RE: Translation issues

[Bill Burns <BillDB -at- intl -dot- com>]

Alyssa writes:	

> However, the
> catch is that the translators use Word, not FrameMaker. HTML converted
> from
> Word is ugly. Another catch is that Word hard-codes its links, so if/when
> I
> need to update cross-references, links will break.
> 
Are you using in-house translators? If so, is there any reason you can't
compel them to use Frame? If you're using a translation house, they should
be savvy enough to either convert the files to Word and back or to strip the
text out of MIF files, translate, and put it back. For what you want, Word
sounds like an expensive option (that is, will incur a lot of rework for the
target languages, not to mention the source). If that's the best your
translation agency can do, you should find another. Any decent localization
company should know how to work with Frame files, and some (for example,
yours truly) have processes for WebWorks Publisher in any language Frame
supports.

> Question:
> Anyone have any ideas as to a tool or method for constructing these
> manuals
> so that only a paragraph at a time will have to be re-translated?
> 
If you have translation memories (TMs) of previous work, it should be a
no-brainer. If these are all to be translated from scratch, request TMs for
each. This way, you'll be able to leverage the previous translation with
ease. If you aren't using TM, you can use conditional text to highlight
changed text. This approach will work in Word as well. Just keep in mind
that even minor changes to text may require retranslation.


Bill  Burns - Eccentric Technology Consultant
INT'L.com Design & Development
billdb -at- intl -dot- com