Episerver/Optimizely Connector Configuration

Episerver is now known as Optimizely. For the consistency, the documentation and Smartling interface refers to this software as Episerver. 

Once you have installed the correct package for the branch you are working with, you can proceed to configure the connector before translating your content.

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

Important Prerequisite

Ensure Content is Localizable 

Content for translation must be contained with a localizable property in Episerver. If a content type does not have the unique value per language setting enabled, the connector cannot ingest the content for translation. This results in missing components on translated sites. To ensure components are not missing, you can set up a fallback language for each language in Episerver. This will insert the component in the selected fallback language, so it is not missing in the translated site.

 Language Configuration 

1. From within your Smartling Episerver Project, click on Project Settings > Episerver Settings.
2. In the Language Configuration section, you will see the number of target languages in your Smartling project, along with the source language in your Smartling project. These details should match dropdown menus with your Episerver target languages.
3. Choose the correct target language from the dropdown menu to map the language in your Episerver language configuration to your Smartling project target language.
4. Click Save after mapping each of the target languages.

You cannot map a Smartling language to more than one Episerver language. 

General

You can configure the behavior of the connector when updates are made to your previously translated content.

1. From within your Smartling Episerver Project, click on Project Settings > Episerver Settings.
2. Click the Automation of Prior Request for Translation dropdown to select your desired behavior.
3. Click Save.

Automation of Prior Request for Translation

• Auto: The Episerver Connector will detect changes to source content every 3 hours. Any changes detected to the source content will be submitted to Smartling for translation, batched into a Job and sit in awaiting authorization. However, if auto-authorize is enabled under Smartling Settings, the updated content will be batched into a Job and automatically authorized for translation. Smartling will not detect net new content, only updates to content that have been submitted for translation in the past.
• Manual: The Episerver Connector will detect changes to source content every 3 hours, but will not submit new content for translation. Changed content will be indicated by a checkmark in the Outdated column in the Episerver Progress (New Experience).
• Disabled: The Episerver Connector will not detect changes to source content or automatically submit new changes.

3 hours is the recommended shortest time duration between checks. Talk to your Solutions Architect about changing the frequency to longer wave periods using cron.

Configure Episerver Content Parsing

When Smartling captures content from Episerver it may process the fields of an entry based on your configuration settings and may break down the individual fields into even smaller strings for translation. This process makes it easier to produce higher quality translations faster.

Episerver assets have language versions, and all asset language versions are stored together. This means that an asset, such as a page, may have 5 en-US versions, 2 es-ES versions, and no fr-FR versions. The connector interacts with language versions as follows:

• If the target language version doesn't yet exist (for example, fr-FR), the connector copies the most recent source version as a new target. Then it applies translations field by field and in accordance with the "Content Parsing" configuration.
• If the target language version already exists, the connector duplicates it. This means that the connector never directly modifies existing translated content. It makes a duplicate and then applies translations.

The connector always starts with a new language version (in either of the methods described above). Then it downloads and saves translations from Smartling in Episerver.

The Parsing Options section below explains how the connector interacts with each field. Some options are only applicable for uploading content to Smartling, while others are used when delivering translations to Episerver.

Follow the steps below to configure how Smartling should handle fields based on how your content editors are allowed to format them in Episerver. Note, if an asset is not localizable in Episerver, it won't appear in the list of fields for that content type in the Smartling settings.

1. Under Content Parsing, select your Episerver space. A list of the localizable fields appears.
2. For each field, decide whether it requires translation, and if so, which parser should be used for that field.
3. Click Save.
   
   

Smartling Settings

Talk to your Customer Success Manager or Solutions Architect about options on auto-authorization and translation retrieval.

What next?

Now you're ready to translate content with the Episerver Connector.