Should I change from Wordfast Pro 5 to SDL Trados?
Thread poster: Comunican
Comunican
Comunican
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:41
Spanish to English
+ ...
Jul 29, 2020

I've been a Wordfast user (Classic for many years and Pro 5 for the last few years) and the license is coming up for renewal.

It's not without its failings - most significantly in two areas: (i) the general lack of easily-searchable user help and support and (ii) the complication of trying to import sdlxliff files (there always seems to be a problem with the language codes).

But the thought of moving to Trados - by far, the most complex, unfathomable system I have eve
... See more
I've been a Wordfast user (Classic for many years and Pro 5 for the last few years) and the license is coming up for renewal.

It's not without its failings - most significantly in two areas: (i) the general lack of easily-searchable user help and support and (ii) the complication of trying to import sdlxliff files (there always seems to be a problem with the language codes).

But the thought of moving to Trados - by far, the most complex, unfathomable system I have ever encountered - fills me with dread!

I guess ideally I would stick with Wordfast Pro since I am familiar with it. However, I need to find a way of better managing situations with agencies that send me sdlxliff files. Does anyone know of any help or training regarding how to work with non-Wf Pro files - because what's out there has not been of much help.

Or should I move to Trados and spend a month learning how to use it?

Would appreciate your thoughts and perspectives.

Many thanks
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AnnaSCHTR
AnnaSCHTR  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:41
English to Czech
+ ...
Try a demo version Jul 29, 2020

I used to love WordFast 3 (the one between Classic and Pro) for its simplicity but not WordFast Pro. It's a similar concept to Trados but offers less features, and I am much more comfortable working in Trados Studio.

However, I have invested a great deal of time and effort to learn how to work with Trados in its various incarnations over the years.

Nearly all our clients work with Trados, and I can easily work with file formats from other CAT tools. I will not be rene
... See more
I used to love WordFast 3 (the one between Classic and Pro) for its simplicity but not WordFast Pro. It's a similar concept to Trados but offers less features, and I am much more comfortable working in Trados Studio.

However, I have invested a great deal of time and effort to learn how to work with Trados in its various incarnations over the years.

Nearly all our clients work with Trados, and I can easily work with file formats from other CAT tools. I will not be renewing my WordFast Pro license this year.

In any case, I believe you can download the demo version and see how you like it. If you can work through the initial irritation and confusion, customize your shortcuts and patiently seek answers to your questions here and from some other sources, I think it is worth the effort.
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Jorge Payan
 
Christel Zipfel
Christel Zipfel  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:41
Member (2004)
Italian to German
+ ...
Try a demo version 2 Jul 29, 2020

I am still, and have been for many years, a happy user of Wf Classic, although not exclusively, as it lacks some features that other CATs normally have (which I need rarely, however), and therefore in my opinion it's overpriced (as well as Wf Pro). But I love its absolute reliability and simplicity.
I have never used Trados and I never won't, but it seems to be rather complicated from what I read.
Unless you need absolutely Trados for whatever reason, I would advise you, too, to hav
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I am still, and have been for many years, a happy user of Wf Classic, although not exclusively, as it lacks some features that other CATs normally have (which I need rarely, however), and therefore in my opinion it's overpriced (as well as Wf Pro). But I love its absolute reliability and simplicity.
I have never used Trados and I never won't, but it seems to be rather complicated from what I read.
Unless you need absolutely Trados for whatever reason, I would advise you, too, to have a look around among the other CATs (which happen to be more or less cheaper than Trados) and download a demo version. You'll find that some are really easy to learn and are likely to offer what you need. If you are lucky, you can get a good bargain at ProZ TGB.
Best wishes!
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neilmac
 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:41
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
A matter of time Jul 29, 2020

Comunican wrote:
But the thought of moving to Trados - by far, the most complex, unfathomable system I have ever encountered - fills me with dread!

Simple enough equation. Is the amount of time you spend messing around importing sdlxliff files over the course of the year equal to or greater than the time it would take for you to become proficient in using SDL Studio? If the answer is "Yes" then probably better to move to Studio.

Like many vertical-market applications Studio is complex, but the main problem I had when I started was that I was unfamiliar even with such words as "termbase", "TM", "source" and "target". That wouldn't be a problem for you. Especially if business is quiet, now would be a good time to start the transition. You can run the two systems in parallel for as long as you wish.

Regards,
Dan

[Edited at 2020-07-29 18:43 GMT]


Jorge Payan
 
Hans Lenting
Hans Lenting
Netherlands
Member (2006)
German to Dutch
I'm surprised Jul 30, 2020

Comunican wrote:

It's not without its failings - most significantly in two areas: (i) the general lack of easily-searchable user help and support and (ii) the complication of trying to import sdlxliff files (there always seems to be a problem with the language codes).


I'm surprised to read this. I thought that WFP would handle SDL files swiftly now, as nearly every other CAT tools does, nowadays.

More important is your remark about missing Help when you need it. Good Help, directly available in the present context of your CAT tool, is very important.

I'm using a competing CAT tool that doesn't offer any Help at all. Though I've found my way around this tool, I always thought that not integrating a thorough Help system scares many users away from the tool.

And from what I'm reading from you, I'm confirmed once again that Help is indeed a factor in the decision to stay/migrate.

The development of a good Help system is extremely expensive (perhaps as expensive as the software coding itself), but I've always thought that WFP (and the big translation company behind it), could easily shell out the funds needed. So I'm surprised by what you write.

And surely, SDL do have the necessary resources to write good Help (and create videos, pay a community manager, etc. etc.) .


neilmac
 
Comunican
Comunican
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:41
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
"I have invested a great deal of time and effort to learn how to work with Trados" Jul 30, 2020

Thank you very much for your comment.

You say
Anna Schuster wrote:

I have invested a great deal of time and effort to learn how to work with Trados in its various incarnations over the years.


and that sums up my huge reluctance to move over to it. I tried it about 12 or 13 years ago and I found it to be, by far, the most complicated and unintuitive system of any kind that I had ever used!

I don't understand why they had to make it so, so complex - it's like driving a BMW (also German made!): you spend more time trying to work out how to configure the car the way you want it, rather than just driving

I know I haven't got the patience or aptitude to start using it alone (even with help from other Proz people and online help etc). So if I could get some heavy-duty training, I might consider it... but that would be quite a large investment of time and money...

Thanks again.


 
Comunican
Comunican
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:41
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
@Christel Zipfel Many thanks Jul 30, 2020

Many thanks for your reply and suggestions.

I used to use Wordfast Classic but switched permanently to Wordfast Pro 5 a few years ago in order to be able to work with different formats than Word (I always found the Classic workaround for Excel and PowerPoint rather clunky) and also be able to integrate MT. Seeing as it is not possible to share TMs and glossaries between Classic and Pro 5, I gave up with Classic altogether.

It's good to have your validation on the comp
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Many thanks for your reply and suggestions.

I used to use Wordfast Classic but switched permanently to Wordfast Pro 5 a few years ago in order to be able to work with different formats than Word (I always found the Classic workaround for Excel and PowerPoint rather clunky) and also be able to integrate MT. Seeing as it is not possible to share TMs and glossaries between Classic and Pro 5, I gave up with Classic altogether.

It's good to have your validation on the complexities (in my opinion, ludicrous) of Trados and I am loathe to try it...
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Comunican
Comunican
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:41
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
@Dan Lucas It seems you are a Trados fan... Jul 30, 2020

Many thanks for your reply and comments.

I would add something to your equation, relating to how much more work might I get from using Trados. With that in mind, of my agencies that have expressed a preference, I have two that would prefer that I use Trados (one of which is a young agency that is struggling for work), one that likes Memsource, and one that likes MemoQ.

I think if I can somehow work out how to solve the issue with importing sdlxliff files, for my sanity
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Many thanks for your reply and comments.

I would add something to your equation, relating to how much more work might I get from using Trados. With that in mind, of my agencies that have expressed a preference, I have two that would prefer that I use Trados (one of which is a young agency that is struggling for work), one that likes Memsource, and one that likes MemoQ.

I think if I can somehow work out how to solve the issue with importing sdlxliff files, for my sanity I'm probably best sticking with the devil I know. If not, I'll need to get a serious amount of training/hand-holding with configuring Trados!
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Comunican
Comunican
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:41
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
@Hans Lenting In theory Wordfast Pro does handle Trados files... Jul 30, 2020

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, in theory Wordfast Pro can handle Trados files - and indeed sometimes does! However, too often I encounter issues with language codes, I don't really know why...

I wholeheartedly agree that a good Help system - especially one that offer contextual Help and an advanced Help search facility - is essential. If a company is going to develop a complex system without making it intuitive and seemingly simple (Google seems to be a company that ex
... See more
Thank you for your reply.

Yes, in theory Wordfast Pro can handle Trados files - and indeed sometimes does! However, too often I encounter issues with language codes, I don't really know why...

I wholeheartedly agree that a good Help system - especially one that offer contextual Help and an advanced Help search facility - is essential. If a company is going to develop a complex system without making it intuitive and seemingly simple (Google seems to be a company that excels at making complex things simple), then it needs at least to include really good Help or easy-access Support.

Wordfast Pro provides none of these. HOWEVER, it isn't as complex as Trados and it is nearly half the price. Also, my inclination is to support non-dominant providers and products as I don't like monopolies.

Dank je wel for your comment!
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Wolfgang Schoene
Wolfgang Schoene  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 16:41
Member
English to German
+ ...
Should I change from Wordfast Pro 5 to SDL Trados? Jul 31, 2020

Comunican wrote:

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, in theory Wordfast Pro can handle Trados files - and indeed sometimes does! However, too often I encounter issues with language codes, I don't really know why...



I did handle sdlxliff files with Wordfast and never encountered problems so far (return packages excluded which still are a PITA with WFP5). Shouldn't you check your language codes thorougly and comply with the rules?


 
Comunican
Comunican
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:41
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I think my language codes are OK! Jul 31, 2020

Wolfgang Schoene wrote:

Comunican wrote:

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, in theory Wordfast Pro can handle Trados files - and indeed sometimes does! However, too often I encounter issues with language codes, I don't really know why...



I did handle sdlxliff files with Wordfast and never encountered problems so far (return packages excluded which still are a PITA with WFP5). Shouldn't you check your language codes thorougly and comply with the rules?


Hi there, thanks for replying. I think my language codes are OK!

However (unless I'm missing something), it's not possible to check the codes themselves because Wordfast Pro only uses long forms - eg "English (United Kingdom)" - rather than short-form codes, which for UK English would normally be "EN-GB" but in some systems is "EN-UK". So, without being able to see the short-form codes, I can't really be sure. I have raised this with Wordfast and hope they will address it. Also, I am unsure whether "en-GB" is treated the same as "EN-GB" etc.

With regard to the big issue I had a few days ago, my suspicion is that the problem was with the agency not setting it up properly in Trados in the first place. However, I don't know for sure, and Wordfast are hopefully going to look at the files and let me know.

One thing that would be very helpful for me is to know what to *ask* agencies for when they send Trados-based projects: simple instructions so that I can easily load what they send into Wordfast Pro... If you have any guidance on that, I'd be grateful!

Thanks again.

[Edited at 2020-07-31 15:03 GMT]


Jack Dunwell
 


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Should I change from Wordfast Pro 5 to SDL Trados?







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