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Project History (plus feedback!) features updated. Members are invited to use it!
Thread poster: Henry Dotterer
Walter Landesman
Walter Landesman  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 20:34
English to Spanish
+ ...
Invoice generation Dec 20, 2005

Henry wrote:

Would there be an advantage to the system being web-based? Would you be interested in such features as invoice generation, etc.?


Hi Henry,

Invoice generation and tracking, that might also be a good feature to add up. I know most of us already have our own invoice systems. However, a Proz-generated invoice (at least for Proz posted jobs) may look more "official".
I`m trying to be very careful with the words I am using. I know that any adjective may be seen both ways, positive if done through Proz or "why, I am doing it myself now and what`s wrong with it"?

All these features are - anyway - optional. Maybe I don`t need them or I don`t like them. But I believe they can be very helpful for many of us, and most of all for starters. So, if I choose not to use them but they don´t bother me and make me no harm, why stopping others from using them?
Go ahead.

Walter


 
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:34
Member (2004)
English to Italian
no harm? Dec 20, 2005

Walter Landesman wrote:

All these features are - anyway - optional. Maybe I don`t need them or I don`t like them. But I believe they can be very helpful for many of us, and most of all for starters. So, if I choose not to use them but they don´t bother me and make me no harm, why stopping others from using them?
Go ahead.

Walter


If they increase competition amongst colleagues, these features are not 'optional' anymore. And if we are 'forced' to use them to stay competitive, then they are harmful.

Giovanni

[Edited at 2005-12-20 11:48]


 
Walter Landesman
Walter Landesman  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 20:34
English to Spanish
+ ...
Competition Dec 20, 2005

Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:

Walter Landesman wrote:

All these features are - anyway - optional. Maybe I don`t need them or I don`t like them. But I believe they can be very helpful for many of us, and most of all for starters. So, if I choose not to use them but they don´t bother me and make me no harm, why stopping others from using them?
Go ahead.

Walter


If they increase competition amongst colleagues, these features are not 'optional' anymore. And if we are 'forced' to use them to stay competitive, then they are harmful.

Giovanni

[Edited at 2005-12-20 11:48]


It`s not ProZ. It`s the system, the world is competitive. Life is a competion. Darwin had already stated that.


 
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:34
Member (2004)
English to Italian
competition Dec 20, 2005

Walter Landesman wrote:


It`s not ProZ. It`s the system, the world is competitive. Life is a competion. Darwin had already stated that.


We are talking about a Proz.com feature, arent't we? Competition in Proz.com.

Giovanni


 
Walter Landesman
Walter Landesman  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 20:34
English to Spanish
+ ...
Competition II Dec 20, 2005

Giovanni,

Proz.com is IN the world. It`s Henry`s business that helps us to make our own business, to be more competitive to survive out there.

I don´t see anything wrong with it. Just the opposite.

[Edited at 2005-12-20 12:18]


 
Nikki Graham
Nikki Graham  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:34
Spanish to English
Personal organisation Dec 20, 2005

Henry wrote:

I am wondering whether we should expand upon the personal organization aspects of the function. In your case, as someone who already keeps track elsewhere (what system do you use?), could our project history system be made into a useful feature for you? Would there be an advantage to the system being web-based? Would you be interested in such features as invoice generation, etc.?


Hi Henry, thanks for your reply. The only advantage to the web-based system I can see is that if my computer goes crash bang wallop, I'd still have all the info available, desite the fact that I do make backup copies. Most of my work does not come from proz, in fact precious little comes from proz. I work for the same people again and again and therefore do not actually send out many invoices per month anyway. I do not tend to invoice per project unless specifically requested to do so. I add up all the month's projects into one bill. I write everything down on paper first as it's the quickest method for me, then transfer to Excel, where I have several files to check on monthly earnings progress with details of all projects, another to cover the financial year for tax purposes (which details every invoice sent) and a summary of all monthly and yearly earnings since I came back to the UK to make sure I'm meeting my self-imposed targets. As someone who never seems to have enough hours in the day, copying it all again into the project history would not personally help me.


 
Vito Smolej
Vito Smolej
Germany
Local time: 00:34
Member (2004)
English to Slovenian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
I did not misquote you, I misread you;) Dec 20, 2005

Appologies, Nikki.

I agree that there's data in PH, which are "our own business". But they are optional. I for one will not enter them.

Regards

smo


 
Henry Dotterer
Henry Dotterer
Local time: 19:34
SITE FOUNDER
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks, Nikki Dec 20, 2005

Nikki Graham wrote:

Hi Henry, thanks for your reply. The only advantage to the web-based system I can see is that if my computer goes crash bang wallop, I'd still have all the info available, desite the fact that I do make backup copies. Most of my work does not come from proz, in fact precious little comes from proz. I work for the same people again and again and therefore do not actually send out many invoices per month anyway. I do not tend to invoice per project unless specifically requested to do so. I add up all the month's projects into one bill. I write everything down on paper first as it's the quickest method for me, then transfer to Excel, where I have several files to check on monthly earnings progress with details of all projects, another to cover the financial year for tax purposes (which details every invoice sent) and a summary of all monthly and yearly earnings since I came back to the UK to make sure I'm meeting my self-imposed targets. As someone who never seems to have enough hours in the day, copying it all again into the project history would not personally help me.

Thank you for this information, it is helpful. By self-imposed targets, do you mean you set income targets for the year? Do you derive from those targets such things as hourly or word rates?


 
Nikki Graham
Nikki Graham  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:34
Spanish to English
Monthly targets Dec 20, 2005

Henry wrote:

By self-imposed targets, do you mean you set income targets for the year? Do you derive from those targets such things as hourly or word rates?


The targets are actually monthly and are mainly for the purposes of our family budget. As long as on average I am earning a set amout per month, I know we're going to be OK. This has not actually dictated my hourly or word rates, but I do seem to earn what I should earn per month in the time available. The monthly progress files automatically tell me how much I have earned so far and therefore I can see at a glance whether I need to accept that extra project or not, which may mean not much sleep or weekend work, for example, or whether I can allow myself some time off! This works out at about 35,000 to 40,000 words per month (I am still not working at full capacity due to having to care for children some of the time). HTH


 
Gabriella Ambs-Wettstein
Gabriella Ambs-Wettstein  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 00:34
Member
English to German
+ ...
Great thing Dec 21, 2005

Great idea. I'm sure going to use it with any project. Will be helpful with future clients.

 
Elvira Stoianov
Elvira Stoianov  Identity Verified
Luxembourg
Local time: 00:34
German to Romanian
+ ...
why only 3 specialty fields? Dec 22, 2005

Sorry if that was discussed before, but I was busy until today and now the thread is too long to read each posting.
I wanted to enter a project today and I could only choose 3 fields. Why is that? I find that too restrictive. I have just finished translating 6 company profiles and normally each of them was in a different field.
Another example is a project I had this summer, that was about 90.000 words. This was a company website and dealt with several fields, too: food, legal, nutri
... See more
Sorry if that was discussed before, but I was busy until today and now the thread is too long to read each posting.
I wanted to enter a project today and I could only choose 3 fields. Why is that? I find that too restrictive. I have just finished translating 6 company profiles and normally each of them was in a different field.
Another example is a project I had this summer, that was about 90.000 words. This was a company website and dealt with several fields, too: food, legal, nutrition, environment, business, to name only a few. It is true that I have collaborated with colleagues on fields I was not familiar with, but now I can't enter the project without leaving out certain fields, even though there were many thousands of words in each field.
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Luca Tutino
Luca Tutino  Identity Verified
Italy
Member (2002)
English to Italian
+ ...
Reasons for moderation of PH wheight in profile ranking Dec 29, 2005

For the hastened reader: the reasons for the above are
1. less busy translator = richer PH.
2. more differentiated client base = poorer PH.
3. less busy translator could be tempted to forge PH.

I sincerely believe these points are good reasons for a careful use of PH as a profile ranking tool. Please read my reasoning below.

Larissa Dinsley wrote:
I have a number of customers, mainly direct clients, who are not members of ProZ.com and have never heard about the site. They are busy people with busy schedules and I definitely would not want to bother them and to ask them


This point in does not seem to be fully appreciated. Please take into account that we can have DIRECT clients, and it would not practical or convenient for us to draw their attention to a website like ProZ. Unpractical because before being dragged onto a website these clients might want to take the time to make sure it conforms their policies (and they do not have the time to do it). Inconvenient because, once they made the effort of getting exposed to the open market they might be encouraged to leave us and experiment for themsleves, may-be trying to get cheaper service...
There are many other reasons that can make direct clients corroboration impossible, including that of recurrent clients (that cannot be bothered with continuous requests for corroborations) and former employers (as in the case of PolyGram Company, today closed). On the other side the translator working exclusively for agencies will have better chances to add corroborations to his PH.
The result is:
More differentiated client base = Poorer PH.

This problem will affect only the most experienced colleagues, as well as the time problem mentioned by
Giovanni Guarnieri:
Who will benefit from it? Less experienced translators or beginners, who will have the time to provide all the relevant data and even to cheat.


This point means:
Less busy translator = Richer PH or even
Less busy translator could be tempted to easily forge PH corroboration.

-----------------
I could not follow up to the discussions for a couple of weeks and, after catching up, I have a few acknowledgements to make.

First of all
fadesga wrote:
Dear Luca:
Perhaps you did a very quick reading of my profile or my PH and got a false impression.

Yes I had a very quick reading, and no I did not have a false impression. This is why
I wrote:
I am pretty sure this is a genuine PH of an excellent and enthusiast colleague


Last but not least
Henry wrote:
translators with clear areas of expertise and outstanding track records, who I believe are in need of additional tools to justify their higher-than-average rates.


I have to admit that I am in a position to see the drawbacks because the old configuration of ProZ worked very well for me already, and now I will be forced to invest work in new potential competition due to PH - which in itself is obviously a point in favor for PH. I see that PH, if well balanced, can be a good addition to ProZ, yet I am trying to stick to my role and point out to risk and disadvantages as well as possible. This will not change my huge gratitude and consideration for Henry and all makers of ProZ.

[Edited at 2005-12-29 13:35]


 
Dinny
Dinny  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 01:34
Italian to Danish
+ ...
Awaiting a reply from Henry Dec 30, 2005

I immediately started to insert some projects once this new feature was launched - it didn't take much time since I already had prepared a similar list of significant jobs in case any new client should require it together with my C.V. And I liked the feedback part of it.

But now I don't like it so much since the few projects for which I have requested feedback are still listed as "pending" and no such request has ever reached any of the relevant project managers. A page of project
... See more
I immediately started to insert some projects once this new feature was launched - it didn't take much time since I already had prepared a similar list of significant jobs in case any new client should require it together with my C.V. And I liked the feedback part of it.

But now I don't like it so much since the few projects for which I have requested feedback are still listed as "pending" and no such request has ever reached any of the relevant project managers. A page of projects with no feedback whatsoever - or worse: asked for and not given - leaves the impression that I might as well have invented the jobs!

The two agencies I asked feedback from are listed in BB and I just clicked on the names from the PH page to insert them.

I'm considering hiding my Project History. I didn't mean for it to give a negative impression.

Dinny
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Coral Getino
Coral Getino  Identity Verified
United States
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Dates need updating Dec 31, 2005

The years range 2001 to 2005!

Happy New Year 2006!!!

Coral


 
Colin Brady
Colin Brady  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 20:34
French to English
+ ...
PH Issues Jan 3, 2006

Hi Dinny,

Dinny wrote:
But now I don't like it so much since the few projects for which I have requested feedback are still listed as "pending" and no such request has ever reached any of the relevant project managers.


You can now re-submit your projects to the outsourcer for corroboration at your project manager. Just click "Edit outsourcer information and/or resend notification".


A page of projects with no feedback whatsoever - or worse: asked for and not given - leaves the impression that I might as well have invented the jobs!


Visitors to your Project History tab cannot see if a project is pending corroboration.

Coral Getino wrote:
The years range 2001 to 2005!

Happy New Year 2006!!!


It looks like it was still 2005 GMT when you made this post.

Best Regards,
Colin


 
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