Automated Due Dates

Due Dates

Due dates are used to manage SLAs and ensure clients receive their content when they need it. They also power many of the intelligent features we provide in our workflows. Setting phase due dates manually takes time, especially when managing a large number of documents. To alleviate this burden, we provide automated due dates that can be configured in the Setup phase of the workflow. The Due Dates tab can be configured on a Workflow in Project Resources and the Workflow that is actually stamped on the project. 

Automated Due Dates Overview

• Automation method - Choose how you want your due dates to be set. 

• Set Due Dates When - Choose at which point in the workflow you want your due dates to be set. This is only available when your automation method is set to Fixed Hours. 

• Target Configs - Use the default settings to keep all due dates standard, or configure specific due date settings for specific target or group of targets. 

• Weekend settings - If you want linguists to be extra time for the weekend, you can set a weekend start, end, and the timezone those settings should be based on. 

• Due Date Settings - This section varies based on which automation method you use but generally it is where you set up how much time should be allotted to each phase. It can also determine the target and document due dates. 

Automation Method - Fixed Hours

You should use the Fixed Hours method when there are fixed SLAs between the client and LSP. In this method, the user who is uploading content does not need to set a due date when they upload content. The due date will simply be set based on the duration of the phase due dates. 

1. Choose at which point in the workflow you want due dates to be set (Set Due Dates When). You can choose to have targets set as soon as the target is created or when a specific phase of the workflow completes.

   

   1. If you choose to set due dates when a specific phase completes you will not be able to automate the due dates of any phases prior to that phase. 
      
      

2. Set up Target Configs as necessary.  
   
   

3. Set up your Weekend Settings.
   
   

Target Configs

A Target Config should include targets that will all share the same weekend settings and due date configurations. You can specify configurations for all the target languages you have set up under the Document Tab of your workflow. When the workflow is setting due dates for a target it will look to see if the created target has settings under a Target Config. If it finds a matching Target Config, it will use those settings, if not it will use the Default Settings. You must have default settings set up to ensure that any unmatched targets will have due date settings to fall back on. Please note that you can only configure due date durations and weekends settings per target/group of targets. The chosen Automation Method is fixed for all Target Configs. 

To set up a Target Config:

1. First, completely set up your Default configuration (Default Settings). 
   
   

2. To create a new Target Config, you can select the plus button next to the Target Configs header or you can copy an existing Target Config. 

   If the plus button is disabled, that means that you have assigned all targets from the Document Tab to Target Configs.

3. Choose which targets should belong to this config. 
   
   
4. Fill out the remaining due date settings.

Target Config Actions:

1. To open the available actions of a Target Config simply select the more icon at the end of the row.
   
   
   
   
   1. Copy Group - Creates a new Target Config with all the same settings as the copied Target Config with the exception of the specified targets. 
   2. Rename Group - Create a custom name for the config. When you are done, select the save icon. 
   3. Delete Group - Remove a Target Config. 

Weekend Settings

For both fixed hour and percentage-based Automation Methods, we allow you to set up weekends for your linguists so that automated due dates consider their work/life balance.

Fixed Hours Automation Method

• Weekend awareness will extend the amount of time that a linguist has to complete a task. If they are allotted 36 hours to complete a phase but when due dates are set up their due date initial due date would fall over the weekend start time, then the additional weekend hours will be added to their due date. 

  Example

  • If your weekend start is on Friday at 5:00 PM and the weekend end is Monday at 9:00 AM that is an additional 64 hours given to the user. 
  • If their due date would have fallen on Friday at 7:00 PM, then their date will be Monday at 11:00 AM after taking into account the weekend settings. 

Percentage Based Automation Method

• Weekend awareness will decrease the amount of time a linguist has to complete a task. If they are allotted 25% of the total duration, and you are allowing linguists to take the weekends off, then the total number of working hours will decrease if the client sets a due date two weeks from the time they uploaded the content.

  Example

  • If your weekend start is on Friday at 5:00 PM and the weekend end is Monday at 9:00 AM that is an additional 64 hours given to the user. 
  • If the user uploads a document and sets the due date exactly 14 days from the time they uploaded, phase due dates would be given their allocated percentage of the 14 days minus the 128 hours (~5.33 days) which would leave roughly 8.6 days.

1. Set the checkbox next to the Weekend Settings header to TRUE. 
2. Set up the weekend start day and time. If a phase due date
3. Set up the weekend end day and time. 

4. Choose which Time Zone you want the time and day to follow. 

   If you are using linguists who are in their native country, you can choose a time zone that will actually correspond to their work schedule rather than the Content Manager who is uploading the content.