Getting The Most Out Of
MotaWord’s Translation Editor

Here at MotaWord, we strive to provide the best possible translation and proofreading experience for our translators and proofreaders. We believe in rowing our product as a community and for this reason, we’re always listening to your needs.

For collaborative projects, the Translation Editor is an integral part of MotaWord’s translation process. Our translators and proofreaders spend most of their time in the editor to translate or to proofread various documents on hundreds of different subjects. Whether it is a legal translation or a personal letter, our aim is to provide high quality and professional translation.

If you’re new to the translation editor or just want to learn more about how you can get the most out of the translation editor, here are some tips:

• Use search bars:
  • There are two search bars in the editor. The first one is located on the header and lets you search for anything within the document and its translations. The second one is located on the suggestions panel and lets you search in previous projects, translation memories, and glossaries.
  • Translating highly technical terms can be a little bit tricky. If that’s the case, a quick search for the term can give you a lot of ideas on how to proceed with your translation.
    
    
• Use filters when necessary:
  • Filters can be really helpful, especially in longer documents. Have you ever found yourself navigating between pages to find untranslated segments? Well, if your answer is yes, filters should be your new best friend! To quickly filter out all translated or approved segments, you can click on the filter icon on the editor header and select the option “Untranslated”.
  • Before starting to translate, it is a good idea to check automatically translated segments to have an idea on the overall tone of the expected translation. To see segments that were translated automatically using a translation memory, click on the filter icon and select “Machine Translation”.
  • You can combine filters with search results as well. Let’s say you want to check other translations of a term for consistency reasons. After searching for the term using the search bar located in the header, you can select the “Translated” filter to see all translated versions of the queried term.
    
    
• Real-time validation is here to help you:
  • Isn’t it nice to have a friend that always has your back and warn you before it’s too late? The real-time validation feature on the editor does exactly that. It constantly checks your translation as you type and warns you in real-time if a potential error is detected in your translation.
  • If a panel named “Warnings” appear on the right, you might have a mistake in your translation. As you type, you also might notice the “Save” button color change:
    • If your save button is in green, that means you’re good to go! Your translation passed all validations, congratulations!
    • If your save button is in orange and you see a “Warnings” panel on the right, there might be something wrong with your translation. Check it again. You can refer to the messages in the “Warnings” panel to correct your work if needed.
    • If your save button is in red, there is definitely an error in your translation. You won’t be allowed to save until you fix all the errors.
      
      
• Always check highlighted terms in the source:
  There are three types of highlighted texts in the source panel.
  • Tags:
    • i.e.: “Text between tags"
    • Consistent tags are mandatory for you to be able to save your translations. Tags should also appear in the same order as they are in the source.
    • You can click on highlighted tags to automatically copy them into your translation. - Variables:
    • i.e.: “%variable%”
    • You need to keep variables as-is in your translations. Like tags, click to copy function is available for variables as well.
  • Glossary matches:
    • Glossary matches are also highlighted in the source panel. It is recommended to use them in your translations. You can hover on the highlighted term to see its translation.
      
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• Don’t forget to save and feel free to use shortcuts:
  • When you are done with your translation, don’t forget to save!
  • The editor will warn you if you happen to forget saving your work by popping up a red blinking error on the translation panel.
  • If you click back on the segment, the warning will go away and you can save your translation.
  • Little square icons on the left are there to show the current status of a segment. If you are a translator, grey means untranslated and green means translated. If you are a proofreader, grey means untranslated, blue means translated (waiting to be approved) and green refers to approved segments.
  • Remember: You can also use the shortcut “Ctrl+S” to save your translations.
    
    

We share these tips with videos on our YouTube page. Subscribing to that page will allow you to receive information on all the newly updated videos.

Good or bad, we love getting feedback from our community! If you have any ideas on improving the translation experience within the editor, feel free to contact us anytime with your suggestions.