Crowdin is one of the CAT tools we use as our workbench. It helps clients to manage their localization projects and distribute work between several language providers.

The workbench button becomes available once you start the project:

Normally, you will not be required to create a Crowdin account. The system will use your BLEND credentials to log into Crowdin automatically when you press the Open Workbench button. 

If you’re using your own username/password for Crowdin, you won’t be able to access the project. Here’s how to log in correctly to access your BLEND translation projects:

1. Before opening a Crowdin project, please visit Crowdin and make sure you’re logged out, as shown below (click ‘Log Out’)

2. By clicking the ‘workbench’ button on the Project page in the BLEND platform, the system will automatically log you into Crowdin through your BLEND account. This means that you don’t have to create or log in to your own personal account.

Crowdin editor - comfortable view

Comfortable mode is the most intuitive and hence the most used. It consists of four main sections: 

1. On the left is the Strings section

The list of strings is displayed here with their respective statuses: 

• [] - untranslated;
• [] - partially translated (in case, some of the plural forms are not translated);
• [] - translated;
• [] - hidden - such strings shouldn't be translated.

A string with a message icon on it means this string has a comment from other translators or project managers. A message with an exclamation mark - unresolved issues on the string. 

Search strings

This tool allows you to search the strings by source text, translations, context, or all of these at once. Depending on the content you’ve opened in the Editor, the system will look for matches within the file or the strings in the project.  You can bring the focus to the Search bar immediately by using the CTRL+F shortcut. 

Filter strings

To choose a filter for the displayed strings, click the funnel icon next to the Search bar. 

Here is the list of the filter options: 

• Show All – displays all strings from the file/folder in the original order. 
• All, Untranslated First – untranslated strings are displayed first, then translated strings.
• Untranslated – displays only the strings without translations (most commonly used).
• Need to Be Voted – displays the translated strings (for editing projects).
• Not Approved – displays the strings that are already translated but not yet approved by an editor. 
• Approved – displays the strings with approved translations (for editing projects).
• QA issues – displays the strings with unresolved QA issues in the current language. 
• Machine Translation – displays strings that are translated by TM or MT suggestions without any changes. Often such strings require additional review. 
• With Comments – displays strings that have comments. 
• With Unresolved Issues – displays strings with unresolved issues in current or all languages. 
• Hidden – displays strings that are hidden from translators. Strings can be hidden by project managers or automatically by Crowdin when marked as duplicates. 
• Advanced Filter – a custom filter with manually set parameters. 

2. The Main Working area in the top-center 

This area contains the active source string on top and the translation section below:

This area also displays the context of a string, which may include technical details, an explanation of where the line appears in the actual product, or a screenshot showing the location of the string in a user interface. If the source string does not have context, and it isn’t clear how to translate it, click “Request” and the project manager will be notified that an explanation is required. 

Some strings may have underlined words or phrases. This indicates that they pertain to project terminology and should be translated according to term descriptions:

Some terms may already have translations if translated. To reuse the term translation, click the underlined term, and the translation will appear in the translation field. 

Enter the translation into the field below the Source String section, click Save, and the focus will switch to the next string automatically:

3. Translation Resources area in the bottom center 

This area contains: 

• Translations made by other project participants.
• Translation Memory (TM) suggestions.
• Translations to other languages.

Clicking a suggestion will automatically transfer it to the translation field. Refer to them as a basis for your translation.

4. Comments, TM Search and Terms area on the right 

In the Comments tab, you can discuss the meaning of a source string or other related questions. It is recommended to use the source language of the project so other translators can understand you:

Additionally, the Comments tab allows you to report issues to the project managers by selecting the Issue checkbox.

List of possible issue types: 

• General question.
• Current translation is wrong.
• Lack of contextual information – The meaning of the string isn’t clear and requires clarification. 
• Mistake in the source string – a source string contains typos or any other mistakes. 

The Search TM is a vault of all the translations made previously.

You can search by:

• Source – search for matches in the source language. 
• Target – search for matches in target languages. 
• Guess translation – highlight a probable translation of a search phrase. 
• Numeric equivalence - match digits from a search phrase with any other digits. 

The Terms tab can be used to see the existing glossary available for a string, if available. You can also search for terms in the project’s glossary.  If a specific term is not available in the project’s glossary, a Wikipedia explanation will be displayed:

Completing the project

The progress in Crowdin is saved automatically. Once all the strings are translated and have [] green status, close the editor and go back to the project page:

To finish the project, sync file [1] and declare the project completed [2].