Changes between Initial Version and Version 1 of TranslateIntro

Timestamp:

Apr 25, 2007, 10:33:05 AM (17 years ago)

Author:

KSMarksPsych

Comment:

Added page.

TranslateIntro

@@ +1 @@
+= Web and GUI translations =
+        
+BOINC has mechanisms for non-English translations of
+
+    * Parts of this site (the [http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php Download] and [http://boinc.berkeley.edu/poll.php BOINC user survey] pages, and related pages)
+    * The BOINC Manager
+    * Parts of the BOINC-supplied portion of project web sites
+    * The project-specific parts of project web sites 
+
+== Instructions for volunteer translators ==
+
+Translations are done by volunteers. If you're interested in helping:
+
+    * Email the translation manager. For BOINC this is '''translate at boinc.berkeley.edu'''. Use this address also for SETI@home translations. For other projects, contact the project.
+    * Obtain (typically via CVS) the 'authoritative' translation file. Usually this is en.po (English).
+    * Create a translation file for your language. You can do this using a text editor or a specialized tool such as [http://sourceforge.net/projects/poedit/ poedit].
+    * Send this to the translation manager, who will then install it on the project's web site. Check all relevant pages and fix as needed.
+    * Subscribe to the [http://ssl.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/boinc_loc boinc_loc at ssl.berkeley.edu] email list, which is for translation-related discussion and announcements.
+    * Because web sites are dynamic, you will have to periodically update your translation. You can do this efficiently by looking at the CVS diffs of the authoritative translation file. 
+
+== Translation files ==
+
+Most translations are based on translation files. Translation files are in PO format, which is described [http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/html_node/gettext_9.html#SEC9 here]. These have names like 'da.po' (Danish) and 'en.po' (English). It's very simple. For example:
+
+{{{
+#!html
+<h2 style="text-align: center;">en.po (English)</h2>
+}}}
+
+{{{
+msgid "APPS_VERSION"
+msgstr "Current version"
+
+msgid "APPS_DESCRIPTION"
+msgstr "$PROJECT currently has the following applications. "
+"When you participate in $PROJECT, work for one or more "
+"of these applications will be assigned to your computer. "
+"The current version of the application will be downloaded "
+"to your computer. This happens automatically; you don't have to do anything. "
+}}}
+
+{{{
+#!html
+<h2 style="text-align: center;">da.po (Danish)</h2>
+}}}
+
+{{{
+msgid "APPS_VERSION"
+msgstr "Nuværende version"
+
+msgid "APPS_DESCRIPTION"
+msgstr "$PROJECT har i øjeblikket følgende applikationer. "
+"Når du deltager i $PROJECT vil arbejde fra en eller flere "
+"af disse applikationer blive tildelt din computer. "
+"Den nuværende version af applikationen vil blive downloadet "
+"til din computer. Dette sker automatisk - du behøver ikke at gøre noget."
+}}}
+
+Each translation has a token CHARSET whose value should be the character set (e.g. iso-8859-1) used in the translation.
+
+Here are links to the translation files for
+
+    * [http://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/browser/trunk/boinc/languages/translations/ this web site]
+    * [http://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/browser/trunk/boinc/html/languages/translations/ the BOINC-supplied part of project web sites]
+    * [http://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/browser/trunk/boinc/locale/client/ the BOINC Manager]
+
+== Writing translatable web pages ==
+
+Translatable web pages must be PHP, and must include
+
+{{{
+require_once("../inc/translation.inc");
+}}}
+
+Literal text is replaced with `tr(TOKEN)`, where TOKEN is a short string representing the text. For example,
+
+{{{
+page_head("Current version");
+}}}
+
+is replaced with
+
+{{{
+page_head(tr(APPS_VERSION));
+}}}
+
+For BOINC projects, the directory html/languages/translations contains a number of 'translation files'. When a person accesses the page, the browser passes a list of languages. The BOINC PHP code finds the first of these languages for which a translation is available, or English if none. As the page is generated, each call to `tr()` replaces the token with the corresponding translated text.
+
+In developing web pages, keep in mind that word order differs between languages, so you should avoid breaking a sentence up into multiple translation units. For example, use constructs like
+
+{{{
+msgid "ACTIVATE_OR_CREATE"
+msgstr "Already have an original 'Classic' account as of May 14, 2004? "
+    "<br>We've transferred it, just %sactivate it%s. "
+    "%sOtherwise %screate a new account%s."
+}}}
+
+with the corresponding PHP:
+
+{{{
+printf(tr(ACTIVATE_OR_CREATE),
+    "<a href=sah_email_form.php>", "</a>",
+    "<p><img border=0 src=images/arrow_right.gif width=9 height=7>",
+    "<a href=create_account_form.php>", "</a>"
+);
+}}}
+
+== Project-specific translations ==
+
+The web site of a BOINC-based project involves both
+
+    * BOINC pages, such as the forms for creating accounts. These are part of the BOINC source code distribution, and are updated periodically by BOINC.
+    * Project-specific pages (and BOINC pages that are modified by the project). 
+
+To allow translations of both types of pages, a project can haves its own 'project-specific translation files'. These are stored in a directory html/user/project_specific_translations. Project-specific translation files override BOINC translation files.
+
+== BOINC Manager translations ==
+
+Menu names and other text in the BOINC manager are stored in files in '''boinc/locale/client/'''.