Logistics: Test Translations

Logistics: Test Translations

Overview

Compusense offers three levels/types of translations:
  1. Analyst software translations.

  2. Button and label translations on the panelist website. The workflow will be available soon.

  3. Ballot translations for the panelists.
In this workflow we will focus on the third translation type; translating ballots into different languages.

Suppose your testing objective is as follows:
  1. Enable panelists from different speaking regions to take the test in their native languages.
  2. Have all the results in one test, regardless of what language the test was taken in.
  3. Generate analysis reports in English.
For scenarios as the one outlined above, our recommendation is to set your test up in English and then enter or import into the test the language translations, in as many languages as you need.

What Will Panelists See?

Below is an example preview of a test set up in English, with English being the default language of the test, and translated into Spanish, French, Italian, and Chinese. The panelists will be presented with the language options before they begin the evaluation, to continue in the language of their choice.


Add Languages to Translate

  1. In your test, click Logistics > Test translations. The top of the page contains various options while the bottom contains text that can be translated.

  2. Click Include/exclude languages.

  3. Select a language or languages that you wish to translate your test into and click Include selected. If a language you need is not listed in this screen, please contact Compusense Support for assistance.

  4. If you wish the default language to be available to panelists to evaluate in, toggle Show default language to panelists to Show. The default language is the language selected in the Overview tab. The language selection in the Overview tab controls translations on buttons and labels on the panelist website. E.g. the Next button, the login screen text, etc.
    If there are no panelists who would use the default language, toggle Show default language to panelists to Hide.

Manually Enter Translations

If you are the translator and ready to enter translations for each line of text manually, please follow these steps:
  1. From the Language  dropdown list, select the language you want to start translating the ballot into.


  2. From the Translations dropdown list, select the type of translations you want to work on. You can choose between Plain text elements and Rich text and instructions.
    1. The plain text elements refers to question and attribute names, descriptors on scales, etc; the items that you cannot format the font for in the Build tab.

    2. The rich text and instructions refers to Welcome and Thank you screens, and any other screens that  you can use the text formatting in the Build tab.

  3. In the bottom half of the page you can see uneditable English translation on the left, and on the right you can start typing the translation in the language you selected in the first step.

  4. Repeat the steps 1 through 3 for any additional languages that you may have included.

Export Translations

If you require to send the test translation components to someone to translate, or you simply prefer to translate the components yourself in a file first rather than directly in the software, the first step is to export the translation components.
  1. In your test, click Logistics > Test translations.

  2. From the Language  dropdown list, select the language you want to create the export for.

  3. Click Export and choose from the following options:
    1. Export .dat - Only plain text elements will be exported in Unicode format in the .dat file type.
      The plain text elements refers to question and attribute names, descriptors on scales, etc; the items that you cannot format the font for in the Build tab.
      The Unicode format is necessary for languages that use non-Latin characters, such as Cyrillic languages, Asian languages, etc. This format is recommended to use for any language as it does not have negative impact.

    2. Export .dat with rich text - All components of the test will be included in the Unicode export.
      The rich text and instructions refers to Welcome and Thank you screens, and any other screens that  you can use the text formatting in the Build tab.

    3. Export .txt - Only plain text elements will be exported in the .txt file type.
      The .txt format is recommended only for languages that are Latin-based.

    4. Export .txt with rich text - All components of the test will be included in the .txt file type.

  4. The file will save to your browser's default download location. Do not open it just yet. Repeat the export steps for any additional language you might need.

Keeping the file format unchanged is very important in order to perform the translated import without any issues. For this reason, please follow the next set of steps carefully.


Translate Directly in the File

Whether you exported plain text elements only in the .dat or .txt format, or you exported all components in either file format, you may double-click the file to open it and enter translations directly in the file. This is the harder way, so, instead, we recommend considering the next set of steps for translating in a spreadsheet. Nevertheless, if you prefer to translate directly in the .dat or .txt file, you may follow the steps below.
Typically, the .dat and .txt file types will open in a Notepad. If Notepad is not associated with these file types on your computer, please skip the steps below and follow the next set of instructions to open the file in Excel or another spreadsheet program.
The file will look similar to the image below. The text that should be translated is on the right side of each line.


Notice that there is a "tab" (extended space) between English text and the text that should be translated. It is very important not to remove that tab, not to add new lines, and not to paste return characters.

Below are examples of properly translated and not properly translated files. The example with a green checkmark imports properly because the file structure is unchanged. The example with a red X does not import properly because the file structure is changed, which made the file incompatible with the original ballot.
   
An online translator was used for the above examples.

When done translating, save the file through the File > Save menu, or Ctrl S on your keyboard (this applies to the .dat and the .txt file), and import it by following the steps further down on this page.

Our recommended method for translating test components in a file is through a spreadsheet because it makes it easier to maintain the file format. Before going into the workflow below, begin by closing all the translation files that you might have open.
  1. Right-click on a file (.dat or .txt), and select Open with > Excel. If you have another spreadsheet program available on the list instead, select that.


    It is very important to right-click and select your spreadsheet application to open the file. If you open the file in any other way, it may not work properly.

    If no spreadsheet programs are available on the list:
    1. Click Choose another app.
    2. Uncheck Always use this app to open x files, so that you don't associate the spreadsheet software with this file type.
    3. If in the list of applications does not show Excel or any other spreadsheet program, click More apps.
    4. If the list still does not show what you need, click Look for another app on this PC. Search for "excel.exe" on your computer, or search for another spreadsheet program on your computer to add it to the list. You might need to involve your IT in this process.



      Once the right app is successfully selected, you will be able to right-click on the file and open it in Excel or another spreadsheet program.

  2. Upon successfully opening the file in Excel or another spreadsheet program, you will notice the English text is in a distinct first column and the text that is ready for translation is in a distinct second column. It is still important not to create new lines when translating and not to paste return characters.


  3. When done translating, save the file through the File > Save menu, or Ctrl S on your keyboard, and import it by following the next set of steps.

Import Translations

  1. In your test, click Logistics > Test translations.

  2. From the Language  dropdown list, select the language you want to import the translation into.

  3. Click Import, browse to the translated file, double-click to import it, and the import should be successful if the file format remained unchanged.

The rich text translations will not have any images or font formatting that your default language may have. You have to format your translated text manually in Compusense after importing the translations, and you need to insert images using the image icon.


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