Zen Mode gives translators and reviewers a cleaner, distraction-free workspace in the wxrks Editor by hiding the Preview Panel and Navigation Sidebar until the user chooses to open them. It's configured per workflow, so you can turn it on for high-focus steps like Translation while leaving other steps untouched.
💡 Who is this for? This guide is for Account Admins who need to turn on Zen Mode for a workflow account-wide, and for any user granted the Organizational Unit Workflow Configuration permission who needs to override it for one specific Organizational Unit.
What is Zen Mode?
When Zen Mode is enabled for a workflow, the Editor hides the Preview Panel and Navigation Sidebar automatically as soon as a file in that workflow is opened - nothing is disabled or removed, the two panels just start out of the way. A user can expand either one at any time by clicking its toggle, and once expanded it stays open for the rest of that session. The next time a new file is opened, the Editor returns to its Zen Mode layout.
Zen Mode is a per-workflow setting, not an account-wide or per-user preference - enabling it for Translation has no effect on Review or any other workflow unless you enable it there too.
Enabling Zen Mode account-wide (Account Admin)
Zen Mode lives on the same screen where workflow steps themselves are configured: Settings > System Settings > Translation Settings > Workflows.
On the Manage Workflows screen, select the workflow step you want to change (for example, Translation) from the Workflow sequence list on the left. Its Step details panel opens on the right with four switches: Active, Editor Enabled, Zen Mode, and Quote Automation. Turn on Zen Mode and click Save step.
There is no separate "Zen Mode" screen or box to configure - it's one switch alongside the workflow step's other settings. For the full walkthrough of creating and editing workflow steps (display name, code, sequence, the other three switches), see Managing Your Custom Workflows.
Once saved, open any job that uses this workflow in the Editor - the Preview Panel and Navigation Sidebar will now be hidden by default for that workflow, for every user, across every Organizational Unit in the account.
Overriding Zen Mode for one Organizational Unit
The account-wide switch above is only available to Account Admins. Any other user needs the Organizational Unit Workflow Configuration permission before they can change Zen Mode for a specific Organizational Unit - this permission isn't granted to any role by default, so an Account Admin has to turn it on for that user first, either individually on the user's own Permissions tab or through a Permission Group. For the full list of what this and every other permission does, see wxrks Permissions Reference: Account to Organizational Unit.
Once a user has that permission, they can go to the Organizational Unit itself (Organizations > Organizational Units, then that unit's Workflows tab) and find a Workflows Settings table listing every workflow that's already Zen Mode-eligible at the account level, each with its own Zen Mode switch. Turning it on or off here overrides the account-wide setting for that one Organizational Unit only - every other Organizational Unit keeps using the account-wide value.
A workflow only appears in this table once it's eligible for Zen Mode at the account level - if no workflow has Zen Mode turned on yet, this table shows Workflows not found until an Account Admin enables it for at least one workflow first, per the previous section.
What changes for users, and what doesn't
Everything below applies the same way whether Zen Mode came from the account-wide switch or an Organizational Unit override:
Opening a file in a Zen Mode workflow shows a clean, distraction-free Editor layout - the Preview Panel and Navigation Sidebar start collapsed, and the Editor itself stays fully functional and responsive.
Either panel can be expanded at any time by clicking its toggle. Access is never blocked - Zen Mode only changes what's visible when a file first opens, not what a user is allowed to do.
An expanded panel stays open for the rest of that session; opening a new file returns the Editor to its Zen Mode layout.
The setting is scoped to one workflow (and, with an override, one Organizational Unit) - every other workflow and unit keeps its own independent setting.
Related articles
Managing Your Custom Workflows - the full walkthrough for creating and editing workflow steps, including the other three switches next to Zen Mode.
wxrks Permissions Reference: Account to Organizational Unit - what the Organizational Unit Workflow Configuration permission (and every other Organizational Unit-level permission) actually does.
How to manage Permission Groups - grant this permission to several users at once instead of one at a time.