Continuous localization: sync translations with each release

Your team ships every two weeks, but the German and Japanese versions trail by a month because translations arrive as one big file after code freeze. Continuous localization closes that gap: new strings go to translators as soon as developers commit them, so every language can ship with the release.

The localization process, which is also included in product development, should be agile and allow continuous translation. The localization will never be finished if your product proceeds with development, so you will always need to translate new material or update the old ones. Irrespective of the type of content that needs to be translated - software, literature, or audiovisual material - the continuity process will mean faster results, less slack, and lower costs. If you are the head of product, you are interested in keeping all aspects of the production cycle tightly integrated, timed efficiently, and working together friction-free.

And as a cherry on top, you need to combine agile development and localization processes in one workflow that will fit your needs the best and allow continuous product growth.

What is continuous localization?

Continuous localization is a workflow in which translators and developers work simultaneously on the product. Translation comes in small parts, in parallel with the agile sprints. Microsoft’s globalization guidance describes these handoffs as small enough to turn around quickly, ideally within the same sprint.
The traditional translation methods, waterfall, for example, can ruin agile workflow because the development and translating teams are desynchronized. Agile methods enable uninterrupted multilingual content delivery.

How do you sync translations when you release product updates?

Connect your repository to your translation management system, so new and changed strings reach translators while the feature is still in the sprint and translations come back before the release. In LingoHub, a webhook on each commit, or a schedule, pulls new source strings from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps or AWS CodeCommit. Finished translations go back as a pull request or a direct commit to the branch you choose.

Releases often come from more than one branch. LingoHub tracks several branches, such as main, develop and a feature branch, in one project and shows translation progress per branch, so you can see which languages are ready before you merge. Explore the GitHub integration or see how the continuous localization workflow fits together.

How do you avoid translating the same strings twice across releases?

Use a translation memory. It stores approved source and target segments, and when the same or similar text returns in a later release, LingoHub shows exact and fuzzy matches, so translators, reviewers and LINA start from wording your team already accepted. Microsoft’s guidance notes that many strings are “recycled” from translation memory matches. You choose which projects feed each translation memory, so a web app and its mobile app can share approved wording.

Why is continuous localization a best practice in agile development?

#1 Meet release deadlines

Traditional translation workflows usually start very late in the development cycle. Developers meet release deadlines while translators have just begun work. As a result, half-done or delayed product releases and developers wait on translations for days or weeks.
Continuous translation enters an earlier stage of the development process. Translators have enough time to work out high-quality translations and meet release deadlines too.

#2 Send out software updates, features, and bug fixes quickly in all languages

A product release starts the next round of work. After the initial release, software development teams process continuous updates, improvements, bug fixes, etc. Hence, global organizations roll out updates more frequently, and translations must keep up with that speed. It wouldn’t work if updates were available for a small group of local customers because of translation lags.
Customers expect a fully functional and updated product in their native language. Thus, your localized product requires translated text for every update.
Continuous translation runs software development and translation in parallel. Fully integrated translation workflows empower ship-ready products for all locales at the same time. Local customers will always use the latest version of your product in their native language.

#3 Automate translation workflows

Sending texts by email and copy-pasting translations from a spreadsheet into your product can’t keep up with sprints. This manual translation process is time-consuming, inefficient, and doesn’t meet agile standards.
LingoHub’s continuous translation system integrates the two very different processes, development and translation, and automates many steps along the path to a localized product:
Connecting your repository/development systems and translation management tool automates the transfer of translatable content.
LingoHub auto-detects changes or updates in source texts, so you don’t have to worry about outdated or duplicate content.
Translation speed increases because your entire translation team receives notifications if there is a need to translate or edit strings.
Once translations are approved, they can be immediately published. LingoHub fully omits the additional manual workaround of copying/pasting translations. You can push back final translations to repositories at the push of a button to release them.

#4 Implement more transparent and predictable workflows

Continuous localization unifies your development and translation teams making the process more transparent for both parties.
For translators: Auto sync of translatable content ensures updated texts for your translators. New texts are immediately passed on to your translation management tool so your translation team can save time.
For developers: LingoHub tracks the translation progress. Developers know at any time of the development process how translations are going and when translated content is expected to be delivered.

#5 Collaborate more efficiently

Developers and translators have long worked separately. Thus, collaboration and information flow could have been improved and faster. Developers can use early sprints to collect new key terms, information, and interface screenshots for translators. LingoHub’s continuous localization system makes it easy to share such valuable information across departments:

• Term base: Developers can share technical or product-related terms and clarification text on term bases. They can add these terms directly in LingoHub or collect them in a separate CSV file and import it at a later stage.

• Comments: Developers can add comments for specific text segments directly in resource files which will be imported as descriptions in LingoHub. They automatically share this valuable information with translators upon import.

• Quality checks: Developers and UI designers know the software layout hard. You cannot expect that from your translation team, primarily when you work with external freelance translators. Product managers, designers, or developers can define quality checks for text length, line breaks, placeholders, HTML tags, and terms in LingoHub. These checks are automatically controlled and enforced so translations won’t break your software.

Wrapping it up

It seems logical that agile software development needs continuous translation. One without the other won’t meet customers’ expectations of frequent multilingual product updates. Fully integrated agile development and translation workflows shorten turnaround times and cut localization costs. Continuous translation accelerates the overall localization process and spurs productivity in your development and translation teams because they work together. Try LingoHub for free for 14 days or book a demo to connect your repository and see continuous localization with your own files.