Translating a HTML5 Output

[jencasty9]

We need to translate our online help into six languages. What are the steps we need to take to get our content translated by another company? Should we make sure that they know how to work with Madcap Flare outputs? Thanks!

[Cwestpha]

To properly manage it as Madcap designed it you will need Lingo if you do not already have it. Lingo helps with the translation management and import/export process. Lingo exports in either the Flare proprietary translation format OR the industry standard XLIF which works just fine. Lingo maintains its own translation memory and can tell you which parts have changed when you next translate so you only pay to translate the exceptions.

Some translation services have their own translation memory that will evaluate and only queue work on the exceptions.

If you pay MadTranslations to do it, I believe you can just send them the entire flare project.

When you reimport your translations you end up with a new instance of the original project and then build the output as you would have in English.

Try to find reviewers for each language that are familiar with your industry (your readers/users if you do not have folks in your org). Even the best translators are not subject matter experts in everything so they may misunderstand the context of your source text.

[Nita Beck]

To properly manage it as Madcap designed it you will need Lingo if you do not already have it.

Not necessarily true (at least aside from the "as MadCap designed [the workflow]"). I know a few very Flare-savvy translation vendors who use their own tools to extract files from a Flare project. These vendors also do know how to work with Lingo-packaged files, but they prefer to start directly with the whole Flare project.

One place to find Flare-savvy translation vendors is to start with MadCap's MadTranslation service. Otherwise, Google 'em and/or check out the LinkedIn group "Users of MadCap Flare" (https://www.linkedin.com/grp/home?gid=86373) There have been several questions posed there the last few years by those seeking recommendations for vendors, with lots of lively suggestions made.

[jencasty9]

If we decide to go with MadTranslations, is it as simple as giving them our Flare project and they'll take care of all the translation and generating the output? Also, what should I do as a technical writer, to make sure that our help content is ready and optimized for translation? TIA.

[dorcutt]

I'm no expert, but one thing I read somewhere on these forums is to make sure that you never condition out anything smaller than a sentence (unless it's a "user interface" item). For instance, if one of your outputs used the word "one" and one used the word "two", instead of just jamming the two words together in one sentence "onetwo" and conditioning out the inapplicable one, you'd make two sentences, one with the word "one" and one with the word "two." This is a good idea because languages handle things like pluralization and sentence structures differently from English.

However, if you have an output that uses a Foo window and another that uses a Bar window, apparently (from what I gather) jamming "the FooBar window opens" in one sentence is okay.

I've started trying to do this just in case I need to translate. I've found it often helps readability too (though sometimes it's worse).

[Nita Beck]

Here are tips for Flare authors from a translation vendor I highly recommend, Advanced Language Translations: http://advancedlanguage.com/services/ma ... anslation/

Also, there is a recorded MadCap-sponsored webinar that offers authoring guidance, presented by Advanced Language's highly skilled Flare localization expert, Jennifer Schudel: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/demos/si ... 0245635240

Re your questions about what you would give MadTranslations, I think the best persons to ask are the MadTranslations sales staff. I'm sure they could explain it all to you.

[MadTranslations]

Lingo provides advantages when translating Flare projects, but since Flare project source is XML/CSS it is true that someone with intimate knowledge of the Flare project can translate in another translation tool without Lingo. If the translation partner you decide on does not have expertise in Flare, I would caution against this approach.

As far as Flare project preparation goes, dorcutt makes a great point. Conditions and other single sourcing elements have potential to be problematic in translation, but your translation provider should be able to determine this ahead of time. I've linked to some resources below that cover Flare translation and preparation.

Writing for Translation: Best Practices and Things to Consider When Translating Content
http://www.madcapsoftware.com/demos/pla ... fa4c464a2c

MadCap Flare and Translation: Five Things to Consider When Developing Multilingual Content
http://www.madcapsoftware.com/demos/pla ... 7c5687bd28

When working with MadTranslations, we can accept Flare projects and deliver production ready translated projects back or work with Lingo files. We're happy to discuss in more detail, so feel free to contact me at mmcdermott@madcapsoftware.com.