Setting Up Your Google Drive Connector

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

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

Create a Google Drive Connector project

1. Log into Smartling as an Account Owner
2. Create a Google Drive Connector project type in your Smartling Account.
   • Ensure all required target languages are added to the project
   • Ensure all workflows, vendors and linguistic assets are configured correctly

Connecting Google Drive to Smartling

1. From within this Google Drive Connector project, click Settings > Google Drive Settings
2. Under Connected Google Drive Folder, click Add Google Drive Folder
3. Follow the instructions provided in the pop-up window to connect the source folder and the translation folder to your Smartling project.
   
   

Source Folder Configuration

The source folder is the folder in your Google Drive that contains the source files for translation. This can be a folder in your personal drive or a folder in a shared drive.

1. Go to the Google Drive folder containing source content for translation
2. Share the folder with the email provided in the pop-up window:
   smartling@smartling-drive.iam.gserviceaccount.com
   
   
   Please allow the following permissions: 
   
   • For folders in your personal drive, choose "Editor"
     
   • For folders in a shared drive, choose "Contributor"
     
     
     
3. Click "Copy link", then "Share".
   If a warning message appears, confirm that you would like to share the folder with Smartling, Inc.
   
   
   
4. Go back to your Smartling project and paste the sharing link in the pop-up window.
   
5. Click Next. Once the source folder has been authenticated, you now need to follow a similar process to set up the translation folder.
   
   

Translation Folder Configuration

Once you have connected the source folder, please follow the instructions provided on screen to connect the translation folder to your Smartling project.
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.

1. From the pop-up window in your Smartling project, choose where you want translated files to be delivered:
   • Return translations to the source content folder:
     The translated files will be delivered to the same folder that contains the source files. Please note that this may lead to translated files appearing alongside source files in the project.
     If you select the option “Return translations to the source content folder”, no further authentication is required.
   • Share a different folder (recommended):
     The translated files will be delivered to a specific target folder. If you select this option, please follow the instructions provided on screen to give Smartling access for the translation delivery.
     
     
2. If you selected to share a different folder, please go to the translation delivery folder in Google Drive.
   
   
   
3. Share the folder with the email provided in the pop-up window:
   smartling@smartling-drive.iam.gserviceaccount.com 
   
   
4. Please allow the following permissions: 
   • For folders in your personal drive, choose "Editor"
     
     
   • For folders in a shared drive, choose "Contributor"
     
     
     
5. Click "Copy link", then "Share".
   If a warning message appears, confirm that you would like to share the folder with Smartling, Inc.
   
   
   
6. Go back to your Smartling project and paste the sharing link in the pop-up window.
   
   Click Next to confirm.
   
   
7. Choose how you want translated files to be organized:
   • Create subfolders for target languages:
     Translations will be organized into a subfolder with the target language name.
   • Include target languages in the file name:
     Translated files will not be organized in a subfolder. Instead, the translated files will include the target language in the file name.
     
     
8. Do Not Translate Style:
   Choose what text styles you want to exclude from translation (optional)
   • Applies to Google Document files only (does not apply to Google Sheets) 
   • 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
     
9. Click Save to complete the configuration
   • Source folders cannot be changed. They can only be deleted from the project configuration.
   • Target folders can be changed.

Your Google Drive folder is now connected to your Smartling project.

Updating the Folder Configuration

• To configure multiple source folder, click Add Google Drive Folder, and repeat the steps described 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 (which has not been requested for translation before), but only updates to content assets 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.
  • A user can 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.

Info: The Google Drive Connector can detect file changes by tracking the file’s MD5 checksum for files with binary content, or the file’s revision history for other file types (e.g. Google Docs, Google Slides etc). If the revision history is unavailable, for example due to permission issues, the Connector cannot detect any file changes.

 

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.