Pages in topic:   < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11] >
What is your opinion on XTM Cloud CAT tool?
Thread poster: WolfestoneGroup
jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:06
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
I stopped working with one client who switched to XTM years ago Sep 1, 2020

Lynne Hempton wrote:

Like many people on this thread, one of my major clients has recently transferred all projects to XTM.
Having translated a number of projects on the platform I have been consistently disappointed and frustrated at the slow speed, non-intuitive commands, lack of functionality and features, and general simplicity of the software.
I have taken the decision to inform my clients that I will no longer accept projects on XTM. While I am loathe to lose clients in the current climate, I don't believe this development is a positive one for translators - CAT tools are supposed to make life easier, not harder, and it is a kick in the teeth to purchase software for our own use, develop TMs and TBs, and configure our own shortcuts, to then be forced to used substandard software at the behest of our clients.
I welcomed reading the comments on this thread to confirm that my concerns with the platform are not unique to me, and I encourage translators to inform their clients that the use of this software is counterproductive and demoralising. We are freelancers, not employees.



I told the client something like I had experienced problems using XTM that had been hardly tolerable. I'm surprised there are still so many problems with it after so many years.


Bruno Depascale
Lynne Hempton
Peter Motte
Catherine Skala
Daniela Bosco
 
Vickie Dimitriadou
Vickie Dimitriadou
Local time: 21:06
English to Greek
A few comments on speed Sep 12, 2020

Dear Fellow-Linguists,

Many of you have complained about speed.

My experience with XTM's speed depends on the combination of hardware (RAM mostly), Operating System, and Browser.

On a laptop with 2 MB RAM, Windows XP, and Firefox 52, XTM is really SLOW! It often crashes too, especially with large or very large files, that is a very large number of segments.

On a laptop with 4 MB RAM, Windows 10, and Firefox 69, XTM is NOT slow! It loads fast, i
... See more
Dear Fellow-Linguists,

Many of you have complained about speed.

My experience with XTM's speed depends on the combination of hardware (RAM mostly), Operating System, and Browser.

On a laptop with 2 MB RAM, Windows XP, and Firefox 52, XTM is really SLOW! It often crashes too, especially with large or very large files, that is a very large number of segments.

On a laptop with 4 MB RAM, Windows 10, and Firefox 69, XTM is NOT slow! It loads fast, it works fast. Maybe not "lightning fast", but not counter-productive either.

Same goes for other online CAT tools, like Smartling for example.

So... I wonder whether the speed issue is related to RAM, Operating System, and Browser used.

This is my own experience of course, and I would love to hear from you on this topic.

[Edited at 2020-09-12 16:47 GMT]
Collapse


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 20:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Fuzzy match bug Sep 13, 2020

A client sent me an instructions file that I thought was weird: it explains how to filter on unedited fuzzy matches. At first I thought it a rather odd thing to send, until I did the translation and realised that XTM automatically inserts fuzzy matches in non-active segments with little or no indication that it is an auto-inserted fuzzy match. This means that I don't see that these "translated" segments are actually unedited fuzzy matches. Now the client's instructions make sense (and the fil... See more
A client sent me an instructions file that I thought was weird: it explains how to filter on unedited fuzzy matches. At first I thought it a rather odd thing to send, until I did the translation and realised that XTM automatically inserts fuzzy matches in non-active segments with little or no indication that it is an auto-inserted fuzzy match. This means that I don't see that these "translated" segments are actually unedited fuzzy matches. Now the client's instructions make sense (and the filter caught a few more that I did not see myself). What a terrible bug in XTM! I wish there was a way to tell XTM "do not insert fuzzy matches", but there is no such option. In addition, once you pressed ENTER on a segment without realizing it's an unedited fuzzy match, it propagates to all repetitions, and it's very hard to find those errant segments. Basically I'm forced to very carefully check every single segment, especially ones that seem translated.Collapse


 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 03:06
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
Slow Sep 14, 2020

The best thing I can say about XTM is that it's not CrowdIn.

Vickie Dimitriadou wrote:

Dear Fellow-Linguists,

Many of you have complained about speed.

My experience with XTM's speed depends on the combination of hardware (RAM mostly), Operating System, and Browser.

On a laptop with 2 MB RAM, Windows XP, and Firefox 52, XTM is really SLOW! It often crashes too, especially with large or very large files, that is a very large number of segments.

On a laptop with 4 MB RAM, Windows 10, and Firefox 69, XTM is NOT slow! It loads fast, it works fast. Maybe not "lightning fast", but not counter-productive either.

Same goes for other online CAT tools, like Smartling for example.

So... I wonder whether the speed issue is related to RAM, Operating System, and Browser used.

This is my own experience of course, and I would love to hear from you on this topic.

[Edited at 2020-09-12 16:47 GMT]

If it's at all perceptible, it's too slow. Offline CAT tools are expected to respond instantly and I hold online tools to the same standard. Plus, even if your internet connection is slow, local cloud-based tools like Memsource and MemoQ allow you to select several segments at the same time and confirm them at once, but no, with XTM, it has to be one by one.


Vickie Dimitriadou
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 20:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
CrowdIn Sep 14, 2020

Lincoln Hui wrote:
The best thing I can say about XTM is that it's not CrowdIn.


By contrast, I have a very positive experience with CrowdIn. No speed/responsiveness issues there. However, this may be due to the types of projects that I do on CrowdIn -- it's all software localization. In particular I find CrowdIn's translator query system to be very user-friendly, and the TM matches are directly underneath the target text field, which makes it much easier to quickly glance at it.


 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 03:06
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
CrowdIn Sep 14, 2020

Samuel Murray wrote:

Lincoln Hui wrote:
The best thing I can say about XTM is that it's not CrowdIn.


By contrast, I have a very positive experience with CrowdIn. No speed/responsiveness issues there. However, this may be due to the types of projects that I do on CrowdIn -- it's all software localization. In particular I find CrowdIn's translator query system to be very user-friendly, and the TM matches are directly underneath the target text field, which makes it much easier to quickly glance at it.

I don't care if CrowdIn cures cancer, anytime a CAT tool only lets you see the translation for one segment at a time, it needs to be killed with fire.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 20:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Lincoln Sep 14, 2020

Lincoln Hui wrote:
Anytime a CAT tool only lets you see the translation for one segment at a time, it needs to be killed with fire.


I never noticed that! But you're right: it's really silly.


 
XTM Intl
XTM Intl
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:06
Your feedback on Fuzzy matches Sep 18, 2020

Samuel Murray wrote:

A client sent me an instructions file that I thought was weird: it explains how to filter on unedited fuzzy matches. At first I thought it a rather odd thing to send, until I did the translation and realised that XTM automatically inserts fuzzy matches in non-active segments with little or no indication that it is an auto-inserted fuzzy match. This means that I don't see that these "translated" segments are actually unedited fuzzy matches. Now the client's instructions make sense (and the filter caught a few more that I did not see myself). What a terrible bug in XTM! I wish there was a way to tell XTM "do not insert fuzzy matches", but there is no such option. In addition, once you pressed ENTER on a segment without realizing it's an unedited fuzzy match, it propagates to all repetitions, and it's very hard to find those errant segments. Basically I'm forced to very carefully check every single segment, especially ones that seem translated.


Hi Samuel,

thanks for your post. This is not a bug, but rather a configuration.
- The client decides if fuzzy matches shall be pre-populated into the target and this can be decided for each fuzzy category. If you think this setting needs to be changed, I advise to reach out to the client and find an agreement
- When you finish a task, XTM runs some consistency checks, one of them being 'fuzzy match used but not edited'. You will get a pop up saying that some QA errors have been found and you should check before actually closing the window. This will be very soon part of the QA profile, meaning that this QA warning will be flagged right after a fuzzy match segment is confirmed (so you are aware of this mistake right away, not just when you finish the task)
- The propagation or repetitions is something that you can define in your own Workbench settings (Settings > General). We are quite flexible there, so even if you decide not to propagate repetitions, you can still do it on a segment by segment basis (in the segment options, if that segment is a repetition, you will find the options relevant to propagating and how).

You can find additional details in our user's manual and release notes.

Kind regards,
Sara Basile
Product Manager
XTM International Ltd
www.xtm.cloud


 
Peter Motte
Peter Motte  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 20:06
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Quit with a client Sep 18, 2020

I stopped working for a client after they switched to XTM Cloud.
There is a ton of reasons for that.
I think the only reason agencies use XTM, is the price; it's cheap.
But it's visually not good, it's difficult to use the TM and so on.
I struggled with it for some time, but finally gave up.


Daniela Bosco
 
XTM Intl
XTM Intl
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:06
Your feedback on XTM and numbers Sep 18, 2020

Miranda Drew wrote:

One of my main clients has switched to XTM, and I cannot believe how many basic features it lacks. I cannot believe that it doesn't automatically insert numbers into the target segments - I have to copy and paste or retype!


Hello Miranda,

thank you for your feedback.
I would just like to point out that this is supported in XTM.
Segments that only contain numbers should automatically be treated as non-translatable by XTM. They can be auto-filled and confirmed.
I suggest you get in touch with your clients to make sure that the configuration is correct in their system settings (treat non-translatable as such, without matching them against the TM).
It is also possible to customize the number auto-conversion based on locale specific rules, your client can reach out to our support team to know more.

Kind regards,
Sara Basile
Product Manager
XTM International Ltd
www.xtm.cloud


 
XTM Intl
XTM Intl
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:06
Thank you for your honest feedback Sep 18, 2020

Lynne Hempton wrote:

I encourage translators to inform their clients that the use of this software is counterproductive and demoralising. We are freelancers, not employees.



Hello Lynne,

thank you for your honest feedback. We take linguists' comments and ideas very seriously, and we do the same with all other XTM users.
The reason why we monitor and moderate this channel is exactly because we acknowledge this feedback and take action on it.
This is reflected in all the Workbench enhancements we include in every release. And this is all based on user feedback.
It would be great if you could reach out to me or our support team and share more concrete examples of how we could help you become more productive in the tool.
It can be both trough new features or through free training and webinars.

With that being said, I hope this can turn into a productive (offline) conversation.

Thank you and kind regards,
Sara Basile
Product Manager
XTM International Ltd
www.xtm.cloud


 
Miranda Drew
Miranda Drew  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 20:06
Member (2009)
Italian to English
what about numbers in text? Sep 23, 2020

[quote]XTM Intl wrote:


thank you for your feedback.
I would just like to point out that this is supported in XTM.
Segments that only contain numbers should automatically be treated as non-translatable by XTM. They can be auto-filled and confirmed.

I was talking about number in the text. I translate financial statements, which are full of numbers, and there is no way to automatically insert and convert the format of numbers within text. This is absolutely a huge waste of my time that I have insert and convert them manually.....


 
XTM Intl
XTM Intl
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:06
Auto-conversion of numbers Sep 23, 2020

Miranda Drew wrote:
I was talking about number in the text. I translate financial statements, which are full of numbers, and there is no way to automatically insert and convert the format of numbers within text. This is absolutely a huge waste of my time that I have insert and convert them manually.....


Thank you, Miranda.
It is also possible to configure the automatic conversion of numbers but in this case your client will have to reach out to our Support team to define which rules apply (depending on the locale specific convention).

Kind regards,
Sara Basile
Product Manager
XTM International Ltd
www.xtm.cloud


 
Conor Murphy
Conor Murphy  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:06
German to English
I can only concur with the complaints Oct 1, 2020

With an XTM project, I always hope I can do the job in Trados instead and import the XLIFF file back into XTM, which is little more than a glorified file management system.

Someone above mentioned it; it sometimes springs unpleasant surprises such as when you try and do a find and replace search, and then the find window goes blank (usually because XTM has marked that term as a misspelling (I think) and then you end up inserting your "replace" term into every blank space in the fil
... See more
With an XTM project, I always hope I can do the job in Trados instead and import the XLIFF file back into XTM, which is little more than a glorified file management system.

Someone above mentioned it; it sometimes springs unpleasant surprises such as when you try and do a find and replace search, and then the find window goes blank (usually because XTM has marked that term as a misspelling (I think) and then you end up inserting your "replace" term into every blank space in the file, and there's no readily clear way of undoing what you, or better said, XTM has done.

Not designed with the translator in mind. Increases workload, lowers quality in my humble opinion.

QA issues: I always convert the completed target file to Word (for example), and perform my QA there. It's really difficult to do a good QA in XTM.

Another thing. Sometimes segments are indicated as matching with segments from other file done by a different translator.But the target language field is greyed out there.



[Edited at 2020-10-01 23:04 GMT]

[Edited at 2020-10-02 06:22 GMT]

[Edited at 2020-10-02 06:49 GMT]
Collapse


Catherine Skala
 
Miranda Drew
Miranda Drew  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 20:06
Member (2009)
Italian to English
Also can't believe you can't do analyses mid-job Oct 2, 2020

One feature I absolutely cannot believe it does not have is the ability to do analyses mid-job (like every other CAT tool out there can do!)

I need to be able to analyze how much fuzzy and no match I have left to do, in order to be able to plan my work, how many hours I still need to do for the job (already factoring in that with XTM the job will take at least TWICE as long...)
Knowing that I've finished 30% of the total job helps me in absolutely no way. I need to be able to
... See more
One feature I absolutely cannot believe it does not have is the ability to do analyses mid-job (like every other CAT tool out there can do!)

I need to be able to analyze how much fuzzy and no match I have left to do, in order to be able to plan my work, how many hours I still need to do for the job (already factoring in that with XTM the job will take at least TWICE as long...)
Knowing that I've finished 30% of the total job helps me in absolutely no way. I need to be able to accurately analyse with the TM the part of the job remaining.
Collapse


Conor Murphy
 
Pages in topic:   < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11] >


There is no moderator assigned specifically to this forum.
To report site rules violations or get help, please contact site staff »


What is your opinion on XTM Cloud CAT tool?






CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »
TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »