Translation of the Valentina interface into Transifex

Translation of the Valentina interface into Transifex

We use the Transifex service to translate Valentina’s interface. In this article you will learn how to join the translation team and help translate.

The resource files for translation are located here here.

To start translating, you need to register on the website and apply to join one of the translation teams. To join, you need to know English and one or more translation languages. English is needed because English is the base language of the interface.

To change the language of the Transifex interface, find the switch in the bottom right corner of the page.

Before requesting to join, you need to choose one of the existing languages, or make a request to add a new language to the list. Be careful, very often people make the mistake of requesting to add a new language even though the translation for that language is already in progress. This has to do with the way languages are coded. Transifex allows you to make requests in different forms, either with the language code (de) and paired with the country code (de_DE). Requests with language code only will be rejected. New languages must receive at least 20% translation strings before being officially added to Valentina builds.

Your request to join the translation team has to be approved first. This takes some time. Please wait, or let us know via one of the communication channels.

There are several types of translation resources: lists of known measures and Valentina interface strings. There are also versions for the two branches 0.6 and 0.7.

Transifex supports an advanced filter system that allows you to quickly find the strings you are interested in.

To translate you need to select a language and a resource from the list. You are then presented with a list of strings in this resource file. Select one of the strings and add the translation to the right column. When you do so, the system will offer you similar options and a history of changes for this line. When you have finished, you need to save your changes so that they become visible to other translators.

Not all strings are translatable for normal users. Some may be blocked by reviewers after reviewing. Without promotion to reviewer you will not be able to change such lines. If you do see an error in line translation you can create an error message on Transifex and this will be reviewed by the administrators.

An important element to consider is context. It allows you to group groups of strings and gives you a hint as to where they apply.

Updates for translations of languages that have been added to the list in Valentina itself will appear for each release. If a language has not yet been added and the translation already has at least 20% of strings translated, then you can request that it be added to the list of supported languages.

Typical translation errors:

• Incorrectly used placeholders. Special placeholders %1, %2, … %99 should not be translated, and should be copied into the translation as is. It is also an error to change the order by 1%, 2%. Or a space between characters, e.g. % 1. The system uses these placeholders to represent other strings or values. Their presence in the source string is therefore mandatory. However, their order in the source string may be different. For example, the order might be more consistent with the language rules.
• Incorrect usage of three dots. Some strings contain the ellipsis character “…”. This is the recommended way to use three dots in translations. This way you don’t have to worry about misplacement, as the ellipsis is a single character.
• Punctuation marks at the end of a line. The original line and the translation must have the same line-end punctuation marks. These include ‘.’, ‘,’, ‘:’. Also, a space is considered erroneous if it does not end the original line.

You do not need to know programming or modify program code to be able to suggest corrections to original lines. It is only necessary to make a translation for the English (United States) language. In the next update, the tests will show your suggestions and they will be checked by the administrators and appropriate changes will be made to the program code.