TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Internationalizing/Translating Winhelp (HELP!) From:Ian Macdonald <imacd -at- PC -dot- JARING -dot- MY> Date:Thu, 15 Feb 1996 13:54:34 +0800
At 11:02 AM 12/2/96 -0500, Stephen Schiller wrote:
<snip>
>Our application is easily internationalized, but our paper documentation has
>never been translated due to cost. Now that the online help system is part
>of the application, our customers may want to translate the online help.
>While the customer is responsible for the translating, we want to make it as
>easy as possible.
What is going to happen if you have multiple customers in one country -- Do
they all do their own translation?
Is your company ready to release "source files" for the help system?
If you are not very careful you WILL lose control of the product. One
consequence could be that your support lines are overloaded because the
translated help is giving wrong information, etc...etc...
