iLP for the translator
How to translate with our web-based L10n Tool?
In order to allow real-time collaboration and communication between the developer, product manager, (localization) project manager, and the translator and/or reviewer, we put our web-based L1on Portal (iLP) into use.
As a translator, you will be assigned to one or more Projects. Each project consists of one or more so called Components.
Each component represents a source file in the traditional sense.
Overview screen of a Project with two Components (4) and a Glossary (5)
Before you start translating, it is recommended that you check and/or change your Profile settings.
In order to do that, click on your Profile Avatar (1) in the top right corner and select Settings (2).
Your Profile
On the Your Profile screen, you can set your languages options, amogst other things.
- Define the UI (Interface) Language (3) you want to use the tool in.
- Set your Translation Language(s) (4); i.e. the target language which you were tasked to translate into.
- You can also (optional) select other so called Secondary Languages (5) you might want to display as a reference when translating.
Do not forget to click on Save, after you made changes!
Starting to translate
To start translating, click on one of the Components and then your Language.
You will see the Status Overview of this Component for your Language.
Translation and String status page
There are various Status Categories.
The main ones, in order to get you started, are
- Not Translated Strings
or - Strings marked for Editing (1)
When you click on any of those Status Categories, you will be taken directly to all those strings matching this particular status.
Further below you will also find Categories with Failed Checks you should pay attention to.
Like for instance:
- Punctuation Spacing
or - Inconsistent
The main Translation Screen
The main translation screen has many areas, menus and tabs.
Each one is described below.
Translation Screen
The top row has a kind of Breadcrumb navigation (1) and will always tell you where you are (which project, which component, which language, which task).
Below that is a small Navigation Bar (2) to browse backward and forward in the list of Translation Strings you selected.
The Translation area shows you the Source Language (3) along with any other Secondary Language (4) you might have selected in your Profile.
Next (5) is the field in which you enter the translation. There is a check box called Needs Editing which will automatically be ticked off, if you start typing in the Target Language field.
Should you want to keep this string as Needs Editing, perhaps in case you want to check it again at a later stage, you can alsway select the check box again before saving the string and moving on to the next string in your list.
To the right, there is an area which displays Glossary (6) entries and additional Context Information (7) for the current string, like a Screenshot (if maintained) or other Explanations and Flags.
You can click on a screenshot to enlarge or Add/Edit Glossary Entries with the Pencil icon or add a new entry with the Add Term To Glossary option.
Once you entered your translation, click Save (or press CTRL+ENTER) in order to move to the next string/segment in your list.
Explaning the “Tabs” on the main Translation Screen
There are a number of tabs below the main Translation area.
The ones you will use mostly are probably
- Automatic Suggestions – for finding fuzzy matches in the TM and getting MT proposals from various sources (depending on configuration)
- Other Languages – as a reference, will diplay translations into other languages (if they already exist)
- Comments – this is where you can enter Comments and Questions.
- Other Occurences – in case the string appears elsewhere in the project (like a Perfect Match)
- Nearby Strings – shows you the strings right before and after the one you are currently working.
- Variants – in case you are for instance working on SAP translations for us, and we configured the grouping of strings with different length restrictions (optional)
Explaning the “Menu Options” on the Translation Status Overview Screen
There are a number of menu options above the main Translation Status Overview screen.
The ones you will use mostly are probably
- Tools – for starting to Search and Replace in a component or viewing the strings with failed checks.
- Search – to search with powerful search options (inculding regular expressions) in your translations. Give it a try and experiment!
