This article takes you through the process of setting up the Google Drive Connector.

Create a Dedicated Google Account

We recommend that you create a dedicated Google account to integrate with Smartling, such as smartling@your_business_email.com. 

Using a dedicated user account can influence your translation process. Teams within your organization can share files ready for translation with this user, centralizing your translated content. A dedicated user account for the integration will make it easier to access translated files by the special username, or to research changes in documents. It also prevents disruptions to your integration if the original user account becomes deactivated for any reason.

Furthermore, it could be considered an additional security level, by restricting Smartling's access to your Google storage. Only files stored in connected folders can be accessed by Smartling for translation, thus ensuring we will not have access to any of your sensitive information.

This is not a prerequisite to translating with the Google Drive Connector, but our recommendation.

Connecting Google Drive to Smartling

1. Ensure you are logged into your Google Suite
2. Log into Smartling.
3. Create a Google Drive Connector project type in your Smartling Account.
   • Ensure all required target languages are added to the project
4. From within this project, click Settings > Google Drive Settings
5. Click Connect to Google Drive
   
   
6. Choose the Google Account to connect Smartling with
7. You will be prompted to give Smartling access to your Google Drive
8. Click Allow
   
9. Next, configure source and target folders
   
   

Source Folder Configuration

The source folder is the folder in your Google Drive that contains the source files for translation. The configuration modal includes the same folder hierarchy as in your Google Drive

1. Select a source folder
   • Click the folder name to enter the folder
2. When you find the source folder you want to connect with Smartling, click Select Folder > Select and Continue
   

   

Translation Folder Configuration

The translation folder is the folder that the Google Drive Connector will automatically send translated files to. It can be the same folder as the source folder, or a different folder in your Google Drive. Translated files can include the target language in the file name, or be organized into a subfolder with the target language name.

1. Select a translation delivery folder
   • Choose how you want translated files to be organized:
     • Target language in file name: translated files will not be organized in a subfolder within the selected target folder
     • Target language in subfolder name: translated files will not include the language in the file name
   • Choose where you want translated files to be delivered
     • In the same folder as the source (translated files may appear alongside source files in the project)
     • In a specific target folder (recommended)
   • Choose what text styles you want to exclude from translation (optional)
     • Applies to Google Document files only
     • Options are any of the out-of-the-box text styles in Google Documents
     • Applies to all text in the specified text style in all Google Documents in the selected source folder
2. Click Save to complete the configuration
   • Source folders cannot be changed
   • Target folders can be changed

Your Google Drive folder is connected to your Smartling project.

Updating the Folder Configuration

• To configure multiple source folder, click Add Google Drive Folder, and repeat steps 9 - 11 above.
• To change the target folder configuration, click Edit
• To remove a configuration, click Delete

 

Google Drive Connector Configuration

When you have successfully completed connecting Google Drive to Smartling, the Google Drive Setting page has the following configurations

• General
• Language Configuration

General

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

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

Automation of Prior Requests for Translation

This setting controls how you want Smartling to monitor changes to content that has already been translated in Smartling. Smartling will not detect net new content, only updates to content that have been submitted for translation in the past.

Due to the Google Suite's auto-save functionality, it is recommended that this be disabled in your project, so that any files that are ready for translation in your selected root folders are final and unedited. Any changes to source content should be made on a copy of the original file.

Options include:

• Auto: The Google Drive 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.
• Manual: The Google Drive Connector will detect changes to source content every 3 hours, but will not automatically submit content changes for translation.
  • Changed content can be filtered for in the Google Drive Asset list by selecting the Out of Sync checkbox. A user can then manually select the assets that should be re-translated, and Request Translation from the Actions dropdown.
• Disabled (default and recommended): The Google Drive 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.

 

Language Configuration 

In the Language Configuration section, you will see the number of target languages in your Smartling project. The first time you open this page, you will find a blank field to the left of each of the Smartling target languages. You must insert a name for each target language in each field and save to complete language mapping. 

Any language left blank will not appear in the dropdown list of target languages, when you Request Translation of content.

Each time you add a new language to the project, you must map that language in the connector settings.

1. From within your Smartling Google Drive Project, click on Project Settings > Google Drive Settings.
2. Insert the name of the language as you want it displayed in your translated file name or subfolder (depending on your translation folder configuration).
   
   • This field is completely customizable 
   • If your delivery settings are configured with the target language in the file name, it is recommended that the target language name uses minimal character count, as this will be appended to your file name with an underscore, e.g.:
     
   • If your delivery settings are configured with the target language in the subfolder, it is recommended that the target language name uses a folder title you will easily identify, as this will be the title of the subfolder within the specified target folder, e.g.:
     
3. Click the checkmark to save each mapping
   

 

Smartling Settings

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