Mirela
Multilingual CMSs allow you to create, manage, and publish website content in multiple languages. Many platforms come with built-in multilingual features or plugins to manage language versions of various elements. However, as excellent as they are for managing content, they’re not always optimized for handling large-scale projects. That’s why we believe the best solution is to integrate your CMS with a translation management system (TMS) to scale your localization workflow successfully.
The issue with managing translations in a CMS
Is your website supporting one or two languages? Great, that means you’re probably going to be okay with using just a CMS for translations. Want to expand? You’ll probably want to look into more scalable solutions. Many teams managing translations in a CMS still use manual processes, and that’s both risky and time consuming.
If you don’t use tools like translation memory and terminology management, you might get inconsistent translations. A TMS will most likely have the features that help with maintaining consistency, so you don’t have to worry about that.
Most CMS platforms focus on content publishing, not translation management. If you’re only relying on your CMS, you might miss out on multiple automation features that could really simplify your localization workflows.
The advantages of using a TMS
Connect your CMS to a TMS and you’ll see how things get a lot easier:
- You localize content much faster.
- You keep translations consistent.
- Collaboration becomes easier.
- Easier to scale to more languages.
- You can reduce translation costs.
One of the first things you’ll notice after you pair these two systems is that many of the steps are automated, so you won’t have to manage translations manually. They’re synced back into your CMS. If you do frequent content updates, you’ll appreciate this.
When more than one translator works on a project, there’s always the risk of them translating the same phrase differently. A TMS helps solve that with build-in features like translation memory and glossary support. Translation memory stores phrases that have already been translated and glossaries help enforce consistent terminology.
Your translation costs would reduce too. Because translation memory stores previously translated segments, translators can reuse existing translations whenever the same or similar text appears again. Over time, thanks to being able to reuse what’s stored, you can reduce the amount of new text that actually needs to be translated.
A CMS alone is also not (usually) designed to handle long-scale localization. You’ll need a tool that can handle growth. A TMS could very well be that tool because it gives you a structure way to organize everything. Plus, everyone would be working inside the platform and collaboration becomes easier.
The CMS + TMS workflow
Once you connect your multilingual CMS with a TMS, you’ll notice how the process of handling translations becomes much smoother. Everything starts in your CMS, but when you add new content/update existing content, you simply mark it as needing translation. At this stage, you’re still working in your CMS just like you normally would. The difference is that the content is now ready to move into your translation workflow.
You won’t be exporting the text manually, you won’t be copying it into documents. The great thing about this integration or API connection is that your CMS can send the content directly to your TMS. Once the content reaches the translation platform, it’s broken down into translation strings so translators can work on them easily. Your translators don’t even need access to the CMS itself because they can work entirely inside the translation platform.
Inside the TMS, the translators can translate each string using tools that make the process faster and more consistent. They can use translation memories, glossaries, context notes, and so on. This is a workspace designed specifically for localization.
After the translations are approved by your reviewers, the content is finally ready to be sent back into your CMS. If you’ve set up an integration, this can happen automatically. The translated strings simply populate the corresponding fields in the CMS, ready to be published.
The main advantage of this workflow is that everyone works in the environment best suited for them: content creators stay in the CMS, translators work in the translation platform, and the reviewers handle quality checks in a structured workflow.
Why pair your CMS with POEditor
If we managed to convinced you of the benefits of a TMS, you’re probably wondering which one to use. We believe POEditor is a good option to consider, as we built it to help teams of all sizes manage apps, websites, and software in a more organized way.
POEditor gives translators a workspace that’s actually designed for the job. They can work with translation memory, glossaries, and comments, so they’ll be able to translate content fast and consistently.
One of the biggest advantages of using a TMS is automation, and POEditor supports this through integrations and API access. You can connect it to your CMS and automate parts of your translation workflow: sending new content for translation, syncing completed translations back to your website, and keeping translations updated.