Automate Job Creation with Jobs Automation Rules

The Job Automation feature allows Account Owners and Project Managers to schedule content to automatically be batched into a Job, based on a set of rules. You can also choose to authorize the Job automatically for translation.

Automating a Job is only compatible for cases where content is not automatically authorized for translation, for example, by an API or GDN integration. 

For Jobs Automation rules to work successfully, content should be:

1. In Smartling
2. Awaiting authorization
3. Not already be in a Job

Tip: Global Delivery Network (GDN) projects are an ideal candidate for Job Automation.

How To Create a Job Automation Rule

1. From the account-level Jobs Dashboard, click the Automation Rules tab
   
   
   • From here you can view all rules created and create new rules.
2. Click Create Rule, and insert the following:
   • Choose a Project to apply the rule to from the dropdown list of projects.
     • GDN or API projects are recommended
     • For files projects, ensure the files are already in Smartling before the rule is set to run
     • Connector projects should avoid using automation rules, but can avail of automation settings if applicable.
   • Job Name (required): Smartling will use your preferred Job naming convention each time a new Job is created.
   • Job Description: Give your Job a meaningful description for translators.
   • Schedule (required): Decide when you want the Job to be created, and the frequency.
     • Frequency options include; weekly, fortnightly, every 3 weeks, or every month.
     • You can also be specific about the day of the week, date of the month, and time at which the Job is created.
     • Alternatively, instead of an exact time, you can decide that the Job should be created every hour, every 3 hours, every 6 hours, or every 12 hours.
   • Languages: Select the languages to be captured into the Job.
     • Only content that is not authorized across all the selected locales will be captured.
   • Auto-Authorization: Set to ON if you want to automatically authorize the Job for translation.
     • If enabled, you can choose the workflow each language will use for translation.
     • If you would like to authorize larger Jobs manually, you can set an optional limit for auto-authorization. Jobs with a total word count above the specified limit will not be authorized automatically. 
       To set a limit, auto-authorization must first be enabled. You can then tick the check box "Set limit" and enter a number. Only Jobs with a total word count below this number will be authorized automatically. The minimum value is 1. 
   • Include content already authorized for any other language(s): Include content that has been partially authorized across all the locales of a Job.
     • Partially authorized content refers to content that has been authorized for translation into at least one other language, but not all languages.
     • Note that In Progress and Published strings are filtered out. 
   • Filter content by file: Toggle ON if you want to include/exclude a particular file name (if it's a Files Project) or URL (if it's a GDN Project).
     • If this is left to OFF, Smartling will capture all new content into the Job.
     • You can use wildcard symbols to specify what should not be included in the Job. For example, a "?" can be used to denote a single character wildcard (any 1-character matches), or an "*" can be used to denote a multiple character wildcard.
   • String Tags: This rule ensures that only content with specific string tags will be included in the Jobs created with this Jobs Automation Rule.
     • To enable this rule, switch on the toggle and select the desired string tag/s. You can select multiple tags, as required.
     • Only strings that are marked with at least one of the selected tags will be included in the Jobs created with this Jobs Automation Rule.
   • String Ingestion Warnings: Strings with a specified ingestion warning will not be included in any Jobs created with this rule. For more information on string ingestion warnings, read our documentation on String Ingestion Warnings Explained 
   • Word Count Rules: Toggle on to limit the size of each Job by total words per language or weighted words per language.
     • For example, if a total of 5,000 weighted words per language are available to be batched up into a Job and the Word Count Rule is set to 2,500 weighted words, two or more separate Jobs with a maximum of 2,500 weighted words each will be created. 
     • If you would like to limit the total number of Jobs that will be created out of the available content, use Word Count Rules in conjunction with a Job Limit.
     • Please note that the weighted word count of a Job may differ from the total word count.
     • Language Exception: Choose to add a language-exception to this rule by selecting a language to apply a specific word count to.
     • It is possible for the word count limit set on the Job Automation Rules to be exceeded, due to differences in what the word count before the strings enter a Job and what happens after, such as Translation Memory leverage.
   • Job Limit: This rule works in conjunction with Word Count Rules. It allows you to limit the total number of Jobs that will be created from the available content every time the Jobs Automation Rule runs. 
     • To enable this rule, switch the toggle on and enter the maximum number of Jobs as a numeric value (e.g. 5 Jobs).
     • In this example, every time the Jobs Automation Rule runs, a maximum of 5 Jobs will be created. Each Job will contain not more than the maximum number of weighted words specified in the Word Count Rules.
     • Any content that is not included in the defined number of Jobs, will remain available in your Smartling project (awaiting authorization and not in a Job). These strings can either be bundled up into a Job manually, deleted or left in the Smartling project to be picked up the next time the Jobs Automation Rule runs.
     • If not specified otherwise, in GDN projects, strings that have not been placed into a Job and are awaiting authorization will be deleted and removed from the Smartling project 14 days after they have been captured.
   • Due Date: Decide on the due date for your Job according to content volume. You should keep in mind your translation provider’s standard turnaround times for translation.
   • Notifications: Enter the email address for anyone who needs to receive a notification when a Job is created.
     • Recipients do not need to have a Smartling account.
3. Click Save.
   • This will enable your rule.

If you wish to run Job Automation before the scheduled time, click the play icon from within the Actions column. You can also edit or delete the rule at any time. If you wish to disable the rule temporarily, toggle OFF from within the Status column.

Each time the rule runs, the most recent time is captured in the Last Run column.

If no content matches the Job Automation Rule configuration when the rule is run, no job will be created. Please see the General FAQ page for more details.