Welcome to the Connector

• 1: The Translation Lifecycle
• 2: How the Connector Helps You Manage Your Translation Lifecycle
• 3: Using this Guide
• 4: How to Contact Lionbridge Connector Support

1 - The Translation Lifecycle

The translation lifecycle is the broad process of selecting content, sending it out for translation, and then receiving the translated content back from translation.

This set of steps usually fits inside a larger, more general process called the content lifecycle, which is the process of creating, reviewing, editing, approving, and publishing content.

When you consider the translation lifecycle and the content lifecycle together, you have the global content value chain, which is the strategy for managing multilingual content.

The content lifecycle and the translation lifecycle are impacted by the workflow steps you implement in Sitecore to manage multilingual content.

Remember that localizing content is a subset of steps in the broader content lifecycle. This will improve your focus on key localization considerations, improve processes, and keep all content stakeholders included. Together, this results in better content management.

2 - How the Connector Helps You Manage Your Translation Lifecycle

The Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore (“Connector”) is a plug-in module for Sitecore. It provides a range of features and user interface enhancements in Sitecore that enable you to select, send, monitor, and retrieve content for translation into any language Sitecore supports.

These features automate the process, which dramatically reduces the effort and time required to export and re-import content that needs to be localized. This is very helpful when translating large volumes of content or ensuring that translated content is quickly re-imported to meet deadlines.

When you use the Connector, you manage your translation lifecycle entirely from within Sitecore:

1. The Connector exports your content from Sitecore in either XML or HTML format and delivers these content files to the central, hosted Content API Platform.
2. The Content API Platform delivers your content to your translation provider, based on routing rules that your company chooses and the Lionbridge Connector Team implements.
3. When the translated content is ready, the Content API Platform retrieves it from your translators and delivers it to the Connector.
4. The Connector automatically re-imports the content into the correct location in Sitecore.

You can then review, revise, reject, or publish the translated content as needed.

Note: Neither the Connector nor the Content API Platform performs any translation. Similarly, the Lionbridge Connector Team does not provide any translation services. Your company chooses the translation provider that performs the translation.

3 - Using this Guide

Purpose of this guide

This guide describes how to use the Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore (“Connector”) to manage your translation lifecycle. It describes how to send Sitecore items for translation and receive them back from translation.

Who should use this guide

This guide is intended for content editors, project, marketing, localization or translation managers, or others who are responsible for creating, editing, or approving content for translation that resides in your Sitecore CMS. This guide is also useful for translation providers who receive content from your Sitecore CMS, because it describes your company’s translation management process.

What your company setup should be

This document assumes that:

• Your company already has a functioning instance of Sitecore.
• The Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore (“Connector”) has been implemented, configured, and tested on your Sitecore CMS.
• The Lionbridge Connector Team has set up the Content API Platform to send content to your translation providers.

If Lionbridge is your company’s translation provider, it assumes that Freeway is already set up for your company.

What you should already know

This document assumes that:

• You are familiar with the Connector’s configuration for your Sitecore CMS, and the reasons for choosing certain configuration options. This is important because your company’s configuration determines which features are available.
• You have a strong working knowledge of the Sitecore Content Editor.
• You are familiar with the basic concepts of the Sitecore Workflow features. This is crucial, because workflow is a core concept required to use the Connector.
• You are familiar with your company’s translation process and requirements.
• You have valid user credentials to log into Sitecore.
• You have the required permissions to access the Connector functionality described in this guide.

Note: Not all the features described in this guide may be available. Feature availability depends on both your company’s Connector setup and the roles to which you are assigned. If you cannot access functionality that you need, contact your company’s Sitecore administrator.

How this guide is organized

This guide contains the following chapters:

Chapter	Description
Welcome to the Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore	A brief description of the connector solution for Sitecore and how it fits into the translation lifecycle. It also includes information about this guide and Lionbridge Connector Support contact information.
Getting Started with the Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore	How to get started and an overview of the Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore interface and key features.
Creating Content for Translation	How to create, adapt, and filter Sitecore content so that you can send it out for translation using the Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore.
Sending Content to Translation	How to use the Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore to send out content for translation.
Monitoring Translation Status	How to monitor the translation status of content that you sent out for translation.
Reviewing Translated Content	How to review and publish translated content after it automatically returns from the translation provider to the Sitecore CMS.
Post-Translation Features	How to perform post-translation tasks, including synchronizing translations, requesting a translation correction, updating a remote TM (translation memory) server, and clearing the translation backup data.

How to find out more about Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore

For information on installing and configuring the Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore, read the Lionbridge Connector for Sitecore Installation and Configuration Guide.

Documentation conventions

This guide uses the following conventions:

Convention	Description
Bold	Highlights screen elements such as buttons, menu items, and fields.
Courier	Highlights input, file names, and paths.
Italics	Highlights terms to emphasize, variables, or document titles.
>	Indicates a menu choice. For example, “Select Sitecore Desktop > All Applications > Lionbridge Translation > Translation Filter.”

4 - How to Contact Lionbridge Connector Support