow list displays the following columns:

• Workflow Name — the name of the workflow. Workflows managed by Smartling Language Services display an SLS badge next to the name. Workflows with machine translation display an MT badge.
• Level — indicates whether the workflow is a project-level workflow or an account-level workflow. Project-level workflows also display the project name.
• Linguists — the total number of linguists assigned to the workflow across all locale pairs and steps.
• Agencies — the total number of agencies assigned to the workflow across all locale pairs and steps.
• Locale Pairs — the number of source-to-target locale pairs configured for the workflow.

Filtering and searching workflows

Use the filters on the left side of the Workflow Assignments page to narrow the list of workflows:

• Workflow — search by workflow name or UID.
• Level — filter by project-level or account-level workflows.
• Linguist — find workflows where a specific linguist is assigned. You can select up to 100 linguists.
• Target Locales — narrow to workflows with specific language pairs. You can select up to 10 locales. Use Match All to show only workflows that contain all selected locales.
• Step Type — filter by step type, such as Translation, Editing, Review, etc.
• Step Name or UID — search for a specific workflow step by name or UID.
• Translation Provider — filter by translation provider (Human or Machine).
• Managed by SLS — show only workflows managed by Smartling Language Services or only unmanaged workflows

Click Reset to clear all active filters and return to the full workflow list.

Combine filters to quickly find specific assignments. For example, you can filter by a specific linguist and target locale to see all workflows where that linguist is assigned to a particular language.

Editing assignments

To edit assignments, select one or more workflows using the checkboxes in the workflow list, then click the Actions dropdown and select Edit Workflow Assignments. This opens the Edit Assignments wizard, which walks you through two steps.

Step 1: Edit Assignments

The Edit Assignments page displays a Locales and Assignments table for each selected workflow. If you selected multiple workflows, each one appears in its own collapsible section. The table is organized with:

• Rows — one row per locale pair (source language > target language)
• Columns — one column per workflow step (e.g., Agency Translation, Editing, Review). Each column header shows the step name.

Each cell shows the current assignment count (e.g., "1 Linguist / 0 Agencies"). From here you can:

• Assign linguists — make sure the Linguists tab is selected, then click a cell. A popover appears with a search box and a list of available linguists. Check the box next to a linguist's name to assign them to that locale pair and workflow step.
• Assign agencies — switch to the Agencies tab and click a cell. Check the box next to an agency name to assign them.
• Remove assignments — click a cell and uncheck the box next to a linguist or agency to remove the assignment.

You can filter the table using the Target Locales and Step Type dropdowns to focus on specific locale pairs or steps. Click Clear Filters to reset.

If you see users listed under "Empty Role," this means they have a Smartling account but do not have any workflow assignments. If you select them to add a workflow assignment, they will automatically be given a Translation Resource role.

Step 2: Review Changes and Submit

After making your changes, click Next to move to the Review & Submit step. This page displays a Change Summary showing only the workflows, locale pairs, and steps you changed. Each change is labeled (e.g., "Added: 1 linguist") along with the linguist's name and email.

Review the summary and click Save Changes to apply your updates. Click Back to return to Step 1, or Cancel to discard all changes.

Alternative: Assign from a user profile

You can also add workflow assignments directly from a user's profile. This method is useful when you're onboarding a new linguist and want to set up all their assignments in one place.

1. Go to Team > Users.
2. Click on a user's name to open their profile.
3. Navigate to the Workflow Assignments section.
4. Click Add Assignment.
5. Select a target language, a workflow, and a workflow step.
6. Click Add Assignment. Repeat to add more assignments as needed.
7. Click Save Changes.

If you don't see the workflow you want to assign, check the workflow configuration to ensure it has the correct language pairs.

The Workflow Assignments page (described above) is the recommended method for managing assignments at scale, especially when assigning multiple linguists to a workflow or making changes across many locale pairs at once.

Alternative: Assign from workflow settings (Manage People)

You can assign users to a specific workflow step from the workflows page. This method is useful when you want to see at a glance who is assigned to a particular step for a particular language.

1. Navigate to a project and go to Settings > Workflows.
2. Click on a workflow step and select Manage People.
3. Select a language from the dropdown menu to view the users assigned to that step for that language.
4. Check the box next to a user's name to give them access to the workflow step. The workflow assignment is automatically added to their user profile.
5. Uncheck the box to remove the assignment.

In the Manage People list, you may notice that some users have a checkmark and others do not:

• Users with a checkmark have a workflow assignment for that exact workflow step and locale.
• Users without a checkmark have another workflow assignment for the same locale pair, but for a different workflow and/or workflow step. This makes them eligible for a "quick add" — you can check the box to add the workflow assignment to their profile.

The Manage People list only shows users who already have a Translation Resource or similar role in your account. If you need to add a new user, first invite them via Team > Users, then grant them workflow assignments.

Considerations and FAQ