Project Management

Workflow (TMS)

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Workflow represents the life cycle of a document in the translation process; a sequence of consecutive steps which lead to a desired output.

Workflow steps have a hierarchical structure determined by their order when set up. When a segment is edited in a workflow step, it is propagated to a higher workflow step. As long as it remains unconfirmed and unedited, changes to that segment are propagated from the lower workflow step. Once the segment is edited or confirmed in the higher workflow step, changes from the lower workflow steps are not propagated; changing a step to complete while previous steps are still active results in the next step becoming available for linguists without changes from the previous steps being propagated.

The workflow feature enables the design of custom workflow steps for a project and then assign specific linguists to them. This role is recorded in the linguist's user profile and when a project manager is assigning linguists to new projects, linguists previously used for a specific workflow step are offered as relevant.

Setup Workflow Steps

Translation, Revision and Client Review steps are pre-defined. If more complex or custom workflows are required, these can be constructed with Orchestrator.

Projects can contain up to 15 workflow steps and once added cannot be removed. The order of the steps is defined in multiples of ten so that if a step is added later, it can be placed between existing steps.

A different set of workflows for different sets of languages can not be set up within one project.

Only workflow steps with a higher hierarchical order can be added to a project with existing workflow steps.

Example:

If a project is initially created with steps no. 1, 2 and 4, it would be possible to add a 5th step but not a 3rd step.

To setup workflow steps, follow these steps:

  1. From the Settings Setup_gear.png page, scroll down to the Project settings section and click on Workflow steps.

    The Workflow steps page opens.

  2. Click New.

    The Create workflow step page opens.

  3. Provide a name, abbreviation, order position and LQA if required.

  4. Click Create.

    The step is added to the list.

File Handover

Final versions of translated files modified outside of Phrase can be added to a job. The addition of a final version to the job does not disrupt the existing workflow.

Enabling file handover adds a file upload field to the final workflow step. Final files can be uploaded at any time, but assigned linguists must upload the final version before setting the job to complete as it would not be editable by them afterwards.

Permissible file sizes are as per limits. Multilingual formats (Excel, .XML, .CSV) are not supported.

File handover is not possible in the following cases:

  • The file is uploaded for a continuous job.

  • The file is uploaded for a job created from a connector.

  • The file is multilingual.

  • The file is split.

Note

Completed file: A translated file.

Final file: A completed file that has been modified outside of Phrase and imported back in.

Use Case:

  • When files with richer layouts such as InDesign files or presentation slides are translated, the layout may be changed by the translation. Clients may want to receive a final version with corrected layout, original fonts and graphics. It is expected that there will be no further changes to the text as it can no longer be reflected in the TM.

To set up file handover, follow these steps:

  1. Select a project or project template that requires file handover and click Edit.

    The project editing page opens.

  2. Expand Settings_expand.png the Workflow settings.

    Workflow settings displayed.

  3. Select Enable file handover.

    The last selected workflow step is marked as having File handover enabled. Changing the last selected workflow step always enables file handover for that step.

  4. Click Save.

To add a file for handover, follow these steps:

  1. From the jobs table, select a job in the final workflow step.

    The Upload final document field is enabled.

  2. Click Upload final document.

    The Upload final document window opens.

  3. Select the final file.

  4. Click Upload.

    The file appears in the File handover column and is available for download from the job table or from a portal.

    Click Red_X.png to remove the file.

Managing Workflows

Assigning jobs in workflow steps

Every active workflow step in a project has a version of the selected job associated with it. Linguists can be assigned to translation and other Linguists to revision with final steps being a client with Linguist or Guest user rights.

If jobs in the first workflow step are still in progress, Linguists assigned to subsequent steps cannot start editing them. For example, proofreaders will not be able to edit jobs in the second workflow step until the jobs are marked as completed in the Translation step.

Different translation memories can also be defined for each workflow step and files can be split in all workflow steps, or be split in only one step.

Assigning TMs in workflow steps

When selecting TMs for projects with workflow, the same translation memories can be selected for all workflow steps, or each workflow step can have its own TM setup.

Email notification

When assigning a job to a Linguist or Vendor in the first workflow step, they can be manually notified by email or automatically when the job is imported to the project.

Linguists assigned in higher steps are automatically notified the moment the job in the previous step is set to Completed. Upon notification, the proofreader starts to work immediately after the translation is completed. If defined, Linguists are notified when the next step is passed or if the job is rejected.

Tight deadlines (concurrent steps)

When working with a tight deadline, a revision can be started before the translation is complete but this is to be done cautiously.

If a job has not been completed in the preceding workflow step, the confirmation indicator in the editor is red with the warning message Preceding workflow step not completed.

The reviser can ignore the warning and carefully go ahead with the revision but only with segments confirmed by the translator. If the reviser changes a segment that has not been confirmed in the preceding workflow step (in this case, translation), changes by the translator will not be later propagated to the revision step.

When working with the CAT desktop editor, the bilingual MXLIFF will only include target segments from the previous step that have been added until the moment it was exported.

The option to allow linguists to start a workflow step before the preceding step has been completed is set in access and security. See CAT preferences for editor settings.

Workflow automation

When working with projects with multiple languages and workflow steps, a specific workflow step may not be required for all jobs.

To prevent issues caused by skipped workflow steps for certain languages, enable the Workflow automation option in the Workflow project settings. When the previous workflow step is completed, the unassigned jobs are automatically marked as completed and move on to the next relevant step in the workflow.

Export Workflow Changes

Changes in workflow steps can be provided to anyone involved in the translation chain with a summary of the source and all versions of the translations such as translation, revision, and final review. An .HTML table is generated with original text in the first column and a separate column for each workflow step. This summary cannot be shared with providers (Exception: the entire project with all workflow steps is shared with Vendor) but the generated .HTML file can be downloaded and distributed if required.

To export workflow changes, follow these steps:

  1. From a project page, select a job with workflow changes for export.

  2. From the Tools menu, select Export workflow changes.

    A new browser tab opens with the generated .HTML.

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