Best platform for multilingual websites? Thread poster: Talent Success
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Talent Success
United States
Local time: 12:43
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
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Have any translators or agencies out there had experience translating multilingual websites on internet platforms? (those primarily used for crowd-sourcing.) If so, what platforms, and what has been your experience?
*Note: I'm not asking what CAT tools or translation software you have used to translate websites, but which string-based internet platforms clients have used to publish the translations online.
Example: our company translates for a client with a multilingual... See more Have any translators or agencies out there had experience translating multilingual websites on internet platforms? (those primarily used for crowd-sourcing.) If so, what platforms, and what has been your experience?
*Note: I'm not asking what CAT tools or translation software you have used to translate websites, but which string-based internet platforms clients have used to publish the translations online.
Example: our company translates for a client with a multilingual website that often sends us files in POEdit, a simple 2-column format that is unfortunately not compatible with CAT tools, and is also difficult to edit after translation. Is there anything out there that's similar, but more accessible?
Does anyone have experience with String? (http://mygengo.com/string/about)
For websites with multiple strings, is something as simple as Excel best? Word? HTML?
Any advice would be appreciated! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jaroslaw Michalak 
Poland
Local time: 19:43
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER
The largest job of this type I have done in Redaxo... It was quite terrible, as it involved copying and pasting of almost every paragraph. It is supposedly possible to export the text and import it back, but the client did not have the admin access for some reason.
By the way, why are you saying that PO files are not CAT compatible? I've done quite a few in MemoQ, I am sure other CATs can import the format as well...
| | | | Robert Laing
United States
Local time: 02:43
English to Japanese
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Hi Jabberwock,
As String is free, we definitely invite you to give it a shot. I think you'll find it much more efficient than exchanging excel and word docs via email. We support language file formats used by most websites, and you can choose to order translations from our global team of translators or you can invite translators of your own to join the project. Makes several people collaborating on a big project a lot more efficient. We look forward to seeing you on the site!
... See more Hi Jabberwock,
As String is free, we definitely invite you to give it a shot. I think you'll find it much more efficient than exchanging excel and word docs via email. We support language file formats used by most websites, and you can choose to order translations from our global team of translators or you can invite translators of your own to join the project. Makes several people collaborating on a big project a lot more efficient. We look forward to seeing you on the site!
Tim Wong
myGengo
[Edited at 2011-02-25 04:38 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 19:43
French to German
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| Same question here | Feb 25, 2011 |
Jabberwock wrote:
(.../...)
By the way, why are you saying that PO files are not CAT compatible? I've done quite a few in MemoQ, I am sure other CATs can import the format as well...
PO files are certainly CAT-compatible - you only need the right CAT.
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| The PO format | Feb 25, 2011 |
PO files are not actually a two-column format. If you think it is a two-column format, it just means that you are using a tool that displays them this way.
The level of ease or difficulty of translating PO files depends largely on your choice of a tool. IMHO a lot of these tools really make the work more difficult than it really is. So if you are finding the work difficult it most likely just means you need a different tool.
Personally I don’t even bother with tools; ... See more PO files are not actually a two-column format. If you think it is a two-column format, it just means that you are using a tool that displays them this way.
The level of ease or difficulty of translating PO files depends largely on your choice of a tool. IMHO a lot of these tools really make the work more difficult than it really is. So if you are finding the work difficult it most likely just means you need a different tool.
Personally I don’t even bother with tools; I find it easy enough just using a (good) text editor.
ETA: I can imagine how a regular CAT tool, if it understands PO files, can help the translation process. The availability of an integrated glossary would certainly be of help.
[Edited at 2011-02-25 07:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 19:43
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| More about PO format | Feb 25, 2011 |
workforcelang wrote:
Our company translates for a client with a multilingual website that often sends us files in POEdit, a simple 2-column format that is unfortunately not compatible with CAT tools, and is also difficult to edit after translation.
For websites with multiple strings, is something as simple as Excel best? Word? HTML?
The advantage of PO (for the client) is that it is very easy for the developers of the site to update the site with new translations. PO may look a little silly for the translator, but it is infinitely more useful than e.g. Excel or HTML for easy of merging and ensuring consistency.
Ambrose Li wrote:
PO files are not actually a two-column format. If you think it is a two-column format, it just means that you are using a tool that displays them this way.
I agree with Ambrose. The fact that the client had told you that PO files can be edited in PoEdit doesn't mean that PO files are PoEdit files. PoEdit is just one of the many programs that can edit PO files. It was probably recommended by your client because it is generally a fool-proof program that won't break the PO file. Another simple PO editing program is Virtaal (the developers of Virtaal had hoped to replace PoEdit as the de facto PO editor).
One can translate PO files in many CAT tools (or even in Notepad), but it is a format that requires a bit of playing around with. Particularly if the client sends you PO files that are partially translated and have fuzzy strings, you have to make very certain that your CAT tool is capable of handling the file.
You said you don't want to know about CAT tools, but just as an example of explaining PO files in CAT tools, let me say that OmegaT can handle most types of PO files (it can't do so-called "plurals" and it can't display segment headers, though).
| | | | | PO vs other formats | Feb 25, 2011 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
The advantage of PO (for the client) is that it is very easy for the developers of the site to update the site with new translations. PO may look a little silly for the translator, but it is infinitely more useful than e.g. Excel or HTML for easy of merging and ensuring consistency.
I completely agree. PO files are very nice compared to a lot of other ways of localizing software. Excel will be unworkable if the target language has a different word order, has different plural rules, etc.
A few years ago I happened to be involved in an open-source web-app project that used a simple Excel-like translation system on top of an HTML templating system. It was so bad (for me as a translator) that I took the time to hack the system to use PO files.
You said you don't want to know about CAT tools, but just as an example of explaining PO files in CAT tools, let me say that OmegaT can handle most types of PO files (it can't do so-called "plurals" and it can't display segment headers, though).
In ordinary CAT terms, I would describe a PO file as a bilingual file with its own translation memory. But with things like plurals it’s actually a bit more complicated than that.
In software plurals are common. I guess most websites have simpler requirements?
[Edited at 2011-02-25 09:15 GMT]
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