Instructions for the German translation

• There are now three different types of placeholders:

  • %placeholder: The string is wrapped in a theme_placeholer() (em tags by default). Additionally it’s piped through check_plain() to prevent XSS.
  • @placeholder: The string is piped through check_plain() to prevent XSS.
  • !placeholder: The string is returned as it is.

  You should be careful when updating the translation to correctly replace those placeholders.

• Be careful, a lot of fuzzy strings have sentences removed or added or <p> tags removed.
• Typographical notes
  • If a placeholder begins with %, don’t wrap it in curly quotes. Also, remove curly quotes from all % placeholders.
  • Generally don’t wrap any placeholders in quotes if it’s not wrapped in the original string.
  • Use curly quotes instead of the "inch" signs: „Wort“ and ‚Wort‘
  • For apostrophes, use ’ instead of the plain '.
  • For dashes, use either the regular dash: -, the en dash: – or the em dash —.
  • For an ellipsis, use ….
• Stylistic advice
  • Never use informal language.
  • Try to avoid using “Sie” or “Ihr” by rephrasing the sentence, e.g.:
    “Do you really want to delete %placeholder?” becomes “Soll %placeholder wirklich gelöscht werden?”.
    If passive constructions or other stylistic methods to avoid a direct address are too complex or sound weird, you can use “Sie” or “Ihr”. Remember to always write them with a capital first letter.
  • Don’t clutch at a direct translation. Sometimes you just can’t translate an English expression in German without paraphrasing it. Also, the English version is not always written in a good style.

(This text can also be found in the German translation’s INTRO.txt file)