It’s called Localisation – using local languages and terminology so that you can genuinely operate globally. It means, if you have a product, having translations for your product manuals in the languages of the countries you export to. If you are a software provider like Merlin, it means a lot more. 

Many of you might be thinking: That’s simple enough. Let’s just let Google translate manuals and website pages for us. 

Not so fast. Some of us prefer to have a little more control over the outcome. We all know how Mitsubishi’s “Pajero” translated into Spanish. You don’t know? Google it 😊

There is a lot to consider when it comes to translating websites and, in our case, the Merlin Software application. Not only are there different languages that use the Latin alphabet (you know, A, B, C), but there are also other alphabets to consider, like Japanese, Chinese, Thai and even Greek and Russian. 

And it doesn’t stop there. You are faced with a further complication. In our case, our web pages have static information (the fixed words on the pages and menus) and dynamic data (the data that comes from the database). Translating static information is simple, but translating dynamic data is a lot more complicated. There is no end to it.

In Merlin, we have thousands of tables and probably millions of fields. Translating every word in every field into every language and alphabet is impossible. But of course, it is not necessary to translate every field. 

So where do we stand as far as Localisation is concerned?

Well, we could always present our Web Apps in the language and alphabet of choice of the person accessing these Single Page Applications. (That’s the technology we use for our Web Apps). We auto-detect their language and can present the translated static information to them.

This does require our clients to have English translated into the various languages that apply to them. We provide them with all the static information on each page in excel, and they can easily add the translated versions. From there, it is a simple task to add this as XML files for each language, and these XML files are used to do the translations.

That was where we stood with our New Tech, Single Page Web Apps. Then we extended this to the Merlin Classic pages as well. While not as simple (there are thousands of pages, and we use a different method, i.e. not XML), it is doable and works well, especially for the pages our client’s users access most. 

At that point, we thought we had achieved a lot. Finally, our clients could present Merlin Classic and the Web Apps to their Users and Members in the various languages and alphabets required. In fact, we have Merlin running in English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Arabic and other languages. We were pretty proud.

But that was just the start. What good is it if the static words on the pages are all translated, but the data still comes out in English and uses the Latin Alphabet? So began Phase 2. 

We now provide the ability for our clients to translate the actual data for the most used information into the various languages and alphabets that they require. Achieving this is sort of like a secret, like the Coke formula.

The end result is:

If you are English, you see:

Property: Club Ithaca

If you are German, you might see:

Eigentum: Klub Ithaca 

And if you are Greek, it could be:

Ιδιοκτησία: Λέσχη Ιθάκης

Does it end there? Well no. There is more. There always is.

Merlin is customer-centric software. That means it is built in a manner that allows you to focus on your customers. 

If you are a Merlin user, you will know that your owners, members and leads are, first and foremost, people with Names. They are not contract numbers or lead numbers. 

For this reason, the feature to find names using their actual Name is ubiquitous. Everyone knows how to use a few letters of the last name followed by a comma and a few letters of the first name to quickly find the person they are looking for. 

When contacting you, owners and members do not need to remember their contract number or lead number. However, we use name ID or account ID for them to use when making payments so you can quickly identify whose money you have received. 

Anyway, I digress.

So people have names. And, of course, these names are spelt in the West using the Latin alphabet. But in the East, that is a different story. 

Since the beginning, Merlin has had a feature allowing you to enter names in Latin and foreign alphabets. Of course, that presupposed everyone had an English translation for their name. You could then enter Mao Ze Dong in the Latin alphabet section and 毛泽东 in the foreign alphabet section.

But then what if there is no “translation” from the foreign alphabet to the Latin alphabet for a name? 

I am sure you won’t be surprised to find that Merlin allows you to enter foreign characters into the first name and last name fields. It also allows you to search for names using these foreign characters/alphabet. 

This means your Japanese users, servicing your Japanese members, can work in their own language using their alphabet without using English words or Latin alphabet characters. Pretty cool.

Merlin Localisation allows for the translation of static information and dynamic data and the use of every known alphabet. In addition, it enables finding names using the Latin alphabet version or any foreign alphabet. 

So that’s it, then? 

Nope. As we said. It never ends. There is more to come. Watch this space.

Until next time,

Mike Pnematicatos

PS: While writing this article about Localisation, I went onto my favourite social media platform and lo and behold, I am now being presented with ads for localisation software. Oh, my word. Is there no privacy?