Back to top image

Setting Up Your Adobe Workfront Connector

A simple configuration process allows you to integrate and automate translation project management using Smartling’s Adobe Workfront Connector.

Please note that this Connector is a paid product. For pricing information, please reach out to your Smartling Customer Success Manager.

Prerequisites

Before beginning the configuration, ensure you have:

  • Smartling account with project creation permissions (Account Owner or Project Manager role)
  • Workfront account with administrator privileges
  • Ability to create new users in Workfront (recommended for creating a dedicated user for the connector)
  • Basic understanding of Workfront custom forms and projects

Configuration steps

Step 1: Create a dedicated project for the Workfront Connector

  1. Create a new Project in Smartling
  2. Select the Project type “Connector”
  3. Select "Workfront" as your connecting platform
  4. Choose your desired linguistic package or create a new one, and add the source and target languages. 

Once the project has been created, ensure that all workflows, linguistic assets, and team members are set up correctly. In particular, we would recommend checking that the default workflows for all of your target languages are set up according to your preferences. If desired, these workflows will be used automatically for all translation requests with the connector.

1.2 Download public key

The Smartling integration provides a public key, it is required for establishing secure communication between Smartling and Workfront.

  • Navigate to the Settings tab in your new Smartling project
  • Click Workfront Settings
    settings-tab.png
  • Click Connect to Workfront
  • Locate and click "Download public key here" at the top of the dialog
    public-key.png
  • Save the file as “certificate_pub.crt” to your local machine, you'll need it in Step 2
     

Step 2: Configure Workfront Credentials

2.1 Create a dedicated integration user 

The Smartling connector uses the Workfront API to interact with Workfront projects and documents. You will need to create an OAuth application and API key. The connector will execute all actions on behalf of the Workfront user account used to create the OAuth application. For security and audit purposes, we strongly recommend creating a dedicated user account for the Smartling integration.

Contact your Workfront administrator to create the user account. To configure the credentials for the Smartling integration, the newly created user must have Workfront administrator privileges. 

We recommend using "Smartling" as the first name and "Connector" as the last name for this user account.

All connector actions appear as being performed by this user in Workfront’s audit logs. Therefore, it is recommended to name the user "Smartling Connector" to easily identify connector activity. 

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please refer to the Workfront documentation.

2.2 Create OAuth2 application

Please log in to Workfront or "Log In As" the user who will be used for the Smartling connector. Its name will be visible as the documents uploader.

The Smartling integration uses server authentication (JWT flow) to connect to the Workfront API. Please complete the steps described in the Workfront documentation. Below you can find an example of how to fill in the form.

  • Name for the new application: Smartling Connector
  • Create a Client Secret by clicking the “Add client secret” button. We recommend adding a note to this secret in format “Project <aabbcc>”
    client-secret.png
  • Copy the “Client Secret”; you will need it later to configure Smartling
  • Add a public key (upload the “certificate_pub.crt” file from Step 1.2)
    public-key2.png
  • After adding the key, you may notice that the input boxes are empty. Don't worry, the key was correctly added, and the values will be displayed after you save the OAuth app and refresh the page.
    public-keys3.png
  • Click the “Save” button and refresh the page

2.3 Collect required information

After saving, gather the following information from the OAuth2 application page:

  • Client ID
  • Customer ID
  • User ID
  • Workfront Domain (e.g., https://organization.my.workfront.com)

Keep these values in a secure location – you'll need them for Step 4.

Step 3: Set Up Custom Form in Workfront

Custom forms enable users to specify translation requirements directly within Workfront projects or tasks.

Below is an example of a Custom Form with Smartling fields. You can create a new Custom Form or extend an existing one.
custom-form.png

3.1 Create the Custom Form

  1. Navigate to Setup > Custom Forms
  2. Click "New Custom Form"
  3. Select "Project" or "Task" (depending on your workflow)
  4. Name the form: "Smartling Request Translation" (customizable) 

3.2 Add form fields

Understanding form fields

Each field requires two values 

  • Label: The display text users see on the form (customizable)

  • Name: The technical identifier used by the Smartling integration (use the recommended values below for compatibility)

    While labels can be customized to match your organization's terminology, the Name values must match exactly as specified to ensure proper integration functionality.

Add the following 6 fields: 

Field 1: Smartling Project. See screenshot below.

  • Type: Single-Select Dropdown
  • Label: Smartling Project
  • Name: smartlingProjectId
  • Instructions: Choose a Smartling project for document upload
  • Choices: Add names of Smartling projects and their projectIds
  • Required: yes

Field 2: Target Languages. See screenshot below.

  • Type: Multi-Select Dropdown
  • Label: Target Languages
  • Name: smartlingTargetLocales
  • Choices: Add language names and their locale codes (e.g., German = de-DE)
  • Required: yes

Field 3: Job Name

  • Type: Single line text
  • Label: Job Name
  • Name: smartlingJobName
  • Required: yes

Field 4: Job Authorization. See screenshot below.

  • Type: Checkbox Group
  • Label: Job Authorization
  • Name: smartlingJobAuthorization
  • Choices: Auto authorize=true
  • Required: yes

Field 5: Job Description

  • Type: Paragraph text
  • Label: Job Description
  • Name: smartlingJobDescription
  • Required: no

Field 6: Notify Teams. See screenshot below.

  • Type: Multi-Select Dropdown
  • Label: Notify Workfront Team(s)
  • Name: smartlingNotificationTeams
  • Instructions: What workfront team(s) should be tagged when integration posts an Update message
  • Choices: Add only teams involved in localization workflows. If your organization has 10 teams but only 3 participate in localization, add only those 3 teams to the dropdown. For example:
    • Label: User-friendly display name (e.g., "Globalization Team")
    • Value: Exact team name from Workfront (e.g., "MKT_Globalization")
  • Required: no

3.3 Examples of Form Fields

example -1 .png

example 2.png

Step 4: Connect Smartling to Workfront

4.1 Establish connection

  • Return to your Smartling project
  • Navigate to “Workfront Settings” in the Smartling project with the credentials collected in Step 2.3
    • Workfront URL
    • Client ID
    • Client Secret
    • Customer ID
    • User ID

    connect-to-workfront.png

  • Click "Test Connection" and then save it
  • Complete the configuration in the second step of the dialog

4.2 Configure Language Mappings

As soon as you connect Smartling to your Workfront, you will notice an additional configuration in the Workfront Settings. You must enter Workfront language codes into the left column of the Language Configuration. Do not forget to save your changes.

Important: When you configured the smartlingTargetLocales field in Workfront, you filled out two input boxes for each language. The first was the label (for example, "de-Germany"), followed by the name ("de-DE"). The Smartling Language Configuration form should be filled out with the language name.

The following is an example of how a typical configuration looks.

language-configuration.png

4.3 Finalize Configuration

Send your Smartling Customer Success Manager the following information:

  • Name of your Workfront custom form
  • Names of the following custom fields. Important: We need the "Name" value, not the "Label"
    • "Smartling Project" field name (default: smartlingProjectId)
    • "Target Languages" field name (default: smartlingTargetLocales)
    • "Job Name" field name
    • "Job Authorization" field name
    • "Job Description" field name
    • "Notify Workfront Team(s)" field name
  • List of file formats you plan to translate
  • Name of the documents folder (in the Project/Task) where you upload your source files
  • Name of the documents folder where translated files should be uploaded
  • File name pattern for translated files
  • (Optional) Name of the documents folder where you upload reference materials. These files will be attached to the Smartling job
  • (Optional) Name of the folder where the integration will upload Smartling job attachments. This is useful for any DTP work.

Table of Contents