Checklist for enabling the generation of estimations
Tip
Check off the completion of each task in the order indicated.
OPTIONAL - Create language groups consisting of languages whose rates are the same.
Tip
Although this step is optional in XTM, it is a practical necessity when translating into many languages.
OPTIONAL - Define company-wide subject matters indicating the company's domain expertise.
Tip
Skip this step if linguists are not charged based on subject matter expertise, but simply charged based on their language expertise.
OPTIONAL - Enable hourly rate card and time tracking options.
Tip
Only perform this function if any workflow steps configured incur charges based on hours worked.
OPTIONAL - Create a workflow specifically for creating a rate card more easily.
Important
Skip this step if you intend on using XTM to generate purchase orders as well as estimates. Purchase orders require creating rate cards assigned to individual linguists, whereas this step assumes rate cards are being assigned to dummy users.
Define default currencies and exchange rates
Tip
The purpose is to define the default currency for which linguists are paid and to define any exchange rates for those linguists that are not paid in the default currency specified here.
All estimations generated will be in the default currency specified here.
Important
This is a mandatory step for generating estimations.
From the top menu in XTM Cloud click on Configuration.
From the menu bar just to the bottom click on Data.
From the left-hand side menu bar that appears, click on Estimates.
Just to the top of the frame that now appears, click on the Exchange Rates tab.
Enter the System Billing Currency.
Note
This will be the currency used for all cost estimates.
Enter the Financial year Start Date.
Click on the Save button just below.
Add Exchange Rates by following the procedure below:
Note
Exchange rates are used if linguists and other paid staff charge their services in currencies other than the system Billing Currency.
Each user's default currency is specified in the User configuration screens under the General tab.
Click on the blue Plus sign.
From the drop-down list box that appears, select the Currency that you are converting from.
Just to the right enter the exchange rate.
Tip
If the system billing currency is USD then please go here for IRS sanctioned exchange rates.
If the system billing currency is CDN$ then please go here for Bank of Canada exchange rates, which are always calculated as a single rate at month's end.
If the system billing currency is in Euro then please go here for ECB Exchange rates.
Click on the Save button.
Repeat steps a-d for each exchange rate.
Create language groups
Tip
The purpose is to group languages together that have the same costs for each workflow step.
From the topmost menu in XTM Cloud click on the Configuration tab.
From the menu items just below, click on the Data tab. A menu will appear on the left-hand side.
From the menu on the left hand click on the Language Groups tab.
Click on the plus sign to create a new language group.
Enter the name of the language group and click Save. An example language group name can be ISPG (Italian, Spanish, etc.).
On the left-hand side, a list appears containing all of the target languages configured previously. From this list select the target languages that will belong to this group and click the blue right arrow button just to the left, in order to add them to this group.
Repeat steps 4-6 for each language group that will be added.
Tip
For more information on using language groups, click here.
Define subject matters
The purpose of this procedure is to define the subject matter of the content being translated by the organization.
Tip
This is only necessary for specialized industries that require specialized translations (i.e linguists with this specific domain knowledge) which are usually more expensive or take longer to do.
From the topmost menu in XTM Click on Configuration.
To the bottom and to the left click on Data.
From the left-hand side menu, click on Subject Matter Factors.
Select the Subject Matters to delete by clicking the checkbox beside their name, and from the top click on the blue delete subject matters image.
Tip
It is useful for both administrators and project managers if you remove any unnecessary subject matter as it makes it easier to only assign those subject matters that apply to your company.
Add Subject Matters by clicking the blue add subject matter image located at the top of the screen. Then scroll to the bottom and fill in the appropriate field in the blank text boxes that now appear.
Tip
Keep the price factor and duration factor at 1.0. These items are used for legacy functionality from older versions of XTM
Enable hourly rate card and time tracking options
Note
Rate Cards are used for estimating and invoicing the costs associated with a translation job.
Important
Some of those costs can be attributed to workers whose job is charged hourly, such as project managers, or to workers such as linguists whose job can sometimes be charged both hourly (e.g DTP) and per word/character.
There are two places where hourly rates need to be enabled. Use the following checklist to track your progress:
Configuration of project settings.
Note
Must be configured by an administrator.
Configure each workflow where hours worked is tracked.
Note
Must be configured globally by an administrator and can be overwritten by a project manager at the project level once the workflow has been assigned to that project.
Configuration of project settings to enable hourly rate cards
From the topmost menu in XTM Cloud click on the Configuration tab.
From the menu just below click on Settings.
From the left-hand side menu, click on Projects.
Go to the Time Tracking session located near the bottom of the screen.
From the Enable Manual Time tracking for drop-down select whether to track time for Project Managers only or Project Managers and linguists.
Configuration of workflows to enable hourly rate cards
Important
This setting can be overwritten in any individual project by a project manager from the workflow tab in the project editor.
Create a workflow specifically for the creation of rate cards
Tip
Rate cards assign rates to every workflow step that a given user is assigned to across all unique projects with their unique workflows.
Therefore by creating a workflow that contains every workflow step, project managers will only have to create rate cards for one dummy user against this all-encompassing workflow, instead of creating rate cards for multiple dummy users, each one representing a unique project with a unique workflow.
Important
Prerequisite: Ensure all workflow steps your organization will use have been defined.
Important
Do not perform this step if you intend on using XTM to generate purchase orders as well as estimates
Add all possible workflow steps that will be used to the workflow being created. Use the procedure below to create the workflow:
Creating and editing workflows
To create a new workflow definition:
Go to Configuration-> Settings-> Workflow.
In the Workflow definitions tab click the Add button.
To Edit an existing workflow definition:
Go to Configuration-> Settings-> Workflow.
Find the workflow and double-click on its name or click the icon and select edit.
Continue by modifying the fields as follows:
In the Create workflow definition popup:
Set the mandatory Name parameter for your new workflow definition.
Note
By default, XTM will automatically generate a name for the workflow based on the steps you choose.
Optionally, in the Description parameter, provide the workflow description.
Activate or Deactivate the workflow using the active check box.
Define the first workflow step from the drop-down, by selecting the Workflow Step.
Note
You can define your own workflow steps. Check Workflow steps and Workflow steps parameters for more information.
Fill in the remaining options using this workflow field reference as a guide to choosing the fields to fill out.
Add the next workflow step by clicking on the button just above the workflow step dropdown.
A drop-down now appears between the two steps allowing the selection of a transition type (E.g does the previous step need to be completed before the current step starts, can both steps run in parallel, etc.).
Note
The transition types are described here.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the workflow is complete.
Note
To remove a workflow step click on the button just above the workflow step dropdown.
Click the Save button when done.
Workflow field reference
Approve TM:
By checking the box here, segments are saved into the TM once the individual segment is completed.
As an example, checking this option is ideal for approving each segment/string once it's been reviewed or corrected.
Note
There is also an Approve TM workflow step. In this case, all segments in the previous steps are not approved for the TM until this step is completed. In other words, it executes after a step is completed as opposed to when a string/segment is translated/reviewed/corrected.
Percentage of whole workflow duration:
How much of the entire project workflow time in percent should be automatically calculated for each of the steps
Calculate costs based on manual time:
Allows the ability for a project manager to enter the number of hours worked for this step both for estimation purposes prior to project start and for invoicing purposes.
Note
To have this option appear then enable it using the instructions here.
Chargeable:
This can be useful if the customer has pre-purchased a certain level of service. If this level of service is exceeded, then the step may become chargeable.
The Cost settings tab allows you to switch this feature on and off and decide if it should be accessible for linguists or only project managers. You can also select the default cost type used
Note
To have this option appear then enable it using the instructions here.
LQA:
LQA allows errors to be categorized into one of the many predefined error types XTM provides.
Along with being able to enter comments, this allows for better traceability and continuous improvement initiatives.
Selecting the option here allows an LQA check immediately after each segment is translated/reviewed/corrected. Typically this option is enabled with a review step.
To configure LQA codes follow thisprocedure.
Tip
There is also an LQA workflow step available. A workflow step starts after a previous workflow step (i.e all segments have been processed) has finished. Whereas enabling LQA here allows for LQA checks to be performed immediately after a segment has been processed.
Notify project watchers when finished:
When checked, an e-mail is sent to all Project Watchers when a workflow step is completed.
Project Watchers are configured for each customer in the details section.
Calculate edit distance:
Important
This option is specific to minimizing invoiced costs for Machine Translation corrections during Correction type workflow steps.
This allows XTM to only measure the number of words or characters changed when correcting Machine Translated text, thus lowering the amount that linguists can invoice for MT translated text.
Without this option, all of the words in a Machine Translated segment are counted for any correction performed.
Set XTM status to green/done:
Auto-finish step on its due date:
Regardless of the status of the last step, this option when checked closes the project on its due date.
The due date is set in a Projects general section.
This option can trigger based on one of the following conditions:
The due date as it was originally entered.
Only when the due date is modified after a project has started.
Note
To have this option appear, goto the workflow options section and check the box beside the Auto-finish step on its due date option.
Once this is enabled then an option will appear to configure the triggering mechanism.
All segments must be completed to finish the task:
The default method for a workflow step to be deemed complete is by having the linguist/PM manually click a finish button in XTM Workbench at any point during a workflow step.
If this setting is checked, then the finish button is only available once all segments/strings are completed for the assigned task.
Warning
if ICE and/or leveraged matches are automatically locked then set them to complete in the project settings. Alternately allow linguists to unlock settings.