Editing and "typographical rules"

[RodCla]

I am a relatively modest contributor, but I have spent over 1,000 hours, translating into English, and uploading 62 episodes of a French TV series over the last 3-4 years. So far about 3000+ downloaders have started the series, with quite a few expressions of thanks. I suppose this is small potatoes, but the downloaders seem not to think so. One of my concerns was that my wife has vision problems and could not see very clearly question and exclamation marks at the end of phrases and sentences, so I left an extra space so they showed up more legibly. In nearly 4 years no one has complained, or even remarked on this. After all this time someone has pounced on the latest episode (S07 E02) and edited every single instance, on the ground that I am not following "typographical rules". I suggested that the person might correct his or her own version if they were so uncomfortable with the issue. The reply was rather strongly opinionated about my failure to follow "typographical rules".  I long ago gave up contributing to Wikipedia because of this type of rule-bound, non-contributory editing. Are the Moderators happy with that sort of thing happening on Addic7ed. Because I am not.

[kinglouisxx]

Hello again, @RodCla !

I know, me again...

Well, don't get me wrong, we're thankfull for the work you provide on Addic7ed.

But, yeah, there are rules.

Maybe you should just have started explaining things about your wife first, instead of just appealing to "clarity".

My reply could only have been nicer.

Maybe then you could provide both versions, one with spaces and one without. That's a quick thing to do with Subtitle Edit.

[vivelalto]

Hello there,

I'm always really impressed by french-->english translators. I doubt I could do it. Thanks for the good work.  

There are a few other tricks you could use to clarify, like changing the size of characters on your media player, or maybe, using colors. (I love colored subtitles.)
https://www.vlchelp.com/change-subtitle-font-appearance-size-color/ 

Have a nice weekend! 

[Apocalypse25]

In any text processor (Wordpad to Microsoft Word)

Open the .srt

Press CTRL + H

Search "?" replace with " ?"

Search "!" replace with " !"

Save the file.

It takes a few seconds.

[taytoy]

@RodCla,

The spirit behind every content-driven community such as Addic7ed is to provide materials that rely on a set of rules commonly accepted amongst members and bound by a common language in order to avoid confusion.

Notwithstanding your personal goals in translating subtitles and irrespective of your accomplishment on Addic7ed, it is rather questionable whether you, as a member, should overstep those rules in language—that go far beyond the scope of Addic7ed's own rules—to suit your personal endeavours and force it on other members.

Addic7ed is arguably a personal sandbox for many members with such mindset as "I'm working as a volunteer, I should get some leverage and do as I please." Unfortunately, it is not.

By uploading or translating subtitles on Addic7ed, there's a tacit agreement that they will be as perfect as possible and that they are suited for the majority, not for a specific person (i.e. your wife). This is the trust Addic7ed is built upon. Should you decide to upload them anyway, add a note (e.g. "double space before '?' and '!'"). But I wouldn't advise it if no alternative can be found, just correct them for the general community and keep the ones you did for your wife private.

In the end of the day, after almost 4 years and 1000 hours of work, you should be appreciative of the fact that a community member spent his time to point out what you did counted as a mistake in language. I hope you understand the stakes. @kinglouisxx is just doing his job to make sure that everything is up to their standard, and he did it fairly.

Don't get me wrong, I do understand the frustration when at times you're being criticised for an activity you're deeply involved in, one could understandably take it very personally, but that is to be expected in a community-driven activity.

Cheers and good luck.

P.S.: I'm just an "oldies," or une "vieille croûte" relying on my past knowledge.  

[RodCla]

Thanks for the comments. I understand the need for common standards. I have tried to adhere to them for the series of 62 episodes of 'Un village français' that I have translated from French into English.

During the last three years Episode 1 of Series 1 has been downloaded in English 3014 times, and in the original French 2297 times. In that time I have received 25 Addic7ed communications, and a number of e-mails thanking me, or asking when the next episode would be available, that's nice but the right answer is "Merci, de rien"....... it's not about me, it's for all of us, and especially that a series on a significant and tragic French historical event gets a wider audience and understanding in the English speaking world. 

However, not a single complaint, until now. So the reason for picking up on Episode 62 out of the current 62 is beyond me.

As a matter of interest I searched for rules of punctuation regarding exclamation marks and question marks. Not one speaks to the spacing, only usage. So it is not a mistake in language, but an admitted idiosyncrasy in typography. Anyway, there are only 4 more episodes to go to the finale, and I hope to complete the whole series.

 

[anissaka]

@taytoy : Oldies but... goldies!!!