When an Organizational Unit (a subdivision of your account, typically a team, brand or end client) or a project uses several glossaries, two of them can translate the same term differently. Prioritize glossaries lets you decide which glossary wins: AI translation receives only the translation from the highest-priority glossary, and the Editor lists that glossary's suggestion first.
Before you start
Roles: Account Admins and Project Managers. See All about wxrks roles.
Account Admins usually set the Organizational Unit order, since it becomes the starting point for every new project in the Unit. They also grant or remove the permissions below for other users.
Project Managers can set the Organizational Unit order on the Units they have access to, and adjust the order of a single project without touching the Unit.
Permissions: in the permission matrix (People > Users > [User] > Permissions):
Organizational Unit order: Edit Glossary Settings, in the Organizational Unit module.
Project order: Project Add Glossary settings.
Account Admins and Project Managers have both by default. Without them, the switch and the arrows show but are disabled.
Glossaries: at the Organizational Unit level, the order applies to default glossaries only, so the Unit needs at least one. A default glossary is one that wxrks attaches automatically to every new project in the Unit. To link glossaries and mark them as default, see All about Glossaries.
How the priority works
A conflict happens when the same source term exists in two or more glossaries of the same Organizational Unit or project. wxrks compares source terms ignoring case, unless the term is marked as case-sensitive.
Without a priority order, every translation of a conflicting term goes to the AI, which picks one on its own. With a priority order:
AI translation receives only the translation from the highest-priority glossary. This covers Context Sensitive Translate, MT (machine translation), Sous Chef, free-flow translation in the wxrks Translation Portal, and translation requested through the wxrks API or the ServiceNow integration.
The Editor still shows every translation in the glossary panel, with the highest-priority glossary first. Longer matches still come before shorter ones; the priority orders matches of the same length. A new order shows in the Editor right away.
Two kinds of terms are never dropped by the priority:
Learned terms. A term learned in the same work or project still takes precedence over every glossary. See Learning Terms.
Forbidden terms. They always reach the AI, so it keeps avoiding them.
Example. An Organizational Unit has two default glossaries. Brand Terms translates cloud into Portuguese as nuvem; IT General keeps it as cloud. With Brand Terms in 1st place, Context Sensitive Translate receives only cloud → nuvem. In the Editor, a translator sees both suggestions, with nuvem on top.
ℹ️ Note: if no order is set, nothing changes: the AI receives every translation and the Editor keeps its usual order.
Set the order for an Organizational Unit
The Organizational Unit order is the starting point for every new project created in the Unit.
Go to Organizations > Organizational Units and open the Unit.
Open the Context tab. The Glossary section lists the glossaries linked to the Unit.
Turn on Prioritize glossaries. The default glossaries are listed first, and a Priority column shows their position (1°, 2°, and so on). The first order is alphabetical by glossary name.
Use the ↑ and ↓ arrows in the Priority column to move a glossary up or down. 1° is the highest priority. Each move saves automatically; there is no Save button.
💡 Tip: hover over the info icon next to Prioritize glossaries for a summary of the rule.
Glossaries that are not default have no priority. They stay below the default glossaries, without arrows.
ℹ️ Note: when you mark another glossary as Default, it joins the order in last place. When you unmark one, it leaves the order and the others keep their relative positions.
⚠️ Warning: turning Prioritize glossaries off deletes the order of every default glossary in the Unit. If you turn it on again, the order restarts in alphabetical order, so note your order before you turn it off. Projects that already exist keep their own order.
How projects inherit the order
New projects copy the Organizational Unit order when they are created. If the Unit has Prioritize glossaries on, the project starts with it on and with the same order.
Existing projects don't change when you change the Unit order. To apply an order to them, set it in each project (next section).
Changes in a project never affect the Unit or other projects.
Glossaries added later to a project that has an order join it in last place. In a project without an order, they stay without one.
Set or change the order for a project
Open the project and go to its Context tab. The Glossaries section lists the glossaries attached to the project.
Turn on Prioritize glossaries, if it is not on yet. In a project, every attached glossary gets a position, starting from the order the list shows.
Use the ↑ and ↓ arrows in the Priority column to reorder. Each move saves automatically.
Turning the switch off in a project deletes that project's order only.
Limitations
Translation Portal for Clients: when a Client translates in the wxrks Translation Portal, the Organizational Unit order is not applied yet.
No account-wide or per-user order. The order exists per Organizational Unit and per project.
Troubleshooting
Problem | Cause and fix |
Prioritize glossaries is disabled in the Organizational Unit. | The Unit has no default glossary, or you lack Edit Glossary Settings. Mark at least one glossary as Default, or ask an Account Admin for the permission. |
Prioritize glossaries is disabled in the project. | The project has no glossaries, or you lack Project Add Glossary settings. |
A project ignores the order you just set in the Unit. | The project existed before the change. Set the order in the project's Context tab. |
The AI used a term that is not from the 1° glossary. | A learned term from the same work or project takes precedence over glossary priority. Check the term in the Editor's glossary panel. |
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