We understand the value of terminology in the translation process, so we improved how memoQ and QTerm deal with it. Here goes the new functionality released with memoQ 8.5.

Terminology & memoQ 8.5

From a pure translation perspective, proper terminology management is all about boosting productivity and improving quality. It all comes down to meeting your customer requirements and making sure you use the precise terms consistently throughout a given project. If a word has two possible translations, you will know which one to pick, and if there is term that should not be translated or not used, then that is what happens. At the same time, you also want to avoid spending too much time searching for the right terms or checking the list of forbidden expressions. Having the right terminology tool serves your purpose and allows you to work faster and better. 

We understand the value that terminology has in the translation process, this is why since version 8.3, which was released in December 2017, we begun a long series of changes to improve how memoQ and QTerm deal with it. In this post, I will introduce the new functionality released with memoQ 8.5, but I will also use this opportunity to reflect on the continuum of improvements in terminology management over the last six months.
 

New functionality in memoQ 8.5

1- Leveraging Terminology on your QA check

Earlier this year, memoQ 8.4 introduced a simple but powerful feature that allows you to determine which of the term bases assigned to the project you want to use for quality assurance. This was available for almost all memoQ projects, however, there was still one scenario where it was not yet available: when a translator is assigned a memoQ project in such a way that they need to download the translation memory and terminology resources - commonly known as project packages. 

Let me explain this using an example: A translation project has three term bases, but only one of them is meant to be used for quality assurance purposes. A freelance translator is assigned to this project and she needs to download the project together with the offline resources. Until now, memoQ would create a single term base out of the three, and for this reason, it was not possible to select just one of them for quality control. That has now changed, and with memoQ 8.5 the translator will be able to use the specified term base only. 
 

2- Sub languages

memoQ has also had a feature where project managers could decide whether sub languages should be treated as separate languages during term base lookup. If sub languages are not treated as separate languages the term base lookup results could include the same results for all sub languages. If they are treated as separate languages this will not happen. With memoQ 8.5, it is now possible for translators and project managers to choose whether or not sub languages will be treated separately.
 

3- The Details that Matter

When we introduced memoQ 8.3 there were changes to the layout of the term base which meant that it was not possible to copy the term base entry detail pane and paste it into any document. With memoQ 8.5 it is now possible to do this. 
 

A look back at the past 6 months: Improvements in versions 8.3 & 8.4

When we decided to introduce the frequent release policy, we promised to release 4 minor versions per year, and that each of these minor version would focus on different themes that would span across two or three versions. Terminology has been the best example of these continuity in our theme-based approach, and this is why we want to look back at all of the terminology-related functionality introduced since version 8.3.

Terminology features introduced with memoQ 8.3: 

• The term base entry details pane was redesigned.
• It became possible to add an example from an active segment or from a concordance search to the term entry.
• The term extraction was improved so that it was easier to start and manage term extraction sessions:
  • The term extraction editor was improved
  • Easily export all accepted terms and their example sentences to an Excel workbook to enable your clients or terminologists validate terminology outside memoQ.
  • You can now export example sentences along with the extracted terms to a memoQ term base.
• Editable and customizable QTerm glossary 
• Improvements to QTerm Terminology management 
• Export & import is also enhanced in QTerm
• QTerm has also improved on user experience 
• QTerm term bases can now be renamed

The following are the 9 new features in memoQ 8.4 that target terminology management work:

• Import & export term bases with images: Previously, only QTerm offered true export and import options with term bases with images. Now you can export and import term bases with images between memoQ, QTerm and SDL MultiTerm. From now on, memoQ will also remember your term base export settings.
• ​Forbidden terms: It is now easier to identify forbidden terms in the Term Base Editor. In addition, forbidden terms exported to an XLSX spreadsheet will be marked red. If an XLSX sheet is imported into memoQ, terms marked in red will be imported as forbidden terms.
• Filters & QA settings: There are interesting changes in the way memoQ deals with Filters & QA settings.
• More effective stop word lists: In addition to offering default stop word lists in five more languages, the stop word list functionality itself has had a major overhaul, and we believe it is much more usable. There is an interesting post on stop word lists in Kevin Lossner’s blog Translation Tribulations.
• Filter field in term extraction: memoQ 8.4 introduces a more user-friendly and more effective filter field on the term extraction screen.
• Smart search settings in QTerm: QTerm now saves the settings from your last search into your user profile, and will use them the next time you log in.
• Entry relationships in QTerm – If you establish a symmetrical (homonym, synonym, antonym, cohyponym) or an anti-symmetrical (hyponym, hypernym) entry relationship in one entry with another, the corresponding relationship is also created in the other entry.
• Easy Term Search –  memoQ now offers memoQWeb external users simple and easy access to QTerm term bases for lookup.
• Filtering Options – The "Begins with" filter condition and search option has been revamped and it now features a more user-friendly term matching interface.

Help us focus on what’s important

One of the most exciting things about the terminology-related functionality which has been added since version 8.3, is that much of it of originates from requests or feedback made by existing memoQ users. We thank everyone who provided input, and want to encourage others to do so as well. 

If you want to leave your fingertips in upcoming releases, we invite you to join the memoQ design lab, our latest effort to collect user feedback in order to improve memoQ.