Re: User manual: cell merging vis a vis translation

[Julie Stickler <jstickler -at- gmail -dot- com>]

In that case, your change shouldn't add additional costs.  I suspect that
the PM doesn't understand the translation process either, but was probably
told at some point to avoid unneeded changes because they were expensive.

On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 10:45 AM, Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>
wrote:

> Thanks, Julie.
>
> Actually, this is a major revision, in that the device in question has
> enhanced capabilities. Referential material (new inserts and copy changes)
> appear throughout its ~150 pages. All told, I'd say perhaps one-sixth of
> the manual is new/edited content, with said content scattered throughout.
>
> So... how is the new manual not going to have to go through the entire
> translation process again?
>
> Also, I have nothing to do with that process, so the steps you shared mean
> nothing. Nor do I have access to the workflow, etc. I'm a freelancer only
> charged with updating the EN version of the InDesign file and related doc
> control PDF markups.
>
> Chris Morton
>
>
>
> â Substantive Editing â Technical Writing â Proofreading
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> <http://t.sidekickopen68.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nM
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>
>
> On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 10:38 AM, Julie Stickler <jstickler -at- gmail -dot- com>
> wrote:
>
> > Even if there are no text changes, the translation company will charge
> for
> > having to reformat the page and re-generate the doc and/or Help system.
> I
> > really dug into this at my last company, because I just did not
> understand
> > some of the line items on our bills. Small changes end up being fairly
> > expensive if they're done alone, because of the translation workflow:
> >
> > - Pull everything out of the original source files into the translation
> > tool (This is the step that many people don't realize is happening, your
> > source files are not being used by the translators.  Tour text is being
> > extracted, translated, and then the text is put back into your files.
> That
> > transform is a significant expense.)
> > - Compare the new files to the translation memory and identify changes.
> > - Translate any new content.
> > - Port all the translated strings back into the original source format
> > (Word, FrameMaker, RoboHelp, Flare, etc.)
> > - Quality assurance that the transform worked properly.
> > - Additional desktop publishing tweaks due to the text strings in the new
> > language being different (page breaks, heading wraps, table column
> sizing,
> > etc.)
> > - Files get shipped back to you.
> >
> >
> > If you can, save that change for a major version bump, when you have more
> > changes to absorb the engineering costs for the entire conversion
> process.
> >
> > On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 10:06 AM, Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > User manual has several pages of tabular stuff pertaining to UI error
> > > messages. Many of the items in the far right column are the exact same
> > > message: "Call <company> at <number> for service."
> > >
> > > I think such cellular repetition looks dumb, so I'm inclined to merge
> > > adjacent cells that convey the same thing.
> > >
> > > PM is upset, telling me that now PM will have to deal with 28
> > translations
> > > (all of which have to change anyway due to other new content).
> > >
> > > Pray tell, how in the world does merging such cellular items affect any
> > > translation, when "Call <company> at <number> for service" has
> previously
> > > been translated in all 28 languages?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > Chris Morton
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > â Substantive Editing â Technical Writing â Proofreading
> > >                      â Marketing Expertise â Mentoring
> > > Click to
> > > <http://t.sidekickopen68.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nM
> > > JN7t5XYgdnqQxW7fsH3H4XrddKW1pNgV-56dMhqf2Q-c6C02?t=https%3A%
> > > 2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fpub%2Fchris-morton%2F2%2F166%
> > > 2F6ba&si=6020636811198464&pi=ff3041db-6467-4c86-b383-bf5dc6f4582b>
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