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Keeping track of website changes for translation
Thread poster: Anna Asbury
Anna Asbury
Anna Asbury  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Dutch to English
+ ...
Oct 14, 2011

Hi,

Apologies if this question is a common one - it's new to me!

A client just asked me about doing some translation work to create an English version of his Dutch promotional website. As he frequently adds or alters material, he wondered if there is an easy way of keeping track of such changes to the original, so that they can be forwarded to a translator without the person doing the original updates having to keep laborious lists.

There are so many big co
... See more
Hi,

Apologies if this question is a common one - it's new to me!

A client just asked me about doing some translation work to create an English version of his Dutch promotional website. As he frequently adds or alters material, he wondered if there is an easy way of keeping track of such changes to the original, so that they can be forwarded to a translator without the person doing the original updates having to keep laborious lists.

There are so many big companies with multilingual websites out there, there must be a clever solution somewhere.

Any suggestions or pointers welcome.

Thanks!

Anna
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Brand Localization
Brand Localization
Egypt
Local time: 12:14
German to Arabic
+ ...
CMS on the client side Oct 14, 2011

Many "big companies" use CMS systems to create and manage their websites and their updates, which helps to keep tracking the various changes made on the content of the website.

I guess, your client is not using one and is running it in a traditional manual way.

In this case, he should be aware of the exact parts\pages he change to let you work specifically on them.

However using a Translation Memory, that carries out pretranslation, like Transit for example
... See more
Many "big companies" use CMS systems to create and manage their websites and their updates, which helps to keep tracking the various changes made on the content of the website.

I guess, your client is not using one and is running it in a traditional manual way.

In this case, he should be aware of the exact parts\pages he change to let you work specifically on them.

However using a Translation Memory, that carries out pretranslation, like Transit for example, can help you using the previously translated parts from the TM to only focus on the new parts, even if you don't know, where they exactly are.

My be another colleague could provide other ideas to face your specific case.

Best regards
Your Arabic Translation Team
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Joakim Braun
Joakim Braun  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 11:14
German to Swedish
+ ...
Not so easy Oct 14, 2011

An easy way? Probably not. I hope someone comes up with better solutions than mine:

* He can use a database for the website content, set it up so that it keeps track of when table entries are updated, and run a batch job periodically in some way that generates the change information. Not easy, but a lot simpler than it sounds.

* Or he can use a source code versioning control system (CVS) used by programmers. These are specifically designed to track changes to file sets.
... See more
An easy way? Probably not. I hope someone comes up with better solutions than mine:

* He can use a database for the website content, set it up so that it keeps track of when table entries are updated, and run a batch job periodically in some way that generates the change information. Not easy, but a lot simpler than it sounds.

* Or he can use a source code versioning control system (CVS) used by programmers. These are specifically designed to track changes to file sets.

[Bearbeitet am 2011-10-14 16:38 GMT]
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Frank van Thienen (X)
Frank van Thienen (X)  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 03:14
Dutch to English
MSWord Track Changes Oct 14, 2011

Maybe the MSWord "Compare documents" function is helpful?
Another option is the "Track Changes" function. Both do the same thing, but it depends on how your client intends to send you the texts.

In the worst case scenario, where the client makes the changes to the website and you have to go hunting for the changes, you could maintain a Word document of the first version, then copy the new version into a new Word document and Compare Documents.

HTH
Frank... See more
Maybe the MSWord "Compare documents" function is helpful?
Another option is the "Track Changes" function. Both do the same thing, but it depends on how your client intends to send you the texts.

In the worst case scenario, where the client makes the changes to the website and you have to go hunting for the changes, you could maintain a Word document of the first version, then copy the new version into a new Word document and Compare Documents.

HTH
Frank
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Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
use memoQ Oct 14, 2011

If the translators has memoQ, all the client needs to do is send the same html file (but each time with the modifications) to the translator. Then, the translator can just re-import this same file into the project they set up in the beginning (with 'Document versioning' ON), and use 'x-translate', and translate the changes.

From the memoQ 5 help files:

'Tracking changes in source text (X-Translate)

Very often translators get updates to the same docum
... See more
If the translators has memoQ, all the client needs to do is send the same html file (but each time with the modifications) to the translator. Then, the translator can just re-import this same file into the project they set up in the beginning (with 'Document versioning' ON), and use 'x-translate', and translate the changes.

From the memoQ 5 help files:

'Tracking changes in source text (X-Translate)

Very often translators get updates to the same document. If you are versioning your documents, an update to the source means a new major version.

Importing updates to the document

Select a document and use the Reimport or Reimport as commands to reimport the changed document or import a new document as an update to the old document.

Note: Whenever you import an update to the source, memoQ stores the last target version as the last minor version of the previous major version.

Seeing what has changed

You can compare any previous two versions of the same source by selecting History/Reports in the Documents pane of the Project home tab, selecting the two major versions from the upper list, and clicking Export two-column view of changes. This will create an HTML file that you can open in a web browser. The HTML file consists of two parts: the change summary and the table view.

The change summary contains the number of segments that remained unchanged, the number of nearly identical segments, the number of segments that disappeared and the number of newly added segments. Nearly identical segments are identical with the sole exception that their inline tag attributes differ. This is automatically adjusted by memoQ from the translation memory. If a segment is changed, that qualifies as a disappeared and newly added segment. The word and character counts indicate the number of words and characters in the same category.

The table view shows the entire document in a grid. Segments next to each other, with a transparent background mean segments that remained identical. A beige background indicates nearly identical segments - they are always next to each other -, whereas new segments appear in blue on the right, deleted segments appear in pink on the left. This is a visual overview of the changes.

Continuing where you left off

memoQ's X-Translate feature allows you to apply the target segments from a previous version to the new version. The difference between pre-translation and X-translate is that while pre-translation uses translation memories, X-Translate takes the segments from the previous version of the same document. Use X-Translate from the Operations menu to start X-translation.' (http://kilgray.com/memoq/50/help-en/index.html?memoq_help_title_page.html)
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Jean Lachaud
Jean Lachaud  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:14
English to French
+ ...
http://www.changedetection.com/ Oct 14, 2011

Thre's also http://www.changedetection.com/

 
Jaroslaw Michalak
Jaroslaw Michalak  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 11:14
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER
Any CAT Oct 14, 2011

Actually, any CAT will be sufficient for this - that is exactly what they are for... It would be enough to keep track of the files with changes (although even that is not essential, it just facilitates delivery). When the translator opens the changed file, he will see which sentences have not changed (they will be 100% matches and can be translated automatically) and which have.

 
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Member (2006)
English to Polish
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
You may have a look here Oct 14, 2011

http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2010/01/follow-changes-to-any-website.html

this way translator may follow changes occuring to translated website.

BR
S


 
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Member (2006)
English to Polish
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
It won't be so easy Oct 14, 2011

Jabberwock wrote:

Actually, any CAT will be sufficient for this - that is exactly what they are for... It would be enough to keep track of the files with changes (although even that is not essential, it just facilitates delivery). When the translator opens the changed file, he will see which sentences have not changed (they will be 100% matches and can be translated automatically) and which have.


In general the idea is good however it is not going to work if:

- old file gets deleted
- old file is changed - translator is not going to know that this particular page needs to be retranslated

Cheers
S


 
Bernhard Sulzer
Bernhard Sulzer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:14
English to German
+ ...
font color Oct 14, 2011

Frank van Thienen wrote:

Maybe the MSWord "Compare documents" function is helpful?
Another option is the "Track Changes" function. Both do the same thing, but it depends on how your client intends to send you the texts.

In the worst case scenario, where the client makes the changes to the website and you have to go hunting for the changes, you could maintain a Word document of the first version, then copy the new version into a new Word document and Compare Documents.

HTH
Frank


Along the same lines:


If the client and the translator keep the website content in, for example, a Word file, they could first update the Word file, using a different font color for the new text (or just use the track change feature).
Then the translator will see where the changes are and he/she can easily compare the new text where it occurred with respect to the original file to see if anything else has been changed/left out by accident with regards to the surrounding sentences.
Once everything has been checked, the new file becomes the official next version, and then you can repeat the process for the next update.

Bernhard


 
Peter Linton (X)
Peter Linton (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:14
Swedish to English
+ ...
FTP Oct 15, 2011

FTP could be q good simple solution. It all depends on how your customer is currently updating the Dutch pages.

A common procedure is to amend the pages on a local PC, then connect to the web server via FTP and transfer the new pages. (That is how I update my own website).

If your customer can be persuaded to run a second FTP session and transfer these pages by FTP to your domain as well, then you will find all the pages that need translation in a subdirectory. You can
... See more
FTP could be q good simple solution. It all depends on how your customer is currently updating the Dutch pages.

A common procedure is to amend the pages on a local PC, then connect to the web server via FTP and transfer the new pages. (That is how I update my own website).

If your customer can be persuaded to run a second FTP session and transfer these pages by FTP to your domain as well, then you will find all the pages that need translation in a subdirectory. You can get the new pages and translate them. Then you or the customer can FTP you English pages to the web server.

This may sound complex, but it is just a variation on a very standard procedure. If the customer is not currently using FTP, I was still strongly recommend using it.

I agree with Jabberwock that a CAT tool would be very beneficial.
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Jaroslaw Michalak
Jaroslaw Michalak  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 11:14
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER
Not a problem Oct 16, 2011

Stanislaw Czech wrote:
In general the idea is good however it is not going to work if:

- old file gets deleted
- old file is changed - translator is not going to know that this particular page needs to be retranslated


If the file is not there any more, then it does not need translating, does it?

IF the file is changed, the website author either has to keep track of the filenames (and send out/let download) only those which changed. Otherwise the translator needs to download and check all the files again - this might not be convenient when there many files and certainly takes time, but still it can be almost fully automated.


 
XX789 (X)
XX789 (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 11:14
English to Dutch
+ ...
Content sources Oct 16, 2011

MemoQ has so-called content sources which point to certain locations; as soon as files on these locations are updated or added, MemoQ will automatically add/update the files in your project. I believe this is exactly what your client is looking for.

 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:14
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
from Jost Zetzsche's latest Tool Box Newsletter Oct 16, 2011

In spite of the fact that I think we might have lost the TS a while ago already, I will add this quote from Jost Zetzsche's latest Tool Box Newsletter:

Content Connectors [in memoQ 5] allows you to specify a folder with translatable files in the many supported formats on your or any computer that you can access. MemoQ will automatically audit that folder, and if there is any change to any of the files (in the date or time stamp) or any files are added, you ... See more
In spite of the fact that I think we might have lost the TS a while ago already, I will add this quote from Jost Zetzsche's latest Tool Box Newsletter:

Content Connectors [in memoQ 5] allows you to specify a folder with translatable files in the many supported formats on your or any computer that you can access. MemoQ will automatically audit that folder, and if there is any change to any of the files (in the date or time stamp) or any files are added, you are notified and all you need to do is synchronize the memoQ project with that folder. Upon synchronization, the new content is brought in, automatically "X-Translated" on the basis of the previous files, and the remaining text can be sent to a translator (or translated by you).

(http://www.internationalwriters.com/toolkit/)
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 11:14
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Using OmT (or any other instant-replace CAT tool) Oct 17, 2011

Anna Asbury wrote:
A client just asked me about doing some translation work to create an English version of his Dutch promotional website. As he frequently adds or alters material, he wondered if there is an easy way of keeping track of such changes to the original, so that they can be forwarded to a translator without the person doing the original updates having to keep laborious lists.


The client probably thinks that it is too much to ask of the translator to find the changes, so the client believes that he himself should mark the changes and send only those to the translator.

But using an instant-replace type of CAT tool (e.g. OmegaT, or others) the translator simply has to drop the lastest version of the entire web site into his translation project, and he'll be able to translate the changed segments right away. Then either the translator or the client can do a file comparison to see which files were changed, and upload only those files. The translator should just run a statistics check on the new files before he starts translating them each time, to show the client the word count of the new words.

This will only work if the web developers do not make changes to the web pages while the translator is busy doing the translation.

The client can send either his ENTIRE web site to the translator each time, or he can send only the pages that he knows or suspects have changes in them (either in the same folder structure as the original, or not).


 
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Keeping track of website changes for translation






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