What is the process for doing "Official Translation?"
Can you suggest "best practices" for doing translation?
Overview to Get Started with Translation
After you have been granted admin access to translation in the desired language, you will click on the drop down menu in the upper right of the screen and select the "Admin Access" link near the bottom (this step assumes you are logged in and access has been granted). If you were given a direct access login link, it will ask you how you want to return for future visits.
Select the "Translate" option on the next page which should take you directly into the translate editor (If you have access to multiple languages, there will be an additional selection to pick the language.).
The upper left side contains the "Sections", the right side are the "Pages". It should default to where you left off, but you can begin in any section.
Underneath the section/page drop downs are two links. It will default to the lessons section, but you can switch between "lessons" and "phrases" by clicking the appropriate link.
The following defines these terms:
- Lessons: These are the actual content pages that make up a study.
- Phrases: These are the general phrases used for navigation, logging in and out, help pages, profiles, etc. They are the pages that collect general information or provide unique instructions. These are things like login pages, error messages, email text and so forth. These are used in multiple lessons.
- Section: This is a grouping of similar items. In lessons these would be the main lesson titles. In phrases, they are groups of phrases that relate to a specific topic.
- Pages: These are the individual pages within a lesson or these are the individual phrases within a phase group.
Translating a Page
Once you select a lesson or phrase section, you can begin working through each page. The master text will appear on the left side. The editable loaded translated text appears on the right. You simply work through each page making corrections on the right side as you work your way along.
Upon completion of that page, hit the big, blue "Save" button at the bottom to save your work. It should automatically advance you to the next page, but you can return at any time by simply adjusting the drop down menus at the top of the page.
You then simply keep working through the pages. As an "official" translator, you changes are immediately written to the database and will appear as active to end users.
Best Practices
The following are some good things to keep in mind.
- Your translations go live immediate when you save them.
- You should keep two windows open - one with the translator and the other with the end user page.
- Check your work often to make sure it is coming out as you desire.
- HTML formatting will occasionally appear as a bracket with a letter in the middle <i>, then some text and a matching close bracket </i>. Do not mess with the brackets. Treat the text between the brackets as it's own section.
- The amount of HTML text like this is very limited.
- You cannot change the order of drop downs.
- The groupings on phrases may change as new phrases are added.
- If a translated phrase is longer than the 80 characters that a short-field box allows you should save the text with the full 80 characters filled. Then come back to this page and upon your return, the field should now appears as an editable text box.