Translation works well but breaks site styles / layout

[epakrat]

In my default language (English), the site appears normal. However, if Spanish is selected (for example) then most (if not all) text gets wrapped in Font Tag Pairs. This, of course causes CSS specificity / targeting to fail to style the proper elements as desired and results in the site having the text appear unstyled. I was able to realize this by looking at the html output differences between English / Spanish (or any other language) using Firebug for Firefox v29.0.1.

This simple markup <h2>Hello, World!</h2> after translation becomes...

<h2><font><font class="">¡Hola Mundo!</font></font></h2>

So, my question is: How can I stop Google Translate from adding these useless / empty font tags?

[Edvard]

Hi,

Which translation method do you use?

Thanks!

[epakrat]

On the fly

[Edvard]

You need to modify your css to not conflict with such modifications or upgrade to one of our paid plans.

Thanks!

[epakrat]

Thanks for the reply. Well, I'm certainly not modifying my css to accommodate semantically bad html output. The HTML <font> tag being injected is not supported in pages with HTML5 doctype. So, it should never become part of my pages.

Take a look at these links as I believe they support my position...

http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_font.asp
http://accessibility.psu.edu/headingshtml (Specifically #6 of the Synopsis section)

If you are either unable to correct the issue (which assumes that you consider it an issue at all) for whatever reason, please simply state that. If you believe that the html "modifications" the plugin makes to pages are good / not in need of correction then you could state that too.

Having only found the plugin yesterday, I was trying the free version to determine whether the Pro version would be worth my while / upgrading to. Based on your response though, it would seem that I can't expect that it will so I'll just simply discontinue use of the plugin. No reason has been made clear why upgrading to one of your paid plans would be of any benefit to me.

Regardless, good luck with your plugin development and sales.

[Edvard]

Hi,

The free version is the same as google translator free widget which has been modified to have a better appearance, so the javasript code is provided by Google.

While our paid versions are totally different and do not rely on javascript and use a different approach and do not add any special tags into you html.

So if you have time you may check how they are different by reading our FAQ page which will make things more clear for you.

I have never valued insisting and requiring position from free software on internet. If you do not understand something for sure, better to ask questions rather making statements which can be rude and offend someone.

Hope you understand.

Thank you!

[epakrat]

"I have never valued insisting and requiring position from free software on internet. If you do not understand something for sure, better to ask questions rather making statements which can be rude and offend someone."

Agreed. Yes, it appeared you were taking the position that your software was not broken (without explaining why before) and that the problem was mine / with my css alone. This is why I did ask such questions pre-purchase.

While I was initially offended by your seemingly unfriendly / rude position, I can forgive that now. Your more verbose answer rather than the single sentence provided earlier clarified things much more than before and now appropriately puts the blame for the problem where it actually belongs (Google) instead of on me (the prospect).

Your free version may be all anyone is going to know about your product / company when they first find it even if they actually read the FAQ (don't count on it), no one would probably be able to know based on it that the free version is different in this respect from the PAID versions.

Perhaps you might consider adding a new FAQ question...

Q: "Why does the Free GTranslate add font tags to my HTML?"
A: "It does not. The free version is the same as google translator free widget which has been modified to have a better appearance, so the JavaScript code that is adding the font tags is provided by Google. While our paid versions are totally different and do not rely on javascript and use a different approach and do not add any special tags into you html."

Your own FAQ says "Can I test before making Payment?" - "You can test the free version. " Unfortunately, in the state which the free version currently exists, it doesn't give anyone a proper idea what to expect from the paid editions because of how it can break sites as we've now agreed here while the paid version will not. Therefore, it's not possible to really try it before purchase. Perhaps your decision use ioncube may make this even more difficult for you to do but perhaps you should consider making a true free version based on your paid versions (and really feature limited) rather than something that is just free.

Thanks for your answers!

[Edvard]

Hi,

You have asked me a question and I understood that you have a problem and answered with 2 possible solutions. Now I do not understand what you want.

Thank you!

[epakrat]

Yes, you did and I understand your answers. However, I did offer some suggestions that may potentially help others avoid these same misunderstandings should you choose to implement them. That's totally up to you though. I don't want / need anything more from you. You may consider the matter closed. Thanks! Bye.

[Edvard]

Thank you!