This article guides you through the first steps of working in Smartling as a Translation Resource user, and is for anyone who may manage translation projects for clients within a Language Services Provider. Here are your first steps in Smartling:
- Step 1: Activate your account and log into Smartling
- Step 2: Personalize your email notifications
- Step 3: Navigate through your Smartling dashboard
- Step 4: Translate or edit content in the Smartling CAT Tool
If you prefer watching to reading, check out our full video walk-through here.
Step 1: Activate your account and log into Smartling
Once your project manager has created a Smartling account for you, you will receive an invitation email that allows you to set up your login credentials. Smartling is a cloud-based translation platform, so you can log into your Smartling portal anytime, directly from your browser.
Your Smartling account is completely free of charge. You can use it without having to download or install any software.
Step 2: Configure your email notifications
Our automated email notifications inform you in real time about new translation tasks and action items. You can customize your notification preferences in your Smartling profile to receive the exact alerts that you need to stay on top of your work.
Step 3: Navigate through your Smartling dashboard
Your Translation Resource profile allows you to access your work with just one click.
It consists of three main components:
- Your home screen shows your Jobs Dashboard, which lists out all of your translation and proofreading requests (called “jobs” in Smartling).
Here, you can then manage all of your daily tasks: run fuzzy estimates, check the due dates to stay informed about all deadlines and monitor your progress in real time. - Next to each job, you can access the CAT Tool to start translating.
- In your Reports section, you can run a Word Count report as a basis for your invoices, or learn about your customer’s preferences with our String Changes report.
Step 4: Translate or edit content in the Smartling CAT Tool
The CAT Tool (or Computer-Assisted Translation Tool) is your workspace in Smartling, where you can translate content or proofread existing translations.
Alternatively, for reviewers, you can work in Review Mode for a more simplistic view.
Adjust Your CAT Tool Settings
When you open the Smartling CAT Tool for the first time, you are asked to confirm your preferred keyboard shortcuts, and to customize your CAT Tool settings. If you are unsure which settings to select, you can simply confirm our default options to get started.
Save as You Translate
In the Translation panel, you can save a translation for each individual “string” (text unit).
Translate in Context
On the top half, you can find the Context panel for visuals and contextual information. This allows you to choose the correct wording based on the context and see how your translations will appear on the localized page.
Additional Resources in the CAT Tool
The Smartling CAT Tool allows you to access all resources and information that you may need to deliver great quality translations that are in line with your client's preferences.
Translation Memory
In the Language Resources panel on the right-hand side, you can see any available matches from your customer’s Translation Memory. A Translation Memory (TM) is a database which stores all translations that you (or other linguists) save, so they can be easily re-used.
You can see and insert any matches from your client's TM to speed up your work and to increase consistency with previous translations.
Depending on your personal settings, you might even see some suggestions from the translation memory already pre-filled.
If you would like to check how a certain word or phrase was translated before, you can also proactively search your client's entire TM with our Concordance Search.
Glossary & Style Guide
To familiarize yourself with the overall tone of voice that should be used for your client, you can access their style guide. When you are entering a translation, you can easily spot any instructions or character limits provided by your client, as well as glossary entries that indicate your client’s preferred terminology.
Quality Checks
To help you deliver the best possible translation quality, Smartling automatically runs a wide range of quality checks to catch any mistakes.
Ask Questions or Share Feedback
If you have any questions around the text to translate or feedback about existing translations, our Issues feature allows you to communicate directly with your client or your colleagues without having to leave the translation tool.
Submit Translations
Once you have finished your work and saved a translation for all strings, please submit your translations to get credited for them and to let your client know that your work is done.
Depending on your customer’s preferences, your submitted translations might get proofread by another linguist or a member of the customer’s organization.
Need Help? We Got You!
In this Help Center, you can find detailed articles about all aspects of your Smartling dashboard. You can also find a video tutorial here.