Anyone making Windows applications knows that Help and Manual is the best tool for authoring Help files. It’s like using a word processor for creating Windows Help files. The only difficulty with H&M projects was having them translated.

Until now, translating H&M projects required investing in expensive translation software, making it difficult and expensive.

The new version of ICanLocalize’s Translation Assistant (our translation software) reads and writes H&M files. It allows translating and entire help project without wasting any time and spending money on tools you don’t really need.

How Translation Assistant translates Help and Manual projects

Translation Assistant will read the entire help project. It will then produce a translation project from it, which it uploads to ICanLocalize.

You will see full statistics with document, sentence and word count. Then, translators place bids for translating the project. All the translators in our system are professional and writing in their own language, so you can choose the best translator based on relevant experience in your field.

Once you select a translator and deposit the payment for the work, the translator starts working. You can see how the translation progresses at any time. Just download the translation project and build the H&M tree from it (single click).

When the translator is done, you’ll need to review the work and finalize the project.

H&M translation goodies

1. The translators don’t work in H&M. Instead they work in our editor (which all our translators are very familiar with).
2. No need to invest in special software. You will pay only for translation work and nothing else.
3. When the H&M project changes, we will only translate the new or updated text.
4. The translated H&M project will be identical to the original, just with translated contents.

You can read more about it in the Help and Manual translation page on ICanLocalize.

How much does H&M translation cost?

Translators will bid (per word) on your project. Between most languages, prices range between 0.08 to 0.05 USD / word.

System requirements

Our system supports H&M 5 (and above) projects. If you’re using an older version of H&M, you’ll need to upgrade before you can get started.

Your project needs to be saved as ‘uncompressed XML’ (if it’s in a different format, just click File->Save as).

How to get started

Head off to ICanLocalize and create an account (it’s free).

After logging in to your account, at the top of every page you’ll see a button to download Translation Assistant. Download it, install and click on the button to create a new Help and Manual project.

ICanLocalize’s new application resource file translation helps do it right. Instead of treating your resource file like a plain text file, the system will read it, extract the texts that need to be translated and handle just them. Here is how it works:

1) Upload your resource file

You will upload your resource file as-is.

Our system handles many formats for popular resource file types including Java, Delphi, C/C++/C#, PO and even iPhone.

2) Review the extracted texts and the word count for translation

The system will read your resource file and extract all texts that need to be translated. If this is the first time this resource file is being translated, all texts are counted. Otherwise, only new or modified texts are sent to translation.

Normally, resource files contain pairs of label and string. The translator will only be able to edit the string, not the label (labels are also not counted when we charge you).

You will see how many strings are found in your resource file and their word count.

3) Select your translator and deposit payment

Translators from our pool will apply for this job. You need to select the translator who will do the work for you.

It’s a hard choice. All our translators are certified professional translators, writing in their native language.

You can interview each of the translators and select the one with the most relevant background for your particular application. For example, if you’re doing a financial application, choosing a translator who’s got experience in finance is a good idea.

4) Download the translated resource file

Once translation is complete, you’ll get a notification. Just go to your project page and download the translated resource files.

The structure and format of your original resource file is maintained and all the strings are translated.

Don’t delay localizing your application

You’ve got a great application, right? Let people from all over the world use it!

Localization doesn’t have to be a painful process. ICanLocalize’s resource translation system will help you run a multilingual program at no effort at all and on a tiny budget.

There are great benefits for starting multilingual from the first version you release:

1. Get more exposure right away.
2. Get picked up by foreign media.
3. Early feedback about your application from more people, coming from diverse backgrounds.
4. Hunt down bugs and fix them before you’re in your final release.

And remember, the translation system makes keeping up with updates extra easy. You don’t need to keep track of what’s changed or added to the resource files (computers were invented just for this, back in the 60’s). The translation system does all the book-keeping for you.

Want to try it out?

You can upload your resource file and get a final quote right now (no registration required). Go to the the application resource translation page and upload your file. Instantly, you’ll get vital statistics and cost calculation. Then, if you like what you see, create an account at ICanLocalize and start your project.

ICanLocalize Translator, the Drupal translation management tool, is now offered for free to non-profit organizations, to be used as a translation collaboration tool.

Many non-profit organizations build their website using open source content management systems. It’s not a surprise that leading open source projects, such as Ubuntu and government sites such as Recovery.org are powered by Drupal. Powerful features, ease of use and being free make it a great choice.

But, what happens when these sites need to speak several languages? It’s only natural to expect Recovery.gov to speak both English and Spanish. Canonical, offering Ubuntu with full localization to dozens of languages, might want to offer its website in more than just English.

Why do we see such popular sites only in English?

Translation is an ongoing task. As long as new contents are created and old contents update, translation must continue. The cost of managing the translation often exceeds the cost of doing the translation. While it’s possible to assign different translators and even whole teams of translators to work on a Drupal site, translation management often falls on the shoulders of a single admin – already overloaded with work.

ICanLocalize Translator is a Drupal module which solves this problem. It releases site admins from any management work due to translation. It checks which pages need to be translated from scratch and which pages need update. Then, it sends the right contents for translation. In essence, it allows running a multilingual Drupal site without spending any time managing translation.

Authors can write contents in their language and entire site’s translation is handled by the system.

Pricing options for commercial use

1. Full turnkey solution costs just 0.07 USD per word. ICanLocalize provides the translators and makes the translation system available for no additional charge.
2. Clients can use their own translators and pay 5 USD per page for using the system.

And now, ICanLocalize Translator is offered for free to non-profits!

We’ve just added a 3rd plan for using the translation system. ICanLocalize Translator is made 100% free to be used as a translation collaboration tool for non profit organizations.

We’re using open source tools to create and run our business and want to contribute something back. The least we can do is make our own translation tool available for free for the exact same organization who’s work has made it possible for us to built our service. We hope that many open source projects and the organizations running them would take advantage of this offer and make their websites accessible to the world.

How to take advantage of this offer?

Webmasters, marketing folks and anyone involved in running the website are encouraged to contact us. We’ll be more than happy to give a private tour of the system.

You can read more about it in drupal-translation.com, where we teach how to build a multilingual website using Drupal and how to use ICanLocalize Translator to automate the translation process.

If you’re running a multilingual Drupal website this new module can make your job much simpler. It will automatically send new and updated contents to translation and make sure that nothing breaks on the way.

How it works

Translation can be controlled from two places:

• Every add/edit page will have a new section showing the translation status and allowing to send it to translation when published or saved.
• A translation dashboard shows the translation status of all documents and allows sending batch translations.

When a document is sent to translation, its contents are sent to ICanLocalize. Translators use our translation system, translate the texts using a WYSIWYG editor but never touch the HTML.

When translation is complete, the translated HTML document is rebuilt and sent back to Drupal, where it’s stored as the translation for the original document.

Who’s translating?

If you already have your own translators, they can do the work using this module. You’ll get all the benefits of automating the translation process without any extra payment.

Of course, you can also assign translations to one of the professional translators from ICanLocalize. Translators write only in their native language. We only accept professional translators, who can supply a university degree in translation and have passed our internal qualifications program.

Maintaining high translation quality

Automation is great, but above all, translation must be accurate, fluent and culturally correct. To achieve this, multiple QA measures have been built into the system:

• Website owners interview and select their translators. Although all translators working in our system are professional translators, some texts require special background in order to translate correctly. When a translator applies for a job, site owners can interview them in order to verify that the translator understands the essence and details of the site.
• Translators only edit the text, not the formatting. Drupal documents contain text and formatting. The translators only translate the text, never touching the HTML. Our system extracts the texts making translation much faster and easier.
• Translations are reviewed before uploading. Even the most gifted translators can overlook things. Our system requires translators to carefully review their work before uploading to your live site.
• We encourage direct communication between site owners and translators. Translators have an open communication channel with website owners, where they can ask for clarifications about the text they’re translating.
• Built in spell checking in multiple languages. Spell checking is a required step in the translation. Not only does it highlight errors during editing, but the translator must also manually approve any exception before submitting translations.

How do I get started?

There are a few things you need to do in order to have your Drupal site translated using ICanLocalize Translator:

1. Download and install ICanLocalize Translator in your Drupal site (free).
2. Open an account in ICanLocalize (free).
3. Set up a translation project in your ICanLocalize account. A wizard will guide you through (free).
4. Follow the configuration guide to setup the translation in your Drupal site.
5. Start sending translation jobs. Payment is calculated per word, according to the rate which you’ve agreed to with the translators you’ve selected.

Need help?

Feel free to contact us. To report issues with the translation module or to request new features, visit the issue tracking page.

Mark Ghosh has actively participated in defining and testing it and now, after its beta run, we’ve made our first public release.

How does it work?

Our system produces a translated blog with contents that are based on the original language blog. Whenever there are new contents or when contents update on the original language blog, they are sent to translators. The translations are then published in the translated blog.

The entire process is fully automated. Bloggers don’t need to spend any time administrating the translation. From the translators’ point of view, the process is seamless. They are notified whenever there is new work and translate inside ICanLocalize’s system. Translations are being sent automatically and published.

There are two plugins that make this translation possible:

• ICanLocalize Translator – installed in the original language blog and sends the translations.
• ICanLocalize Comment Translator – installed in the translated blog(s); receives the translations and helps manage comments in foreign languages.

If you’d visit Weblog Tools Collection in Spanish, you’d see that the contents are identical to the English contents (but a small delay, due to the translator’s work). Since this blog is intended for a wide audience, we’ve chosen to translate it to Neutral Spanish. This makes it enjoyable for Spanish speakers all over the world.

Our system translate all contents. As of today (Dec. 3rd), the blog’s theme is not yet localized (we’re working on that too), so menus and other texts are still in English.

Who’s translating?

We have a pool of professional translators who can translate blogs and entire websites between most languages.

If you’ve already got your own translators, you can assign the translation to them and still use our system. You’ll get all the automation our system provides.

I want too!

To get started, visit our blog translation page.

Background

Most modern websites are not build with static HTML pages, but using content management systems. Two of the most powerful and popular systems are Drupal and WordPress.

For the last few months, we’ve been working on complete integration with these two systems. This will let people run multi-lingual websites with no additional work.

A simple one time setup will be all that’s needed to run complete multi-lingual websites on full auto-pilot.

Our system will translate contents and keep these translations up-to-date.

How it works

Both Drupal and WordPress are easily extendable. On Drupal, it’s called modules and on WordPress – plugins. We’re creating our own extension which will manage everything from the CMS side. Users will never need to leave their system. New or updated pages will be automatically sent to translation. When the translation is ready, it gets saved back in the website.

Content translation

All contents are translated using our HTML translation editor. This editor keeps intact all formating, links images and embedded objects. Translators only translate the text and never modify your content’s HTML. This guarantees that translated pages look just like the originals – just in a different language.

Blog comment moderation

Moderating and responding to comments is essential for any blog. Our translation system lets authors read and reply to comment in their own language. Authors will see comments in their language, while visitors see them in the translated language. When the author replies to comments, the reply is quickly translated by the same translator who translated the post.

Who’s translating

Webmasters can choose translators from our pool of professional certified translators. If you’ve got your own translators, you can also let them work on your project using our system.

Translators are selected per website and will translate all pages in that website. It’s possible to assign several translators to one website, to allow for large volume translations.

Getting started

We’ll post another message here when it’s ready for commercial release. The WordPress multilingual and Drupal Translation sites tell the full story, including install, configuration and usage instructions.

Where’s Turkey on the European and World Business Maps?

Let’s start with Europe. Turkey is all of the following:

• First TV manufacturer
• First auto-car/bus manufacturer
• First iron and steel producer
• First automotive parts producer

I don’t know how tourism and services will rank after this year, but what I can tell you those planning to spend their vacation on the Turkish seaside start planning and making reservation this month for next year.
Globally, Turkish business accomplishments are as impressive:

• Sixth cement producer
• Second flat glass producer
• Second jewelry exporter
• Sixth clothing exporter

And when it comes to jewelry and cloths, I can tell from personal experience that the beauty, quality and price of these products will sweep you off your feet.

The Star of the Turkish Economy

From all of these attractive business fields, there is one who definitely stands out: IT&C. Adoption rate of everything tech by both home users and business customers is indeed impressive and it yields significant numbers and increases in market volume. Going from a total of USD 24 billion (a 14.8& increase compared to the previous year) in 2007 to an estimate of 26 billion this year, information technologies and communication technologies are where the focus of all foreign eyes goes. No wonder Cebit Bilisim Eurasia, organized in Istanbul, is one of the greatest IT&C events of the year from the whole Eurasia region.

If you need more reasons to find this field attractive, here are some more numbers:

• Over 35% of increase per year in computer sales
• Over 59 million GSM subscribers
• Over 19 million internet users
• 30 TV channels at the national level, 250 at the local level
• E-Government in expansion

To be Successful, You’ll Need to Innovate

When it comes to marketing and doing business, Turkish companies and their representatives are no rookies. They’ve experimented it all. According to ClicZ magazine, an online magazinespecialized in digital marketing, Turkey is a mobile marketing innovator. Then again, with 59 million people to market to, it all seems a natural development. From local bank Finansbank to world renowned brand Pepsi, they’ve all experimented in this field.

And as we are dedicated to help you succeed in any market you’d choose, we’ll follow up on this article with tips and tricks regarding business etiquette in Turkey and more marketing advice.

*All data regarding the Turkish economy and industries is taken from a Cebit Bilisim presentation and has been updated in the first half of 2007

I find myself adding more and more news feeds to my RSS reader and getting great information from all over the web. The problem is, with the good stuff, come stories that are really irrelevant for me.

The solution? Yahoo! Pipes!
I created a pipe that aggregates from sources that I appreciate, and filters articles. So now, I get just the small business marketing news I like, but without the added fluff.

Here it is:

• Small Business Marketing – HTML version
• Small Business Marketing – RSS Version

If you’re stumbling onto great resources that should be added to this pipe, let me know.

Enjoy,

Amir

Normally, we must screen and qualify every translator who signs up for our service. This new program lets any translator use our tools without any application process.

Usage fee

There’s no sign up or initial fee. We’re never going to solicit translators with stuff like “enhanced listing” and other money extracting schemes.

Payment is made at a per-use basis. We charge the either 0.5 USD cent/word or 1.5 USD / document – whatever is lower. So, if you’re translating a 200 word document, you’ll pay $1 fee. For any document that’s 300 words or more, payment is $1.5.

What’s it good for?

Translation Assistant is a great tool for translating entire websites. It extracts all text from the website and uses a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor for the texts. Translators never have to touch the HTML.

Since it works on complete websites, it also adjusts all links, adds language selectors and other stuff you’ll normally have to do manually.

And, it also detects changes in the website, so whenever the client updates, you see what’s new or modified and translate just that.

Who needs it?

Translation Assistant is very useful for freelance translators and small translation agencies. Instead of buying expensive translation software and paying for every upgrade, you can use Translation Assistant and pay per usage.

Getting Translation Assistant

So, if you’re a freelance translator and want to start using Translation Assistant for your website translation projects, read the instructions for getting translation assistant.

Google started out by indexing the web. Then, they began selling search ads and then content ads. That’s where the core of their business is and it’s a great one.


Economy 101 for dummies: When your business depends on something, you want to make it into a commodity. In Google’s case, contents is what they depend on. They already went to a great length in making contents a commodity including Gmail, Google Groups, Blogger.com and a heap of free services that make it extra easy to create contents – where ads can be placed and clicks made.

Following their recent Knol addition for creating ‘quality’ contents (which leads to more expensive advertising), Google is now adding their translation service – Google Translation Center.

While, at first glance, it appears as if Google’s main benefit would be the global translation memory, serving their machine translation, I think that there’s a deeper motivation here.

The number of web pages in English is far greater than in any other language. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were so many more web pages to place adsense ads in? So, we can either sit back and wait for this to happen – or we can help. Sure, says Google – let’s help!

So, they build a great translation system, make it free and start getting all these English pages translated to any language in the world.

As others have already noticed, there are a few issues with this approach. They all trace back to accountability. Google is not affiliated with the translators and is not responsible for their work. Clever algorithms will make sure that only really good translators are left in the service. Such great algorithms as those who remove SPAM from blogger, right? (hint: about 11% of blogger blogs promote malware and cons).

I made a short summary of key features that should be in the core of a do-it-yourself translation system:

Feature	Google	ICanLocalize
Ease of use	Google’s system is fine. The problem is, you’ll need to interview each translator yourself.	5 minutes to set up and sort of translation projects, even for complete websites.
Cost	This is where Google excels – their service is free.	80% of the payment goes directly to the translator. Our fee is 20%.
Translator Qualifications	Not guaranteed – will operate with a statistical algorithm.	All translators are certified professional with verified identities and proven credentials and skills.
Quality Guarantee	Not given. Google is not affiliated with anyone.	Of course yes! A translation service must always be responsible for the quality of the work.
Schedule	Who knows. Translators will do their best to get good grades from the scoring system…	If it’s not delivered on time, you don’t pay (like in Dominos Pizza).

There are other technical differences, pros and cons that make for a great discussion – but it’s not the point. What’s important is knowing that someone stands 100% behind the work you’re getting. Not statistically, not usually, but always.

Google’s Translation Center will probably be very popular. My guess is that for translation work that people place in their store-front and which determines how the world sees them, professional translation will still be much better. And, it’s still good for Google. They’ll get multi-lingual contents to place ads in, so don’t worry about them.