TimeControl was available in both English and French on its first day on the market. The term localization hadn’t even been coined at the time, but it would have been quite appropriate. HMS Software, the publishers of TimeControl is, after all, headquartered in Montreal, Canada where both English and French are common. So, TimeControl itself as well as our website has always had elements of both French and English.

It should be no surprise then, that the system was used all over the province of Quebec, in France and other predominantly francophone locations. By the time we got to TimeControl version 3, we had realized that the product would have to do more than support just two languages. Localization refers to more than just the screen interface. Date formatting, for example, differs between the US (MM/DD/YY) and Canada (DD/MM/YY) so we realized early on that meeting local user needs would be a more extensive effort.

The result appears in several places in TimeControl. The language used to present the interface is selected by the end-user in their MyAccount area. It is defined in the TimeControl languages module where admins can not only define which languages are available but also modify the existing language definition. So, if a particular term such as Projects would be better to be called Mandates, that is changeable by the Administrators. More than that, while

TimeControl now ships with a number of different languages, if needed, Administrators can add their own definition.

Localization doesn’t stop there. Date formatting is defined by the administrator as a configuration setting as is the display of currency symbols and even the number of digits. This is defined at the User Profile level so some users might see TimeControl looking one way and other users could see it looking quite different. The language can be defaulted for an individual but they can select a different language just for themselves should they wish. For documentation, aside from the English or French user guides provided by HMS, clients can add their own internal user guide in whatever language they wish using the Menu editor.

The result is having the end-user comfortable to quickly enter TimeControl, do the work they have to do in the system and then get out as effectively as possible.