Add note - Type - the default is "question" and not "text"? Thread poster: Katalin Horváth McClure
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I just upgraded to Wordfast Pro 3.4.4 Build id: 20150514-0741
When I use the Add Note button, the default "Type" setting seems to be "question", while I think it used to be "text".
The pull-down menu in the dialog box has 3 items: question, text and important.
Maybe my brain is playing a trick on me, but the way I remember it was that the notes came up as "text", without me having to chose it from the pull-down, which means "text" type was the default.
... See more I just upgraded to Wordfast Pro 3.4.4 Build id: 20150514-0741
When I use the Add Note button, the default "Type" setting seems to be "question", while I think it used to be "text".
The pull-down menu in the dialog box has 3 items: question, text and important.
Maybe my brain is playing a trick on me, but the way I remember it was that the notes came up as "text", without me having to chose it from the pull-down, which means "text" type was the default.
Is this a change in this new version, or is there a setting for this?
I looked in Preferences, found nothing relevant, and the online Help had nothing either.
This will be very annoying, if I have to specifically chose "text" every time I add a note.
I am hoping that I am wrong and it is something I can change.
Any ideas?
Katalin ▲ Collapse
| | | | John Di Rico 
France
Local time: 18:10
Member (2006)
French to English
| User-requested change | May 23, 2015 |
Dear Katalin,
We changed it because we received feedback indicating that most notes were "question" as opposed to "text" notes. When you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one I guess!
We will send out a newsletter next week to poll users and find out which type is used most frequently. If you want to receive t... See more Dear Katalin,
We changed it because we received feedback indicating that most notes were "question" as opposed to "text" notes. When you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one I guess!
We will send out a newsletter next week to poll users and find out which type is used most frequently. If you want to receive the newsletter, please subscribe here: http://www.wordfast.com/mailing_list
Thanks for your feedback!
John
PS - How do you use the three qualifiers? Is the "text" note for you a comment you want to share with the editor or PM? What about "important"? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Make it a preference | May 23, 2015 |
Hi John,
OK, so my brain is not paying tricks on me, it is a recent change. Thanks for reassuring me.
As to your question:
I use the Note tool for my work as a "backeditor". Without going into the details what that is, I have to review the translation along with the source, but cannot touch the translation. I have to write down my findings in comments, explaining what the problem is. If I were to work in MS... See more Hi John,
OK, so my brain is not paying tricks on me, it is a recent change. Thanks for reassuring me.
As to your question:
I use the Note tool for my work as a "backeditor". Without going into the details what that is, I have to review the translation along with the source, but cannot touch the translation. I have to write down my findings in comments, explaining what the problem is. If I were to work in MS Word, I would have to use the Command tool, without changing anything in the text.
It is part of quality control, one of the last steps before the translation is finalized. There are usually no questions at this stage, because the text had already been edited (at least 3 people have seen it), and all ambiguities have been resolved. So, to me, this change in the Wordfast Add Note dialog is very bad, as I deal with hundreds of projects like this per year.
If you want to please everyone, I guess the solution is to make this a preference ("Default note type") that the user can set, and the other choices would be listed below the default in the pull-down.
If you can't do that, and you want to go with a fixed order, then I think common sense would be to keep the most general thing as the default, and any special designations would have to be selected. "Question" and "Important" are special designations, IMHO. To be honest, calling the general note "text" is sort of meaningless, I think "comment" or even just "note" would make more sense as the general note type, but that is a minor detail.
Please confirm that if I go back to version 3.4.3 I would have the "text" note back - I would do it right away.
Thanks
Katalin ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jean Lachaud
United States
Local time: 12:10
English to French
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| Tempest in a teacup??? | May 23, 2015 |
The difference between Question, Text and Important is that, when the Notes are exported, the 4th column of the 7-column output table contains either Question, Text or Important, respectively.
Personally, I find the concept and its implementation brilliant.
There is no reason to go into such a kerfuffle. If one is not happy with a mention in said 4th column, either make it entirely Text (or, whatever, one's name, for example), or simply delete it.
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| It is about productivity | May 23, 2015 |
Well, JL01, exporting into a table or not, that is not the point. (For example, in my workflow we don't export the notes, we pass on the TXML file as is.)
The point is that whoever is handling the file next, would be able to look at only those notes that are "questions", or "important", or just simple comments, or all of them. In certain QA workflows, those are different people. And I agree, the ability to label the notes is brilliant, because then one could see immediately which notes ar... See more Well, JL01, exporting into a table or not, that is not the point. (For example, in my workflow we don't export the notes, we pass on the TXML file as is.)
The point is that whoever is handling the file next, would be able to look at only those notes that are "questions", or "important", or just simple comments, or all of them. In certain QA workflows, those are different people. And I agree, the ability to label the notes is brilliant, because then one could see immediately which notes are designated to him/her, without having to open and read every single one of them. In order for this concept to work, the labels should be used as intended. If using them is difficult or counterproductive, than they won't be used correctly, and hence, will kill the brilliant concept of filtering.
Perhaps you don't think changing the default setting is a problem, but for someone like me who is using the note tool every day, it is affecting my productivity.
I am glad John is looking into it.
[Edited at 2015-05-23 18:22 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I ended up downgrading to 3.4.3 | Jun 1, 2015 |
I had two large projects this past week and I this issue turned into a real annoyance, so I downgraded to version 3.4.3.
| | | | John Di Rico
France
Local time: 18:10
Member (2006)
French to English
| Proposed solution | Jun 3, 2015 |
Hi Katalin,
Thanks for re-posting, been meaning to write here to get more feedback.
We are discussing the best way to fix this and accommodate everyone.
In order to avoid preferences clutter, the following option is being considered:
If the user changes the type to text it will stay text until WFP is closed. After restarting Wordfast, the default will be question.
Another option: if you change the note type, it will remain what y... See more Hi Katalin,
Thanks for re-posting, been meaning to write here to get more feedback.
We are discussing the best way to fix this and accommodate everyone.
In order to avoid preferences clutter, the following option is being considered:
If the user changes the type to text it will stay text until WFP is closed. After restarting Wordfast, the default will be question.
Another option: if you change the note type, it will remain what you changed it to as default forever (this is my idea, haven't asked development about feasibility…).
What do you think?
- John ▲ Collapse
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John Di Rico wrote:
In order to avoid preferences clutter, the following option is being considered:
If the user changes the type to text it will stay text until WFP is closed. After restarting Wordfast, the default will be question.
OK, this is not the best, but it would be workable. I assume you meant the change will "stick" until WFP is closed, or until it is changed by the user again. That would be helpful, because if the user has to enter a series of notes of the same type, there is no need to set the type each time.
Another option: if you change the note type, it will remain what you changed it to as default forever (this is my idea, haven't asked development about feasibility…).
I don't think this is a good idea. (Although I am not sure what you mean by "forever".)
If you want to "avoid preferences clutter", another way to solve this problem would be to modify the dialog box, so that when the user changes the note type, there would be a little checkbox saying "Make it default".
So, if the user changes the text type and wants it to stay like that not only until WFP closes, but beyond that, this checkbox would do that. There are some settings in Windows and also in Word, if I remember correctly, that work this way.
Katalin
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| Thanks for fixing it | Mar 14, 2016 |
I just upgraded to Version 3.4.7, Build id: 20160209-0309, and it behaves as John's first proposed option (see 2 post ago): even though the default note type is set to "question" upon opening WF, changing the note type (to "text" or "question") will "stick" (stay on), until changed again by the user. And it seems this setting is saved somewhere, as it seems tol "stick" not only until WF closed, but also after closing it. I just tried launching WF again and my first note was added as "text".
... See more I just upgraded to Version 3.4.7, Build id: 20160209-0309, and it behaves as John's first proposed option (see 2 post ago): even though the default note type is set to "question" upon opening WF, changing the note type (to "text" or "question") will "stick" (stay on), until changed again by the user. And it seems this setting is saved somewhere, as it seems tol "stick" not only until WF closed, but also after closing it. I just tried launching WF again and my first note was added as "text".
Yay!!!
Thanks for listening.
Katalin ▲ Collapse
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