Online Translation HOWTO

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Last updated: Oct 08, 2010 by Adam MonsenVersion comment
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*** DEPRECATED ***

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Mifos can be translated using Pootle: Mifos Online Translation Tool. We welcome contributions from the general public! If you are a translator, please read on for detailed instructions on how you can help translate Mifos into your locale. Other guides exist for product program project managers and developers

Introduction

Pootle is an online tool that makes it easy to add translations for any language. To contribute translations from English into another language, follow the steps below by registering for an account on Pootle, and then follow the basic workflow to enter translations.

Getting Started

Register for a Pootle Account

The first step in helping to translate Mifos is to register for an account on Pootle. The tool will not automatically send you an activation email.

Request to Become a Translator

After registering for a Pootle account, please send an email with the following to the mifos-developer mailing list. Please replace underlined text with your own.

Note: if you are not currently a member of mifos-developer list, please be sure to sign up following the instructions here.

Send Request

Subject: Mifos Translator request

Hello Mifos Online Translation Tool Administrators!

My name is ________. I would like to become a translator for Mifos. I am competent translating English to ________. I know that MFI _____ could use this language version of Mifos. I have visited the wiki page here:

http://mifos.org/developers/wiki/OnlineTranslationHOWTO

and read the instructions. I have registered for an account on Pootle: the Mifos Online Translation Tool. I have read, agree, and signed the Mifos contributor agreement form located here:

http://mifos.org/developers/agreement

Thank you!

Request Activated

A Pootle administrator will review your request and activate the account you registered on Pootle. You will receive a reply that your account has been activated to the email used to sign up for an account.

New Languages

The following languages are currently available for translation on Pootle:

  • Arabic
  • Chinese (China)
  • French
  • Khmer
  • Lao
  • Portugese
  • Spanish
  • Swahili

If you would like to translate into a language not listed above, the new language must be added by a developer. To request the addition of a new language, please send an email to the mifos-developer mailing list requesting the language to be added. Please mention:

  • if this will be a particular language dialect
  • how many translators will be contributing (including you)

Note: Currently only languages in Latin-1 character encoding have been tested to work fully on Mifos. If the language is in an encoding other than Latin-1, some Mifos functionality may not work, reports in particular.

Using the Tool

As a translator, you will be able to enter and submit translations into Pootle: Mifos Online Translation Tool itself. If you are an individual volunteer, a program manager can help you get started by making sure the language bundles online are up-to-date and also commit your translations for you. If you are part of an organization that is doing translations, please e-mail the mifos-functional list for assistance on acquiring rights to commit the translations. Please read the steps below carefully for details on completing translations.

make sure language bundles are up-to-date

Before starting translation work, it's important to make sure that the latest translations for bundles you'll be editing are up-to-date. An update must be performed or your work may be lost! Please ask your manager to do an update in Pootle. If you do not have a manager assigned, please e-mail the mifos-developer mailing list for this step. A program manager will update the latest translations for you.

select the project and language

After logging in, navigate to the home page and click on Gazelle. This is the code base for Mifos version 1 2 maintenance releases. Then, click a language name to begin translations from English to that language.

select a bundle

The bundles correspond with groups of strings in the Mifos application. Choose one to begin translating. Look in the "Untranslated" column for bundles with strings that are not yet translated. You can also sort the bundles in order of translated strings by clicking on "Translated" or "Untranslated" at the top of each column.

begin translating

To translate a particular string, hover over a cell in the right column, and an "Edit" link will appear to the right.

Click on Edit and a text field will appear in the right column where you can enter in the translated string. Once you're done editing the string, click "Submit".

Feel free to put anything that might be helpful to a developer or another translator in the "Translator comments" field. Translator comments will not be checked into Mifos code.

You can continue to edit all the other strings similarly.

commit translations

It is recommended to have the translated strings committed periodically so they do not get lost or overwritten accidentally. If you are translating daily, this should happen at the end of every day. When you are done with translation work for the day, ask your manager to commit the latest translations for bundles you've edited. If you do not have a manager assigned, please e-mail the mifos-developer mailing list for this step. A program manager will commit the latest translations for you. A commit must be performed or your work may be lost! This commit will automatically trigger a build. Also, if the translations fix an existing issue, please update the issue with the bundle names (.po files) that have been updated, and include the issue number as well when emailing the mifos-developer list.

you're done!

Reward yourself.

see it in mifos

To see your translated strings in Mifos, you can install the latest revision after your translations are committed with locale settings to the language you want to see. Translated strings should appear in Mifos! (smile)

FAQ

What happens when two translators are editing the same string?

If two translators are editing the same string, the latest string to be submitted (when translator clicks on Submit) is saved.

I cannot log onto Pootle.

If you have any issues with the tool, please e-mail the mifos-developer list and a Pootle Administrator will try to help.

Where can I go to understand the context of the strings I am translating?

The only surefire way to see where the strings you are translating is displaying in the Mifos application is to download the source code yourself and search for where the strings are being used in the code. However, to get a general idea of Mifos and context, you can go to our demo server to see Mifos in action.

Other Features

change options

When you first log on, there is a Change Options link for you to set up quick links to your languages and projects. Navigate there to select Gazelle under My Projects and then select any languages you will be translating to under My Languages. These will now show up on your account page when you log onto Pootle.

copy

Clicking the "Copy" button while editing a string will directly copy the English translation.

Other Resources