Translating With The Sitecore Connector

This article is for Account Owners and Project Managers.

The Smartling Sitecore connector allows you to translate Sitecore content with context. Translations are requested from within Sitecore, and translated content is automatically sent back to your environment.

The connector supports translation of Sitecore Content.

Target Languages

Target languages for each piece of content are configured within profiles. Profiles for the connector follow a hierarchy. The more specific the content and target languages are, the higher up the list the profile should be. The more general content, that should be translated into the broader range of target languages, should be listed last.

Ensure the profiles follow your desired order of preference before requesting translation. 

Translator Instructions

You can provide translator instructions from Sitecore "Long description" and "Short description" template fields:

These values will also be shown in the CAT Tool, as string instructions.

Request Translations

Once you have installed and configured the Sitecore connector, you can begin submitting content to Smartling for translation.

The Smartling tab will appear in the Sitecore Content Editor

Translate Individual Content

To submit individual items:

1. From within Sitecore, open the Content Editor.
2. Navigate to the Content you wish to translate.
3. Click the Smartling tab in the admin menu.
4. Click the Translate button.
5. You will see a popup (Root of Source Item) with your content selected.
6. Click the Next button.
7. Select the languages to which you wish to translate your content.
8. Click the Next button to submit your content for translation.

Translate Content in Bulk

To submit multiple pieces of content at once:

1. From within Sitecore, open the Content Editor.
2. Navigate to the content or folder you wish to translate.
3. Click the Smartling Tab in the admin menu.
4. Click the Translate button.
5. You will see a popup (Root of Source Item) with your content selected.
6. Select the Translate Subitems checkbox.
   • This will send all child items within the selected folder for translation.
7. Choose how you want to translate related items from the options listed.
8. Click the Next button.
9. Select the languages to which you wish to translate your content.
10. Click the Next button to submit your content for translation.

If a Sitecore item with no translatable content is requested for translation, no file will be uploaded to Smartling, and the item's status in Sitecore will change to 100% completed.

Related Items Options

Related is the reference to another item. It can be a sibling item or even in another content tree. 

1. Do not translate: the connector will not look for or translate any related items.
2. Search related in Link DB: Sitecore has its own Link DB with incoming and out coming references for each item. The connector takes a list of references (related items) from the Sitecore Link DB
3. Search related items in presentation data sources: Sitecore item may have a Presentation (UI). The presentation may contain one or more UI components. A UI component may have a non-empty "data source" field (which is a reference).
4. Search related items in presentation data sources and their children: same as above, with the addition of child assets of related assets.
5. Search related items in presentation data sources and ALL their children of children: the same as above, except that we ingest all children from all levels.

Include Visual Context with your Translation Request

A visual context capture tool is built into the Sitecore connector, helping linguists get your translations right the first time, reducing translation cost and time to market. Context will automatically be captured when content is submitted to Smartling.

If you are not seeing visual context in Smartling, refer to Configuring Sitecore Remote Connector for troubleshooting.

Errors

Errors like "Calling Smartling.Connector.Dialogs.SendToTranslation.[method] method through reflection is not allowed" can appear when you attempt to request translation.

The error comes after Sitecore released Security Bulletin SC2023-003-587441. This update adds a security layer that prevents some components in the Smartling Request Translation dialog from working.

To solve this, download and save the Smartling.Connector.SecurityHotfixWorkaround.config to your "\<site root>\App_Config\Include" folder.

After installation, Sitecore restarts with the new configuration, and you can request a translation and add content to an existing Smartling job.

Tip: For more information, read Sitecore documentation.

Check Status

The Sitecore connector is file-based, meaning translation progress is monitored at the file level rather than at the job level. The connector displays translation progress for the content in Sitecore.

To monitor translation progress on all translation requests, use the Smartling Translation Progress window in the Smartling connector:

1. From within Sitecore, open the Desktop.
2. Click the start menu and find Smartling Translation Progress (All Applications > Smartling).
3. Use the filter at the top of the screen to find your translation requests.

The Status column displays the translation progress. The overall status of the translation request is listed in the Complete column. Both columns reflect the current Sitecore status. Therefore, the Status and Completion % columns may not match what is shown in the Smartling dashboard. The status displayed in Sitecore may be outdated. For example, if a file is published in Smartling but has not been delivered yet, the Status in Sitecore will show as 'In Progress.' Once the file is successfully delivered to Sitecore, the Status will change to 'Completed'. 

If your translation request shows a failed status, you can resubmit the request from the Smartling tab. Use the Smartling Bulk Submit window to resend translation requests if multiple submissions fail.

How Status Columns are Updated

• Connector scheduler runs
• If you open an item in the Content Editor and select the Smartling tab from the ribbon bar, it triggers the connector to request the latest status for the selected Sitecore item 

 

Download Translations

Automatic (Scheduler or Callback)

Scheduler: The Smartling Connector can be configured to download translated content once it is complete on a schedule defined in your Sitecore configuration. Check with your technical team to verify your current download schedule.

Callback: You can configure callbacks so that translations are delivered as soon as files are published in Smartling. 

Manual

You can download translations manually from the Smartling tab for any Content by clicking the Download button.

You can download translations manually in bulk from the Smartling Translation Progress window:

1. From within Sitecore, open the Desktop.
2. Click the start menu and find Smartling Translation Progress (All Applications > Smartling).
3. Select the content for which you wish to download translations.
4. Click the Download.

Publishing Translated Posts

Automatic

The Smartling Connector can be configured to automatically publish translated content once it is returned to your Sitecore instance.

If the Target Workflow State is not set to Approved, you will need to manually publish your content:

1. From within Sitecore, open the Content Editor.
2. Navigate to the content you wish to publish.
3. Click the Language Selection drop down menu to view all versions.
4. Select the language you wish to review and publish.
5. Click Save to start the translation process.