In LQA Suite, reviewers work in a dedicated LQA project that contains translation "snapshots." These strings are identical copies of the translations from the production project at the time they were sent for LQA. As reviewers complete their LQA assessments, they can make edits to the translations they evaluate. When reviewers save their edits, the updated translations are not automatically propagated back to the production project strings.
With LQA Suite's translation Round-trip feature you can allow reviewers to push the edited translations back to the production project. When this feature is enabled, reviewers can assess modified translations as they save them and decide if the edited translation should be propagated to the production project.
A production project refers to a Smartling project used for translation. An LQA project is a specific type of Smartling project used exclusively for conducting LQA with Smartling's LQA Suite.
How It Works
There are three possible versions of each translation in an LQA project:
- The translation snapshot - this is what is evaluated.
- The current translation in the original production project - this is often the same as the snapshot, but production translations might change after the snapshot is created, so this is not always the same as the snapshot.
- The modified translation - this is the edited translation saved by the LQA evaluator.
The Round-trip feature works by comparing the modified translation against the current translation in the original production project. When this feature is enabled, as reviewers save and edit strings they are presented with a modal to review the modified translations.
Once the evaluator reviews the changes, they have two options:
-
Save & Update: This will confirm the edits in the LQA project and the edited translation will be propagated to the production project string. The relevant translation memory unit (TU) will also be updated in the production TM.
The string history for the original string in the production project will show "Translated by Smartling LQA":
- Skip: This will confirm the edits in the LQA project, but will not update the original translation in the production project.
If the original project translation has been removed, excluded, or is otherwise unavailable for updating, the following message will appear:
Updated translation can not be applied to original project as the string is either awaiting authorization, excluded, inactive or deleted.
The "Save & Update" button will be inactive when the original project translation cannot be modified.
If an evaluator does not edit a translation snapshot, they will not be prompted to review the translation for Round-trip.
If a reviewer makes a mistake and forgets to select "Save & Update," or if you prefer to have more control over which edited translations are propagated to the production strings, you can use the LQA Modified Translations tab to send edited translations back to the production strings.
How to Enable Translation Round-Trip
The translation Round-trip feature can be enabled on any step of your LQA workflow where LQA is carried out. To enable this feature, follow the steps below:
- Navigate to a Project's Workflow Configuration Project > Settings > Workflows
- Find the LQA workflow, click on the LQA step, and select Manage Step
- Under Settings, ensure "Users can revise content" is enabled
- Switch on the toggle "Reviewers can send updated translations to original project"
- Click Save
Enabling this toggle allows reviewers to send updated translations back to the original production project as they edit translations and perform LQA. However, this toggle does NOT need to be enabled for Account Owners or Project Managers to send edited translations back to the production project at any time using the LQA Modified Translations tab.
Considerations
The Round-trip feature is only available when using the CAT tool in "Job mode." This is the default experience for Translation Resource users when they open a job from the Jobs dashboard by clicking the "Open" button.
For Account Owners and Project Managers, the best practice for accessing the CAT tool in Job mode is to select the ellipsis menu on the Job details page, next to the target locale, and then click "Edit in CAT Tool."
Have questions? Check out the LQA Suite FAQ page.