Multi-user collaboration is one of Smartcat's best features. It allows the team to be more productive, shortens deadlines, and helps improve quality in many cases.
The Smartcat Editor is built around multi-user collaboration and communication. Linguists at different stages of the process can work on the same document and interact in real-time.
Smartcat also implemented a locking mechanism to ensure that users do not overstep their area of responsibility. That's why translators cannot go back and correct the work of the editors. At the same time all the changes made to the document are saved in the revisions history.
Confirming segments
The project manager or editor can review and confirm all the segments.
Translators have access only to the segments that have been assigned to them.
If a document has been split between multiple translators, they will only be able to edit a certain segment range. However, they will be able to view the entire document which is crucial to ensure consistency across the file.
If pretranslation rules have been used to confirm segments at a certain stage, linguists at the previous stage will find themselves unable to edit these segments.
A linguist assigned to this stage will be notified that this stage has been confirmed and is done and the Lock symbol indicates that editing is not possible.
Note: The project manager or an editor can revert a confirmed segment to the translation stage. See the Editor Overview.
Commenting
Comments are enterad and updated in the respective sections in real-time and more importantly, are copied among the project's languages.
This means that a question asked in a document for Language A will automatically appear in the same document in Language B, saving the project manager time and minimizing the risk for errors.
Therefore, team members are more engaged in the process, that is, editors could guide the translation team, translators could ask questions, and project managers will be able to control communications.
Revisions history
Revisions history lets the project manager or editor track the changes to the document made by each translation and restore the original if needed.
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