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How to create a Translation Memory

Step-by-step walkthrough for creating a new Translation Memory and linking it to an Organizational Unit so a project can use it.

This article walks you through creating a new Translation Memory (TM) in wxrks and connecting it to an Organizational Unit so a project can actually start using it — field by field, click by click. For what a TM is, how matching, Read/Write, Default, Threshold, and Penalty work, and how to manage a TM once it exists, see All about Translation Memories.

💡 Who is this for? This guide is for Account Admins and Project Managers who need to create a new Translation Memory and link it to an Organizational Unit within the wxrks platform.


Open the Translation Memories page

In the sidebar, click Context, then click Translation Memories.

Sidebar Context menu with Translation Memories highlighted

This opens the Translation Memories list — every TM you have access to, with its organization, languages, and creation date. Click Add TM to start creating a new one.

Translation Memories list with the Add TM button highlighted

Before continuing, make sure the Organization the TM should belong to already exists in wxrks — you'll pick it on the next screen, and as covered below, it can't be changed afterward. If it doesn't exist yet, see How to create an Organization or Organizational Unit first.


Fill in the TM's details

On the Create New Translation Memory page, fill in the four required fields:

Create New Translation Memory form with Name, Organization, Source Language, and Target Languages boxed and numbered 1 through 4

1. Name — how you'll find this TM later in the Translation Memories list. Use something recognizable: a client name, a topic, or a project code.

2. Organization — the Organization this TM belongs to. One TM can only belong to a single Organization, though one Organization can have many TMs.

3. Source Language — the single source language for every segment stored in this TM.

4. Target Languages — one or more target languages. You can assign different targets to different content later, and add more target languages after the TM is created — see the warning below.

⚠️ Organization and Source Language are permanent. Once the TM is created, you can't change which Organization it belongs to or its source language — this keeps the TM's stored segments consistent. You can still rename the TM and add or remove target languages afterward. Double-check both fields before clicking Create.


Create the TM

Click Create. wxrks creates the TM and takes you straight to its own page, landing on Import as the natural next step — see How to add new segments to Translation Memories for importing a file or adding segments one at a time.

Newly created Translation Memory's own page, with no imports yet and the Import button highlighted

A brand-new TM isn't used by any project automatically — it first needs to be linked to an Organizational Unit, and from there to the projects that should use it. That's the next step.


Link the TM to an Organizational Unit

Open the Organizational Unit's own Context tab, then click Add in its Translation Memory table. This opens a picker listing every TM that belongs to the Unit's Organization — find the one you just created, check it, and click Add.

Add TMs picker modal on the Organizational Unit's Context tab, with the newly created TM checked

The TM now shows up in the Unit's Translation Memory table — with Read, Write, and Default all off and Threshold at a starting 75% until you change them.

Organizational Unit Context tab Translation Memory table with the newly linked TM highlighted

For what Read, Write, Default, Threshold, and Penalty actually control — and how a Unit-level TM binding then carries over to individual projects — see All about Translation Memories. For everything else on an Organizational Unit's Context tab (Glossaries, the Spell Check Exception List), see All about Organizational Units.


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