History of TranslationTutorial
Version 14
TranslationTutorial
A guide on how to translate bitweaver into your language
Created by: kinderlehrer, Last modification: 20 Oct 2008 (09:00 UTC) by kinderlehrer
Bitweaver has a unique translation interface. You can translate strings here on bitweaver.org, and then export them from here to import them to your own site. The added benefit of translating here on this site is that everything will be included in the next programme release for other users.
How to get started
To translate Bitweaver to another language than English, please contact us through this form thread or drop by IRC to get someone to give you the appropriate permissions.Languages menu
As soon as you are member of the group Translators, you can access a language menu which gives you several new options:- Edit Languages: gives you access to all available languages and their descriptions
- Import/Export: access the available languages, and import or export them
- Master Strings: list of all English master strings - the references for the translated strings
Translation procedure
Translating
Go to Edit Languages and select the language you want to translate bitweaver into. The button Edit Translation will take you to an alphabetical listing of the English master strings. For each master string there is a text box. If you understand the context and know how to translate the text, go ahead and translate it.Unfortunately, there is no easy way to work out the context of where the master string has originated from. On bitweaver.org, try going to your personal preferences page and set the site language to the language you want to translate to. This way, it's easier to spot untranslated strings as well strings that don't match the context.
Translating a specific string
When you spot a string that needs modifying or updating, you can go to the Edit Languages page and then search for the string using the search box.Typos
Typos (or multiple strings with similar content in general) can't be avoided, due to the continuous development of Bitweaver. Certain strings will always have to be updated slightly, when a developer changes them in any template (e.g., /wiki/templates/edit.tpl).On bitweaver.org, the feature record untranslated strings is enabled, which adds such strings to the database.
For instance, say, this string is adjusted in a template (e.g. buttonform.tpl):
- Press this button to be happyy, has been updated to
- Press this button to be happy.
Master strings
To update an old string in the database to a new string to reflect the change in the template: go to the Master Strings page (language menu) and search for the old string, edit it, insert the new string, and save. After clearing the language cache, all the translations will work correctly.Importing and exporting
Once the translation has been completed, export the language file via Import/Export (language menu). Pick the language you translated to export and save the file to your server. Then, visit the Import/Export on your server, select the correct language in the import section and import that file.Creating a new language
Go to Edit Languages where you can see all available languages. If your language or localisation does not exist, click Create Language, and fill in the required information. Then, proceed as above.Translation notes
If you come across {curly brackets}, please copy them and their contents into your translation string. Try to work out where in the text this part should go. Please maintain any HTML formatting which is present. As an example, a master string like- A gallery named {displayname}'s Gallery will be created for you and images will be added to it, would be translated to
- Die Galerie {displayname}s Galerie wird erstellt und Bilder hinzugefügt, if the language was German. Note how curly brackets (and HTML code, if in place) are preserved. The curly brackets enclose the displayname of a given user, in this example. This means you can simply treat the string in curly brackets as a regular name.
Language-specific notes
...What to do if:
The Master string is not in English ie 'Viimeiset Foorumin Lähetykset'.
The Master string is already in the language you are translating.
The Master string is partly in English and partly in another language.
You think that the translation ought to be different (ie formal vs informal).
Your preferred language capitalises nouns or uses gender-specific articles.
The Master string is an incomplete sentence.
The Master string is the name of a package.
...