Unicode or specific language charset

From: Robert Kidd (promotions@editfast.com)
Date: Mon Dec 18 2006 - 10:55:22 CST

  • Next message: Doug Ewell: "Re: Unicode or specific language charset"

    I am the owner of http://www.translationhelp.com and I am debating
    whether to use Unicode on the pages or not. There are over 500
    translators in the database (but not yet fully registered as the site
    is still in development). Each of these translators needs to create at
    least two "profile" web pages (one in their source language and one in
    their target language). This means I need to have the ability to allow
    the translators to enter their profile information in two separate
    forms when they register in their respective languages so that the form
    contents once submitted will display properly in the user's browser
    ("user" here means potential clients looking for a translator).

    I have heard of some problems with Unicode and browser/computer
    configuration so I am not sure if that is the best solution. It also
    seems more complex and therefore more expensive and perhaps more prone
    to bugs. I am also not sure how to implement Unicode so that the
    translators can read/type their info into the form in their languages
    and the pages resulting from the form submission are displayed in
    Unicode.

    The other solution is to set the form pages to be displayed
    automatically using the specific language charset for that page and to
    display the web pages using the charset of that page's language.

    The problem is that I have not had the actual site pages translated yet
    (that is coming soon) and the common elements (menus etc.) are all in
    English. This will mean a translator's profile page with a language
    charset of Japanese (for example) will also have menu items in English.
    The combination of the two languages is troublesome and the only
    solution I can come up with is to use Unicode OR display these pages
    without menus using a target "_blank" to open a new browser window and
    a couple of images (in English) to close the window or whatever.

    I have been thinking and wondering about this for some time and I could
    use any help or opinions to get me over the hump of indecision I am
    stuck at.

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