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The limits of Google Sheets, and how Gridly helps you reach beyond them

Google’s G-Suite has 2 billion users worldwide, but how effective is Google Sheets as a localization tool? Does “popular” always mean “suitable?” I’m a student and I’m very familiar with Google Sheets. But sometimes you only realise a product’s limitations when you see how much better it can be with something extra on top. I’d like to share some of the ways in which Gridly can build on the strengths of Google Sheets and cancel out the weaknesses.
Localization
  07-04-2022  |  William Wennerholm
The limits of Google Sheets, and how Gridly helps you reach beyond them

Google Sheets have fixed limits on the size of projects they can accommodate. With a maximum of 10 million cells per worksheet and 50,000 characters per cell, data can easily be lost when large files are imported. Why take that chance? With Gridly, you’ll never have to. 

Real-time collaboration in Google Sheets can deliver rapid results, but granting the same access and edit rights to large numbers of project stakeholders opens the door to human error and unwanted changes. We students often work together and when we store our data in the same sheet, there is an increased risk of human error, such as data being added to the wrong column. Gridly enables users to pinpoint and track exactly what each user can view and edit. It’s auditable, it’s manageable and it works. 


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I’m also very familiar with sub-standard translations. The more time a linguist has to spend navigating what a tool can and can’t do, the less time they have for actual translation. Gridly saves the linguist’s time, enabling them to focus on the quality of a translation and customize it to the specific language and culture. Here are some examples of how Gridly improves the localization process:

  • Localization involves far more than simply translating words on a page, and while Google Sheets is a valuable text management tool, adding images and audio files is notoriously difficult. Gridly gives users no such problems. It’s designed to be multimedia-friendly and is an ideal one-stop location for all categories of content. 
  • Translation memories and localization glossaries save users vast amounts of time and money, and deliver consistency through repeated use of approved translations. Google Sheets offers neither feature. Gridly offers both.
  • Status tracking – easily creatable in Google Sheets – gives users a snapshot of which content is current and which is outdated. Gridly adds depth to this concept with dependencies. When a change is made to source language data in Gridly, corresponding “dependent” data in target languages is flagged for updating. It’s a failsafe that busy project managers find invaluable.

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I’m a fan of Google Sheets. As a free content collaboration and storage tool, it adds a lot of value. When combined with a content platform that’s localization-focused, it adds far, far more. To find out more about how Gridly can help you reach beyond the limits of Google Sheets, click here.

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