We are looking to make it easier for you (or your clients) to get translation work from various translation services. Our aim is to provide streamlined interfaces that will allow you to easily send content to translation and receive it to your site.
Our Model for Translation-Service Integration
You probably know that we run ICanLocalize — a translation service, tightly integrated inside WPML. While ICanLocalize receives much of its work from WPML sites, the vast majority of multilingual WordPress sites get their translation work from other sources.
So, we want to achieve the same level of convenience and integration with other leading translation services. The intention is to make it easier for you to run a multilingual site, with your favorite translation service.
If you are using a translation service and want to see it integrated with WPML, please contact us and give us the details.
Managing Translation Work with WPML
WPML includes a Translation Management module, which greatly simplifies sending content for translation and receiving completed translation work.
You can choose content by type, publish state and translation status and see exactly how you’re standing with translation. Then, select what to update, choose the languages and click on send to translation.
If you are using your own translators, they will receive email notifications and translate from inside of WordPress, using WPML’s Translation Editor.
You can also use WPML’s XLIFF module and allow your translators to use their favorite CAT (Computer Assisted Translation) software to translate on their PCs. The XLIFF module will send them complete translation packages, they translate and upload the completed files to WordPress.
Working with Translation Services
Many people translate themselves, or delegate translation work to their office staff. But, many also use different translation services and agencies. Outsourcing your translation work to a translation service provides great convenience. You don’t need to deal with individual translators and don’t have to worry about anything in the process. Just send the content and get it back, ready for publishing.
If you are translating using ICanLocalize, you know what we mean by convenience. The problem is, if you (or your clients) are used to a certain translation service, we’re asking them to sacrifice that in order to get the convenience of working with ICanLocalize. We want to change this and make it just as streamlined and convenient to work with other translation services.
How it Should Work
We want you to just click on the ‘send to translation’ button and be done with it. Your website will send the content to your favorite translation service. When the work completes, you will receive everything back in your site, ready for final review and publish.
All billing and payment will happen directly between you and your translation service. We are looking to automate the process so that you don’t need to manually export content, send it and receive it back. You know, that’s why they invented computers in the first place 🙂
How to Integrate Your Favorite Translation Service with WPML
The technical part is actually pretty simple. Since we’ve done it several times already, we’ve become pretty efficient at building server-to-server interfaces. We will use WPML’s Translation Management API to create glue logic that converts the translation packages into whatever format your translation service accepts. Then, when translation completes, we’ll do the conversion back and save the completed work in your site. It’s very similar to what we have between WPML and ICanLocalize.
To make all this happen, we need you. We need you to introduce between us and your translation service. Our developers will take it from there and make it all happen.
So, if you are using a translation service and are looking for a much more convenient way of sending and receiving content, please let us know.
Why We’re Doing This?
You might be wondering why we’re suddenly so eager to open more options and drive people to other translation services.
WPML is the de-facto standard for multilingual WordPress. There’s no way in the world that everyone using WPML will also get translation work from us. There are translation agencies closer to you, with special expertise and previous relations with you and your clients. We don’t want to stand in the way and make things complicated for everyone.
If you choose ICanLocalize as your translation service, we’re all happy and we’ll do our best to please you. However, you already paid us for using WPML and we owe it to you to make your multilingual websites easy to manage. This includes interfacing with whatever translation service you select.
So, if you want our help in making your translation service better integrated with WPML, again, let us know.