Changes between Version 17 and Version 18 of TipsForTranslators

Timestamp:

Mar 19, 2014, 5:02:37 AM (10 years ago)

Author:

MarkDoliner

Comment:

Various changes. Especially: Mention that Transifex is preferred.

TipsForTranslators

@@ -1 @@
-== I Want to Help Translate ==
+== Can I help translate? ==
 
-To improve consistency and quality we prefer to have a designated person or group of people maintain each translation.  If Pidgin already has a translation for your language, please contact the designated translator(s) and ask if you can help.  It's possible they are looking for someone to take over.  You can find their email address in Pidgin's Help --> Translator Information window.
+Yes! Our translations are provided by volunteers. To improve consistency and quality we prefer to have a designated person or group of people maintain each translation.
 
-== I Want to Translate to a New Language ==
+If Pidgin already has a translation for your language, please contact the designated translator(s) and ask if you can help. It's possible they are looking for someone to take over. You can find their email address in Pidgin's Help-->Translator Information window. Or, for some languages you can try contacting the translator(s) via [https://www.transifex.net/projects/p/pidgin/ Transifex].
 
-Great!  We love translations!  First you should look at the current translation statistics at [https://developer.pidgin.im/l10n/].  There you can see if there is already a translation for your language and whether this translation is complete and actively maintained.  If there is already a translation, you can find the translator's name in the header of the .po file for your language. 
+If you're unable to contact the designated translator(s) or if Pidgin does not yet have a translation for your language, email the [https://pidgin.im/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/translators translators mailing list] and ask if anyone is already working on translating that language.
 
-The second thing you should do is join the [https://pidgin.im/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/translators translators mailing list] and ask if anyone is already working on translating that language.  If there is already a translation which is not actively maintained, you can also offer your help.
 
 == When should I submit a translation update? ==
 
-The translations are shipped with each Pidgin release, so there is no great advantage to submitting a translation multiple times during a release cycle.  We announce a string freeze on the [https://pidgin.im/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/translators translators mailing list] about 4 days before each release.  This is a promise to you that we will not add any new strings or change any existing ones.  During this time you should finish translating any new strings and submit a new translation to us.
+The translations are shipped with each Pidgin release, so there is no great advantage to submitting a translation multiple times during a release cycle.  We announce a string freeze on the [https://pidgin.im/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/translators translators mailing list] before each release. This is a promise to you that we will not add any new strings or change any existing ones. During this time you should finish translating any new strings and submit a new translation to us.
+
 
 == Where should I submit a translation update? ==
 
-There are three ways you can submit an updated translation.  Please use whichever one you find most convenient:
- 1. Using [https://www.transifex.net/projects/p/pidgin/ Transifex].  In this case we only accept updates from the translator listed in Pidgin's Help dialog.  If you are listed here, and you'd like to start using Transifex, please use the Transifex website to join the translation team for your language, and then email us from the address listed in the Help dialog and ask us to approve your team request.
- 1. By [/newticket creating a new ticket] and attaching your translation file.  Also, please provide your full name, a contact email address, and the language and country code for your translation.
- 1. Or you can bug a Pidgin developer to give you commit access directly to our version control system, then commit the translation yourself.
+The preferred method for submitting updated translations is via [https://www.transifex.net/projects/p/pidgin/ Transifex]. If you're the designated translator for your language then you can request to create a new language team for your language in Transifex (and please also send an email to the [https://pidgin.im/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/translators translators mailing list] and let us know!).
 
-You should remove location information from the .po file before submitting or committing.  You can do this using intltool-update as follows:
-{{{
-XGETTEXT_ARGS=--no-location intltool-update LL
-}}}
-where LL is your language code.
+If you're opposed to using Transifex there are two other methods you could use to send us translations. These cause slightly more overhead for us, so we try to avoid them.
+ 1. By [/newticket creating a new ticket] and attaching your translation file.  Please provide your full name, a contact email address, and the language and country code for your translation.
+ 1. Or you can ask a Pidgin developer to give you commit access directly to our version control system, then commit the translation yourself.
+
+=== Stripping line numbers ===
+An older version of this documented requested that translators strip line number information from .po files before submitting or committing them by running `XGETTEXT_ARGS=--no-location intltool-update LL`. This is now part of our release process and it is no longer necessary for translators to do this.
+
 
 == Translation Stats and a .pot File ==
 
 You can see the current translation statistics at [https://developer.pidgin.im/l10n/].  There is also a link to the nightly version of the pidgin.pot at the bottom of the page.  The .pot file includes the strings from our Windows installer.  Providing a full translation of this file automatically ensures that Windows users will be able to have a translated installer for their convenience.
+
 
 == How Pidgin Handles Translation Updates ==
@@ -40 +40 @@
 
 In short, this means that if you are not the current translator for a specific language, we will not normally accept the translation update from you, except as described above.  We do this to minimize confusion among users--we've found over time that some translators will choose different ways to translate a given word or phrase, which inevitably confuses users.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we believe that following these rules makes translations better for everyone.
+
+
+== Helpful links ==
+* [https://www.transifex.net/projects/p/pidgin/ Transifex]
+* [https://developer.pidgin.im/l10n/ Translationn statistics]
+* [https://pidgin.im/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/translators Our translators mailing list]