diff --git a/core/modules/locale/locale.install b/core/modules/locale/locale.install
index 3b26178..6aa5aa8 100644
--- a/core/modules/locale/locale.install
+++ b/core/modules/locale/locale.install
@@ -6,6 +6,20 @@
  */
 
 /**
+ * Implements hook_install().
+ */
+function locale_install() {
+  // @todo Automatic translations download/import does not need the translations
+  // directory to exist. Only multi site installations may benefit from having
+  // this directory. A follow up issue will change this default:
+  // http://drupal.org/node/1851442
+
+  // Create the interface translations directory and ensure it's writable.
+  $directory = variable_get('locale_translate_file_directory', conf_path() . '/files/translations');
+  file_prepare_directory($directory, FILE_CREATE_DIRECTORY | FILE_MODIFY_PERMISSIONS);
+}
+
+/**
  * Implements hook_uninstall().
  */
 function locale_uninstall() {
diff --git a/core/modules/locale/locale.module b/core/modules/locale/locale.module
index 75ff0d8..44a3b30 100644
--- a/core/modules/locale/locale.module
+++ b/core/modules/locale/locale.module
@@ -154,26 +154,23 @@ function locale_help($path, $arg) {
       $output .= '<dt>' . t('Translating interface text') . '</dt>';
       $output .= '<dd>' . t('Translations of text in the Drupal interface may be provided by:');
       $output .= '<ul>';
+      $output .= '<li>' . t('<a href="@update">Automatic import</a> of translations when you add a language or enable a module or theme. These translations are obtained from the <a href="@url">Drupal translation server</a>. Although Drupal modules and themes may not be fully translated in all languages, new translations become available frequently. Interface translation updates can be downloaded and installed automatically at <a href="@config">regular intervals</a>.', array('@url' => 'http://localize.drupal.org', '@update' => url('admin/reports/translations'), '@config' => url('admin/config/regional/translate/settings'))) . '</li>';
       $output .= '<li>' . t("Translating within your site, using the Locale module's integrated <a href='@translate'>translation interface</a>.", array('@translate' => url('admin/config/regional/translate'))) . '</li>';
-      $output .= '<li>' . t('Importing files from a set of existing translations, known as a translation package. A translation package enables the display of a specific version of Drupal in a specific language, and contains files in the Gettext Portable Object (<em>.po</em>) format. Although not all languages are available for every version of Drupal, translation packages for many languages are available for download from the <a href="@translations">Drupal translations page</a>.', array('@translations' => 'http://localize.drupal.org')) . '</li>';
-      $output .= '<li>' . t("If an existing translation package does not meet your needs, the Gettext Portable Object (<em>.po</em>) files within a package may be modified, or new <em>.po</em> files may be created, using a desktop Gettext editor. The Locale module's <a href='@import'>import</a> feature allows the translated strings from a new or modified <em>.po</em> file to be added to your site. The Locale module's <a href='@export'>export</a> feature generates files from your site's translated strings, that can either be shared with others or edited offline by a Gettext translation editor.", array('@import' => url('admin/config/regional/translate/import'), '@export' => url('admin/config/regional/translate/export'))) . '</li>';
+      $output .= '<li>' . t("If an existing translations do not meet your needs, the interface translations files in Gettext Portable Object (<em>.po</em>) format may be modified, or new <em>.po</em> files may be created, using a desktop Gettext editor. The Locale module's <a href='@import'>manual import</a> feature allows the translated strings from a new or modified <em>.po</em> file to be added to your site. The Locale module's <a href='@export'>export</a> feature generates files from your site's translated strings, that can either be shared with others or edited offline by a Gettext translation editor.", array('@import' => url('admin/config/regional/translate/import'), '@export' => url('admin/config/regional/translate/export'))) . '</li>';
       $output .= '</ul></dd>';
       $output .= '</dl>';
       return $output;
 
     case 'admin/config/regional/language':
-      return '<p>' . t('Interface translations are automatically imported when a language is added, or when new modules or themes are enabled. Interface text can be <a href="@translate">customized</a>.', array('@translate' => url('admin/config/regional/translate'))) . '</p>';
+      return '<p>' . t('Interface translations are downloaded and imported automatically, check the status of <a href="@update">Available translation updates</a>. You can edit the interface translations at the <a href="@translate">Translate</a> page.', array('@update' => url('admin/reports/translations'), '@translate' => url('admin/config/regional/translate'))) . '</p>';
 
     case 'admin/config/regional/translate':
-      $output = '<p>' . t('This page allows a translator to search for specific translated and untranslated strings, and is used when creating or editing translations. (Note: For translation tasks involving many strings, it may be more convenient to <a href="@export">export</a> strings for offline editing in a desktop Gettext translation editor.) Searches may be limited to strings in a specific language.', array('@export' => url('admin/config/regional/translate/export'))) . '</p>';
+      $output = '<p>' . t('This page allows a translator to search for specific translated and untranslated strings, and is used when creating or editing translations. (Note: Because translation tasks involves many strings, it may be more convenient to <a href="@export">export</a> strings for offline editing in a desktop Gettext translation editor). Searches may be limited to strings in a specific language.', array('@export' => url('admin/config/regional/translate/export'))) . '</p>';
       return $output;
 
     case 'admin/config/regional/translate/import':
-      $output = '<p>' . t('This page imports the translated strings contained in an individual Gettext Portable Object (<em>.po</em>) file. Normally distributed as part of a translation package (each translation package may contain several <em>.po</em> files), a <em>.po</em> file may need to be imported after offline editing in a Gettext translation editor. Importing an individual <em>.po</em> file may be a lengthy process.') . '</p>';
-      $output .= '<p>' . '<strong>' . t('Automatic imports of translations, if available, are done as new <a href="@language">languages</a> are added, or when new modules or themes are enabled.', array('@language' => url('admin/config/regional/language'))) . '</strong>' . '</p>';
-      $output .= '<p>' . t('Alternatively, <em>.po</em> translation files can be imported manually on this page, by browsing for your local source <em>.po</em> files. Or, you can get community translation packages by downloading them from the <a href="@translations">Drupal translation page</a> and then browse for those.', array('@translations' => 'http://localize.drupal.org')) . '</p>';
-      $output .= '<p>' . t('Since this page only allows the import of one <em>.po</em> file at a time, it may be faster to download and extract a translation package into your Drupal installation directory and then <a href="@language-add">add the language</a> (which automatically imports all <em>.po</em> files within the package).', array('@language-add' => url('admin/config/regional/language/add')));
-      $output .= ' ' . t('The <em>Settings</em> tab has more information for configuring your <em>Translation source</em>.') . '</p>';
+      $output = '<p>' . t('This page imports the translated strings contained in a Gettext Portable Object (.po) file. Normally downloaded from the <a href="@url">Drupal translation server</a>. Also a .po file may need to be imported after offline editing in a Gettext translation editor. Importing an individual .po file may be a lengthy process.', array('@url' => 'http://localize.drupal.org')) . '</p>';
+      $output .= '<p>' . t('Note that the <em>.po</em> files are automatically downloaded and imported when new modules or themes are enabled. This is <em>strongly</em> encouraged for interface translation.') . '</p>';
       return $output;
 
     case 'admin/config/regional/translate/export':
diff --git a/core/modules/locale/locale.pages.inc b/core/modules/locale/locale.pages.inc
index 7bee3ce..7f999d3 100644
--- a/core/modules/locale/locale.pages.inc
+++ b/core/modules/locale/locale.pages.inc
@@ -605,9 +605,22 @@ function locale_translation_status_form($form, &$form_state) {
     drupal_set_message(t('No translatable languages available. <a href="@add_lanuage">Add language</a> first.', array('@add_lanuage' => url('admin/config/regional/language'))), 'warning');
   }
 
+  $last = state()->get('locale.translation_last_checked');
+  $markup = '<div class="locale checked">';
+  $markup .= $last ? t('Last checked: @time ago', array('@time' => format_interval(REQUEST_TIME - $last))) : t('Last checked: never');
+  $markup .= ' <span class="check-manually">(' . l(t('Check manually'), 'admin/reports/translations/check', array('query' => drupal_get_destination())) . ')</span>';
+  $markup .= "</div>\n";
+  $form['last_checked'] = array(
+    '#markup' => '<p>' . $markup . '</p>',
+  );
+
   // @todo Add user interface update for translation update.
   // Followup issues: Display translation status http://drupal.org/node/1804702
   // and Translations update feature UX http://drupal.org/node/1029554
+  $form['temporary_note'] = array(
+    '#markup' => '<p>' . 'The translation status will be included here. See <a href="http://drupal.org/node/1804702">http://drupal.org/node/1804702</a> for more information.' . '</p>',
+  );
+
   $form['langcodes'] = array(
     '#type' => 'value',
     '#value' => drupal_map_assoc(array_keys($languages)),