For Translators
Crowdin is a localization management platform that helps companies translate their software. In this article, you will find information on how you can contribute to localization projects as a translator.
You’ve been invited to join the Crowdin Enterprise project, but not sure where to start? Here’s everything you need to get started with translating and proofreading. This article will walk you through the basics of the translation process in Crowdin Enterprise.
Create an Account
Each company in Crowdin Enterprise has a unique URL. A company that wants to invite you can either share the direct link to the project page or to the organization page with all the crowdsourcing projects they have. A project manager can also send an invitation directly to your email. Using this specific link, you need to create a new account in Crowdin Enterprise. To create an account (sign up), you can use your social media profiles (Google, Facebook, X), GitHub, or GitLab profiles.
Once you have created an account, you can use your username and password to access the needed organization page in Crowdin Enterprise. If you decide to contribute to more than one organization, you will need separate Crowdin Enterprise accounts for each organization.
Explore Your Workspace
The Workspace is the first page you’ll see after a successful registration. You’ll have the proofreader or translator (or both) access to the project you’ve been assigned to work on. You can access each project from here.
Using the left sidebar, you can access the following pages:
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Starred projects – all your starred projects. Use it for quick access to the projects you open the most often.
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Notifications – see all the key updates for the projects you are working on. For example, notifications about new strings added, new tasks created, etc. You can also choose to receive updates via email or Slack. Go to Account Settings > Notifications to change your notification preferences.
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Messages – create one-to-one conversations or add as many project members to a conversation as needed. Any time you receive a message in one of the conversations, you can view it here.
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Tasks – a list of tasks assigned to you. Use the filter for better navigation and archive the completed tasks.
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Store – Crowdin Store offers 600+ apps you can install to extend Crowdin functionality. Explore Crowdin apps for Translator Productivity.
Project Page
Each project has its own Dashboard page where you can see some basic information about the project, such as the number of target languages and source words, the last activity, and a list of the languages you’ve been assigned to work with.
For projects with workflow, you can click the expand icon next to the language to see the workflow steps assigned to you. You can select the workflow step and open all the strings you will be working with in that step in the Editor.
To access specific source files, click on the needed target language from the list and select the file.
Working in the Editor
Translators and proofreaders work in the Online Editor. Open each file in the Editor separately or access all the strings of the assigned workflow step at once.
Translation
When you open the Editor on the Translation step, you’ll see the following sections:
Section 1 (Left sidebar)
A list of the source strings. Each string is marked with the symbol that helps you identify its state - untranslated, translated, or approved. You’ll also be able to identify strings that have comments or related issues.
Read more about the Comfortable Mode in the Editor.
To find the needed string, type your search phrase in the Search in file (Search strings) field in this section. You can filter and sort the source strings using the Simple or Advanced Filter.
Section 2 (Middle-top area)
The main working area with the source string at the top and the section where you can type translations below.
The context of the string is displayed right below the source string. Typically, this can include descriptions and screenshots. You can request context from here if needed.
The terms added to the project glossary are underlined in the source string. You can review the additional explanation added to the term to make sure the translation is correct. A project manager can also give you permission to add terms to the project glossary.
If the source string has highlighted elements, it means that the string contains the elements of ICU message syntax. You should copy the source to translate this type of source string.
Read more about the ICU Message Syntax in the Editor.
You may also get pop-up messages about QA checks that will help you avoid translation inaccuracies, such as inconsistent punctuation, mismatched spaces, missing variables, etc.
Section 3 (Middle-bottom area)
This section contains the resources and previous translations that might be useful:
- Translations by other project members
- Translation Memory (TM) suggestions
- Machine Translation (MT) suggestions
- Translations to other languages
Section 4 (Right sidebar)
Discuss the meaning of the source string or other related questions here. Use “@” and a username to mention the specific person or create an issue related to the string.
Main Menu
The Main menu in the upper-left corner allows you to switch between files for translation, change translation languages, contact a manager, and configure the Editor view.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Click the keyboard icon in the upper-right corner to check the list of available shortcuts. They can make your work in the Editor more efficient and fast. All hotkeys can be customized. Click on the necessary key combination and modify it with the help of your keyboard.
Side-by-Side View
In a crowdsourcing projects, you can switch to the Side-by-Side view for comfortable voting for multiple best translations in a row. Vote up or down the translations of strings made by other project members.
To switch to the Side-by-Side view, click on the Main menu in the upper-left corner and choose View > Side-by-Side.
To vote, click on the plus sign if you like the translation or minus if the translation doesn’t seem correct. Translations that get the most positive votes will then appear on the top of all the translations available for the string.
Proofreading
If you are assigned to proofread the translations, you’ll see the list of source strings and their translations that you can review, correct where needed, and approve. The strings with the QA checks issues will be highlighted in this mode. You’ll also see the strings that were translated with the help of Translation Memory or Machine Translation engine.
String Status at Workflow Steps
In every project, strings move from one workflow step to the next. There are three statuses: ToDo, Pending, and Done. They are applied to each string depending on its status at the workflow step it’s currently at.
For example, if you’re assigned to translate the string, once you save the translation, the string is marked as Done and then moves to the next step.
The Pending status can be applied to the string in the following scenario:
The source string is translated at the Translation workflow step and marked as Done. It then moves to the next workflow step, e.g., Proofreading, where it’s marked as ToDo. If the translation of the string is deleted at the Translation workflow step, the string remains at the Proofreading workflow step and is marked as Pending until the translation is added again at the Translation workflow step.
Read more about Workflows in Crowdin Enterprise.
Offline Translation
As an alternative to translating online in the Editor, you can download project files for offline translation if the project manager has enabled public downloads. Use the XLIFF file format for offline translation, which is supported by most desktop localization tools.