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BluePrint and translation concepts

The following tables provide a glossary of BluePrint concepts and concepts relating to translation.

BluePrinting is a key concept in the Content Manager of SDL Tridion. A BluePrint is a hierarchy of Publications created in the Content Manager which define parent and child relationships between Publications. A Parent Publication shares its content to its Child Publications. This sharing of content is known as BluePrinting and it allows you to reuse content by defining global content at a high level which is then shared down the BluePrint hierarchy. Shared content is automatically synchronized: when you make changes to local content in a Parent Publication, those changes are automatically shared to shared items in Child Publications.

BluePrinting terms
TermDefinition

BluePrint hierarchy

The relationship between Publications in which Publications share content based on a Parent-Child hierarchy and based on the priorities that Parent Publications have for each Child Publication.

Parent Publication

A Parent Publication shares its content to one or more Child Publications. A Parent Publication can also be a Child Publication.

Child Publication

A Child Publication mirrors the Parent Publication. A Child Publication can also contain local items. An Author can edit items shared from the Parent by localizing shared items.

Shared items

Read-only items that are shared from a Parent Publication. These items cannot be edited in a Child Publication.

Local copies

A local copy of a shared item, also referred to as a localized item. When you localize a shared item in a Child Publication, you create a local copy of the item. The item then becomes an editable copy of the original Parent item.

Local items

Items created in the Publication (not shared from a Parent).

Shortest chain and priority

If a Child Publication shares the same content from more than one Parent Publication, the following rules apply to determine which Publication a Child Publication shares an item from:

  • If a local copy of a shared item exists, the Child uses the local copy.
  • If one chain of Publications leading to the parent item is shorter than all other chains, the Child Publication shares from the shortest chain.
  • If there are two or more Publication chains of equal length, the Child Publication shares from the Parent Publication with the highest Priority.
BluePrinting translation terms
TermDefinition
AggregationThe bundling of multiple Content Manager items into a single translation item instead of separate files for each item.
Context PublicationThe Publication from which a Translation Job is initiated.
Owning PublicationThe Publication in which the item to be translated is local or localized.
Pull translationsA translation initiated from a Target Publication. The translation is pulled down the BluePrinting chain from a Source Publication containing content in a source language.
Push translationsA translation initiated from a Source Publication. The translation is pushed down the BluePrinting chain to one or more Target Publications configured to receive content translated by the translation management system.
Source LanguageThe language from which content is translated. The source and target language configurations (Language Pairs) are defined on the translation management system.
Source ItemA Parent Publication (or Folder, Structure Group, or Category in a Parent Publication) in the BluePrint hierarchy containing content in a source language. The languages into which a source language can be translated is configured on the translation management system.
Source/Target ItemA Publication (or Folder, Structure Group, or Category) in the BluePrint hierarchy containing content translated by the translation management system and content in a source language. The source language content can be translated content (local copies), or it can be local content (created in that Publication).
Target LanguageThe language into which content is translated. The source and target language configurations (Language Pairs) are defined on the translation management system.
Target ItemA Child Publication (or Folder, Structure Group, or Category in a Child Publication) in the BluePrint hierarchy that has been configured to receive content translated by the translation management system. The source of the content is a Parent Publication higher up the BluePrint hierarchy configured as a Source Publication.
Translation BluePrintThe subset of Publications in the BluePrint hierarchy configured for translations and containing source content for translations and/or translated content received from the translation management system.
Translatable itemA Content Manager item that you can send for translation to the translation management system. Translatable items are: Folders and Components, Structure Groups and Pages, Keywords in Categories, and Metadata of any of the aforementioned item types.
Translation JobA package containing Content Manager items that is sent for translation. A Translation Job in the Content Manager may be split into several translations jobs on the translation management system.