Not all content types require the same level of attention.
This is why in Smartling, you can choose your preferred translation option for each content type and language by configuring multiple workflows.
A workflow is a sequence of steps or tasks, through which content passes and is translated from Authorization to Published. Workflows are instrumental to determining the speed and quality in which your content is translated.
Workflow steps: How workflows are structured
In Smartling, workflows are customizable for full flexibility.
After a fully automated Processing step, each workflow has a Translation step. In the Translation step, a translation is applied to your content - either by a human translator, by a Machine Translation provider or by an LLM.
It is possible to add multiple additional workflow steps as required, to allow for the translations to be checked, edited, approved, paused or formatted.
Example:
For a more advanced configuration, it is even possible to set up a dynamic workflow, which automatically routes your content through a different set of steps based on customizable criteria.
Example:
Tip: Fewer steps can result in a quicker turnaround time for translations, however additional steps carried out by the right resources can increase the translation quality. For information on commonly used translation workflow options, please visit this article and consult your Customer Success Manager.
Workflow step settings
Each step can be customized further by adjusting the available workflow step settings.
These settings have a great impact on the way content moves through your workflow. For example, they determine how work is distributed among multiple linguists, and whether AI features will be used to enhance your translations.
Determine who will work on each step: Assigning your Team or MT Profile
In Smartling, everyone involved in the translation process works together under one roof. To get your content translated and moving through the workflow, it is crucially important to assign the right agency, Translation Resources or MT Profile to each step:
- For the Translation step of your workflow, you can choose the type of Translation Provider you would like to use:
- By default, your workflow is set up to have your content translated by human translators. If you would like to keep this setting, please ensure to assign the right agency or Translation Resources to this step.
- Alternatively, select one of the available MT Profiles to get your content machine translated.
- Post-translation workflow steps where the translations are checked, edited or reviewed, should all have the appropriate human agency or Translation Resource users assigned.
Tip: Please visit this article for further information on how to assign an agency or individual Translation Resources to a workflow step.
Pre-configured workflows & custom workflows
To ensure your content can be translated from day one, some workflows are already pre-configured for your Smartling account:
- When you create a new Project, a new project-level workflow called “Example Workflow” is automatically created for all target languages.
The Example Workflow serves as an example to illustrate what a workflow looks like, but it does not have any translators assigned and should only be used for testing purposes.
Immediately after the project creation, the Example Workflow is used as the default workflow for all languages in your project. However, it is recommended to update the default workflow as soon as your actual translation workflow has been established.
- Your new Smartling account also comes with pre-configured workflows managed by Smartling Language Services (SLS). These account-level workflows can be used across all of your projects.
Before using these pre-configured SLS workflows, we would recommend reaching out to your Customer Success Manager for pricing information.
In addition to these pre-configured workflows, you can create as many custom workflows as required. Custom workflows allow you to work with your preferred translation vendor or MT Profile and to configure the exact steps required for your translation process.
Info: For information on creating a new translation workflow, please visit this article. Alternatively, visit this article to learn more about creating Machine Translation workflows or this article for information on setting up a transcreation workflow for creative translation.
Account-level workflows vs. project-level workflows
Workflows can be created for individual projects (project-level workflows) or for the entire account (account-level workflows), making them available across all projects.
Account-level workflows are often preferable, as they reduce the effort required to apply any changes and new settings to all projects. When new features are introduced, an account-level workflow will make it easier to keep the desired settings up-to-date for all projects. The same goes for onboarding new linguists: It is easier and less error-prone to add new linguists to just one account workflow rather than several different project workflows. If a translation vendor or a team of reviewers work across several different projects, it is easier to keep their user permissions up-to-date with account-level workflows.
Info: It is important to consider, however, that only Account Owner users have the option to create or modify account-level workflows.
On the other hand, Project Managers can only view and edit project-level workflows. Therefore, project-level workflows are often easier to manage for decentralized localization teams.
Project-level workflows are also a better choice if your translation vendor or linguists should only have visibility into a specific project. While an agency or linguist can only work on content in a workflow step that they have access to, they will still see a list of all your project names, if they are assigned to an account workflow.
Default workflow
When authorizing each new translation Job, you can choose your preferred workflow for each language.
To minimize the effort needed to manage your day-to-day translation activities, you can set up a default workflow for each target language in your projects. Unless otherwise specified, this default workflow will be used whenever you authorize new content in your project.
Additional Documentation on Workflows
- Learn how to create a workflow
- Learn how to configure workflow steps
- Learn about Smartling's Dynamic Workflows
- Learn about Smartling's Idle String Rule
- Learn about copy source to target workflows
- Learn about the Processing step