Translation Customization

How to Use the Glossary in PTC

PTC’s glossary lets you create more accurate translations by defining how key terms and names appear in your software translations.

How PTC Handles Important Terms

By default, PTC adds your product name in the glossary and keeps it consistent in all translations. The tool also determines the key terminology needed for your project by analyzing details you add at project setup (type and target audience). This is how PTC keeps translations relevant to your specific case and users.

Apart from PTC’s built-in understanding of terminology, you can also use the Glossary to define a few terms that are easy to confuse.

What Is The Glossary in PTC?

The PTC glossary is a tool that improves translation accuracy. You control how words that may have different meanings appear in software translations.

For example, let’s say your project includes the term “Target”:

  • In a fitness tracking app, the term “Target” could refer to a fitness goal 
  • In a shooting game, “Target” refers to an object or person being aimed at
  • In a retail app, “Target” refers to the store name and should remain untranslated

Adding “Target” to your glossary and defining how it should be translated keeps translations relevant to your software’s context.

Best Practices for Adding Glossary Terms

To get the most out of the glossary in PTC, follow these tips:

Only Add Critical Terms

Add terms that are important to your project and may be misunderstood without context. These include technical terms, brand names, or amibiguous words.

Enter Terms Exactly as They Should Appear

Avoid adding extra symbols, notes, or descriptions inside the term field. Just enter the word or phrase exactly how you want it to appear in translations.

Use the Singular And Capitalized Form

You don’t need to add plural or non-capitalized forms for a particular term. PTC will handle pluralization and contextual translation.

Avoid Duplicates

Make sure each term is only added once. Repeated entries can confuse the system and reduce translation quality

Only Add Verbs If Necessary

Most verbs don’t need glossary entries. Add them only if:

  • They appear only in buttons or action labels
  • They have different meanings depending on context
  • You want a specific conjugation or phrasing

How PTC Helps You Build Your Glossary 

PTC helps you get started with building your glossary by identifying possible names after translating your project. Confirming them adds to your glossary, boosts your translation quality score, and helps future translations.

How to Add Glossary Entries in PTC

If PTC didn’t add certain names or terms to the glossary, you can do it manually. Names or proper nouns appear in translations exactly as you enter them in the glossary. Example: The name “Amazon” (the e-commerce company) will appear the same in all languages.

To add a name:

  1. From the top menu in your PTC dashboard, click on Glossary.
  2. Click Add new entry and enter your term and its description
  3. Select the languages you want this term to apply in and add the translation manually or let PTC auto-translate.
Adding a new glossary entry

Translation Customization

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