Back Translation configuration best practices

Question

I’ve had several issues in the Registry with Back Translation projects that are not set up as a BT project type based on the mother translation, i.e. they have a separate registration. In some cases these are flagged as problematic by UBS (Sharon P) because it says it is (for example) the First translation into English or French. (Sorry that spot is already taken… )

What is best practice for Back Translation configuration? I assume a BT daughter to the translation is the best arrangement, if you are starting from scratch. Can a currently existing BT with an independent registration be converted to that status? If so, how? If not (or it isn’t easy), would it be best to change the registration to a Test/Training project, so that it doesn’t mess up statistics?

Also, it seems like a lot of Back Translation projects set up the language of the project to be the vernacular language of the mother translation. You should use the actual language of the BT, correct? So French or English in most of our contexts. I assume it would be good to correct that in the project (which should then show up in the registry, correct?), so that it is accurate? And then if it is English or French, we need to make sure that it is either a daughter project, or if it has its own registration, that it is a Test/Training, or is marked as New, not First.

Thanks for your input.
jeffh

Answer 1

One of the options for type of project is Back Translation (which normally gets its registration from the base translation). This is separate from a Daughter Translation (which must be registered in the registry). So, first I would choose the Back Translation type. Then the language should be the language that is being used for the back translation (presumably in your case this would be French or English). By default a Back Translation type project gets its registration from the base translation, however there is an option box that allows you to register a back translation. You would use this if you plan was to actually upload the back translation to the DBL.

As to the question of removing the registration, the answer is it depends on how it was originally registered. If it was originally a Standard project (named as a back translation) then you can delete the project from everyone but yourself and delete the registration. Make sure you have all the other team members delete the project as well. (This should be one of the options on the delete project menu, but each team member must delete the old project from their computer after they have done a final Send/Receive.) Then on your computer you can change the project type to Back Translation based on the main translation and share the project again. The project will now be registered based on the main translation and will not show up as a separate project in the registry. Did I mention that you should have everyone else delete the project before you make this change and share the project again?

Comments

There’s step-by-step instructions here, but it is buried in a PT8 Migration article (in the “Is the type of your project indicated correctly?” section). It would be nice to have this on one page by itself rather than having to direct people to drill down to the relevant section. @dhigby are these instructions somewhere in a self-contained topic, and if not, can you create it, please?