Pros
I was able to translate thanks to this software, or rather to work with a company on the other side of the world, with their instructions. It was fun. Interactive. Smooth to use.
Cons
nothing to say, it was great experience of work
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 10/10
The platform has streamlined an otherwise tedious process to manage. Marketing and localization projects can be tough to keep track of without a tool like this to track all the small moving parts. Seeing the translation in layout for a website is extremely powerful.
Pros
Smartling makes it very easy for companies to translate their website and manage multilingual updates to their content. It requires very little maintenance after setup for the client, and is simple and straightforward on the translator's side as well.
Cons
Smartling doesn't require the use of some of the features that make it so powerful, such as visual context. For one of our clients, we are translating their website, and despite our best efforts, they will not share the visual context with us. Apart from the live updates, this is one of the most powerful features of the platform, and allows the translators to provide the best possible translation. Context matters, but is sadly not required.
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 8/10
Smartling is an average CAT tool. It does what it needs to do, but it does not have enough advanced features. You (as a translator) are not in control of the files nor TMs, but that is OK. My biggest concern is that it is very slow in comparison to other (mainly non-cloud) tools. I know that this is the price you pay for being always online, but we don’t want/need to be always online. My internet connection is good and still it lags sometimes. Working with TM is also not very user friendly, searching in TM is slow and search algorithm is not perfect. This CAT tool has a potential, but it needs to employ more features, allow the users to work offline, and give them better control of the files and TMs (not only to admins - who are often clients). If you are looking for something easy, you might give it a try.
Pros
Smartling is quite easy to use, not very difficult to master.
Cons
Very few advanced features, too slow to my liking...
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 5/10
Pros
I like that we're able to upload all of our content with ease and pull the strings we need to authorize for translation. Overall ease of use.
Cons
We wish it was less expensive. The price is pretty hefty and I know we'd prefer if it wasn't so high.
Rating breakdown
Good for beginners. Very intuitive and easy to use.
Pros
First of all, I have only used Smartling for a handful of projects at the request of a couple of clients.
The software is extremely intuitive and easy to use, so if you are an absolute beginner Smartling might be a good starting point, rather than full-blown CAT tools such as SDL Trados or MemoQ.
Even though it is still a bit rudimentary at the moment, new features are constantly being added. The developers are in touch with translators and keep in touch through a newsletter.
Cons
I find Smartling lacking important features for a professional translator, so you might want to wait until new features are added. For instance, the first time I used it didn't highlight spelling mistakes, but this functionality has now been added (among others, such as a multi-string editor).
The tag-handling functionality has also been improved.
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 9/10
Smartling is flexible and customizable, offering several plans that allow you to get started and scale your investment based on your specific business objectives and unique translation needs.
Smartling is a web-based translation technology platform. It transforms the usually complex, costly, and time-consuming translation process into a faster and more affordable undertaking through automation and app integration. Specifically created for companies with a target market spanning various regions of the world, Smartling helps eliminate language barriers through professionally translated, localized content.
Smartling is made up of many different tools to address common translation challenges that include speed, quality, time, scalability, and cost. While Smartling supports machine-assisted translation, it recognizes that this type of translation may not meet rigorous quality standards the same way human translation does, which is why customers are free to choose their own translation service providers like agencies, freelancers, or in-house staff.
Smartling’s core features include translation memory, custom workflows, reporting and analytics, proxy solution for websites, translation quality tools, and integrations.
Translation is a big industry, and as most industries go, it has had its share of difficulties. Manual translation of websites, documents, and web apps entails more translation projects for developers instead of the work they signed up for, executives and marketers worrying about translation quality, and translations stored in emails or spreadsheets, a process that’s often tedious and error-prone.
Smartling’s translation management solution automatically captures content, sends it out to translators, and depending on where you want it to go, transports the translated content back to you or straight to your customers. It provides a centralized translation memory, which is a database where translated strings of text are stored for faster, easier application the next time your translators work on new content.
Repurposing is a commonly-used term in digital marketing. It means using the same content, research, or interview for multiple purposes, such as blog posts, infographics, slides, whitepapers, ebooks, and so on.
With Smartling, translation repurposing is a thing, too. The platform comes with a proprietary translation memory, a database where past translations are stored. If your company does a lot of translation, with this tool, your translators don’t have to translate what has already been translated. Instead, the system provides “matches” to new translation projects, which your translators can either apply or discard, depending on the context. This expedites project delivery and minimizes overall translation costs.
Every business follows a unique set of processes to get things done. The beauty of having the ability to customize your workflows is that the app adapts to your needs. This is particularly handy if you follow different translation workflows for different languages and project types, use not just one translation provider, employ in-country reviewers for specific languages, and your content needs to be reviewed by subject matter experts for approval. Any number of workflows can be customized.
Smartling automates manual steps such as copying and pasting translations into spreadsheets and sending files around. Instant notifications are also automatically sent out to alert project participants about files that are ready for the next step.
Smartling’s reporting and analytics dashboard provides real-time visibility into how your projects are performing. It allows comprehensive insight into your translation database’s content assets. Localization metrics, which includes traffic to a translated website, can be directly viewed from the dashboard, enabling you to understand and measure the value of your translation initiatives.
Updated in real time, downloadable reports and data visualizations are available on demand, and reports can be run for individual languages or across all your projects. Reports show you which languages perform the best in terms of traffic, which URLs are often used, the total number of words stored in your translation memory (especially useful for translations charged on a per-word basis), and let you compare actual progress against benchmarks or service level targets.
For a global business, localized websites are necessary to reach and engage audiences from around the world. But creating websites from scratch, especially for several different languages, can be a costly and time-consuming exercise. Smartling’s global delivery network (GDN) is a platform that allows you to use your existing website as a template for localized websites. A one-time integration is needed, and every update made on your source site is automatically detected, sent to the translation workflow, and then delivered to your customers in several different languages.
The template can be accordingly modified to meet the needs of a specific geography. Examples include figures in US dollars that are converted to the local currency, deals or items not available in certain geographies, and so on.
What differentiates human translation from machine-assisted translation is quality. While Smartling supports the latter, a translated website, document, or mobile app that doesn’t accurately communicate your brand’s message can be a blow to your company’s reputation.
To speed up the translation process and make it more efficient, Smartling provides contextual translation tools that include the translation interface, best practices, glossary, style guide, and translation review interface. The visual preview allows translators to see what they’re working on, a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) experience, if you will, ensuring all translation is within context, as words often have multiple meanings. Also, this enables them to immediately spot space limitations or inappropriate section breaks.
Aside from a REST-like API that developers can use to integrate translated content into their applications, Smartling has built-in integrations with some of the most commonly used CMS platforms such as Drupal, Sitecore, WordPress, and Adobe Experience Manager, ecommerce tools like Hybris and Magento, and source code management solution GitHub.
Smartling is flexible and customizable, and the cost varies depending on your needs. Billing is based on the volume of words stored in the system, and in the case of the GDN, you’re billed according to page views in other languages.