Compatibility workflows with the memoQ Translator Pro edition (Part 1)

Yesterday I had the privilege to present the first of a series of workshops intended to convey my ideas for small-scale outsourcing management with the version of memoQ typically purchased by freelance translators. The participants were project managers at a translation agency that has begun to test the waters for using memoQ to overcome long-term compatibility issues between Trados versions in their accustomed workflows. I have been supporting them occasionally as a consultant over the past two years to deal with sticky issues of text encoding and translators who can't follow directions while working with a disturbing range of tools they often haven't mastered. It's been fun, and I've learned a lot from the infinite human capacity to instinctively ferret out the weaknesses of software and processes.

So I decided to put together a personal overview of the compatibility interfaces for the memoQ Translator Pro edition and my own thoughts on best practice and share it with my colleagues. I wanted to avoid burying everyone in technical detail but instead present the material in a way that most anyone can understand and apply. I don't believe in silly notions such as expecting the average intelligent user to learn and remember the use of regular expressions and other arcana that I, despite four decades of IT experience, continue to struggle with myself too often.

The presentation

• referred to memoQ version 5 Translator Pro edition
• focused on facilitating project workflows with different platforms rather than actual translation
• was intended for anyone outsourcing on a small scale for a single target language in a project (multiple target languages require the memoQ Project Manager or server editions)

It was delivered in two parts in a three hour period, with a long break for coffee, chat, snacks and checking e-mail or testing ideas learned in the first part. Participants were provided with screenshots of the main application screens and did not sit in front of computers but engaged in the discussion. The actual project experience and understanding of the participants was polled at appropriate intervals to make sure that the delivery was relevant and the information was understood and able to be applied.

The goal was to achieve an understanding of memoQ as a central platform for

• translation project input - files, translation memories, terminology and reference material
• format conversion to facilitate work with different translation environment techniques and tools
• translation
• editing and quality assurance
• creation of deliverable target files and other resources such as term lists, special review formats and commentaries

memoQ is "compatible" with

• SDL Trados in all versions (though it is important to choose the right compatibility workflow!)
• Star Transit
• quite a number of other commercial and Open Source translation environment tools
• various content management systems (CMS)
• translators who decline to use any tool other than a word processor
• and of course memoQ!

so except in the case of projects requiring live, direct work on a third-party translation server platform (such as one from SDL), some reasonable workflow can be found to collaborate with almost anyone using other tools.

memoQ is sort of like the Swiss Army knife of translation environment tools when it comes to compatibility. Only better. Some say it's more compatible with Trados than Trados. And in many cases they're right.

Output formats for translators
memoQ can prepare content for translation in

• optimized formats for memoQ users
• Trados-compatible bilingual DOC files
• XLIFF, a standard used by many environments
• RTF tables for those without special translation tools or for others to review, comment and answer questions using only a word processor

TM & terminology data
memoQ reads translation memory data in TMX and delimited text formats and outputs it to TMX. Term data is read in the same formats as TM data but output only to delimited text formats and a particular SDL Trados MultiTerm XML format.

memoQ can also integrate with external termbases, TM sources and machine translation engines.

I sometimes think of memoQ as the hub of a wheel with translators, reviewers and customers working with many different environments as the "spokes".

Basic project management steps with memoQ

These typically involve:

1. Reading in the data after it is properly prepared

• files to translate in whatever source format
• translation memory data or reference corpora
• terminology data
• special segmentation rules (SRX files and segmentation exceptions) or other configuration data for optimized workflows

In this step it is important to choose the best method´s of data import and the appropriate filter or combination of filters. In memoQ, filters can be cascaded to convert and protect sensitive data as tags. Thus HTML and placeholder tokens contained in cells of an Excel file might be protected by "chaining" an HTML filter and a custom filter using regular expressions after the usual filter for Microsoft's Excel format.

2. Analyzing the data

Many options are available here, including the weighting of tags to compensate the extra effort involved with complex formats and determining internal similarities in a text (aka "homogeneity" or "fuzzy repetitions") to facilitate better project planning.

3. Extracting terminology (particularly useful for large projects for one or more translators)

4. Preparing and exporting files for translators

Projects can also be sent to translators using memoQ as handoff packages or complete backups with all attached TMs, termbases and corpora.

5. Receiving and re-importing translated content

6. Review, QA and feedback workflows

7. Generating target files and other information for delivery, final statistics

Recommendations for best practices in choosing formats for translators, reviewers and others using a variety of tools will be covered in the second part of this summary. Those interested in a live presentation or relevant materials are welcome to contact me privately.

Q&A with SDL on the Studio 2011 upgrade

Once again this evening, a friend contacted me with questions regarding the upgrade from SDL Trados Studio 2009 to the new Studio 2011 version. And once again I was at an utter loss for answers, because I haven't even had time to think about the upgrade myself, though after the excellent demonstration I saw at TM Europe in Warsaw last month I will eventually do it for developing interoperable workflows with memoQ and other tools.

So once again I turned to my helpful SDL support guru, who provided answers to my friend's questions. These are questions likely shared by others, so here they are with the answers:

 1. Do I uninstall Trados 2007 and Studio 2009 BEFORE installing the update?
[SDL] Only if you want to.  2011 is completely independent.  If I was you I would keep all three so you feel safer (even though 2007 and 2011 are enough).  2007 is useful to keep in case you want to create bilingual word files yourself, or connect to 2007 server solutions directly (soon this won’t be necessary either).  TTX you can create with TTXiT.  Otherwise no real need for 2007 or 2009, 2011 will handle anything else.

 2. Do I have to return my Studio license before I get a new license for 2011?
[SDL] No, we haven’t asked for this.  2011 uses a completely new, and simple, licensing system so this is also independent.  But once you upgrade (so don’t purchase an additional license, just turn the 2009 into 2011) then your 2009 license will disappear from your “My Account”.  It will still work, but if you lose it then it’s gone.  If you purchase an additional license for 2011 then you will obviously keep them both.

 3. What about Multiterm? Do I need to upgrade that too and will that cost me extra? – from what I could see in my account, it would (or is it somehow included in the Freelance Plus version?). Bear in mind I already have Multiterm 2009 and my customer is mainly bothered with me updating to the new Trados 2011 – could I theoretically use MT 2009 together with Trados 2011?
[SDL] If you have it already then the upgrade will also upgrade Multiterm.  This is also independent and for this reason alone I would recommend installing it.  No more silly side by side issues..!

Kindled spirits

It was during discussions in the breaks at the recent TM Europe conference in Warsaw that I began to think the previously unthinkable. Later, as the son of a conference organizer showed me his Amazon Kindle, shortly before my dog knocked it into a pond and stole the boy's lunch, and others present told me how well the device worked for them, I decided to go against my grain and get the gadget to celebrate the old GDR's Day of the Republic.

I'm glad I did. I used to be quite a gadget freak in my younger days, an early adopter of generations of electronic organizers before the Sharp Wizard was a twinkle in a corporate marketer's eye. But the volumes of electronic junk to be disposed of in my various moves, as well as the grinding pace of 'e-progress', has made me deeply skeptical of the value of most technology.

The Kindle has made reading easy again for me. I was very surprised to find that no one was deluded in telling me that the screen contrast and reflectivity are much like paper, and with my little leather case and its integrated reading light, I can even enjoy a quiet read in the dark of night up in my loft. I can adjust the size of the fonts to read comfortably with or without my glasses. On my most recent excursion to escape intrusive neighbors and veterinary horrors to get a bit of recuperative quiet and perhaps accomplish some work, I carried a small library of dozens of classic literary works, some familiar, some not, my favorite newspapers, dictionaries, a few blogs and a vampire novel all in my half-pound Kindle, and I enjoyed more relaxed reading than I have in the past six months. It's a godsend.

I've found a few freeware tools for converting documents to readable formats for the Kindle, and I plan to convert some of my important translation glossaries for reference purposes. I have a notion that this little piece of technology might assist me in taking more of certain kinds of translation work off the technology grid to savor it like a fine wine in a more traditionally influenced but integrated working mode. I'm quite a late adopter in this case; when I ask, it seems that quite a few translating colleagues have such devices. But do they use them in some way professionally? Do you?