Yesterday I have sent an email to the development list about multilingual support
in Drupal.

My email is here :
http://lists.drupal.org/archives/development/2007-02/msg00411.html

And if you want to follow the thread, you can read the other messages here :
http://lists.drupal.org/archives/development/2007-02/threads.html

The subject is : "Multilingual support"

Comments

Mojah’s picture

Mojah commented

I read the thread and would like to say well done to all of you for collaborating in such a community beneficial way. Thank you Roberto for taking care in your work and also looking out for the future implications of the localizer module users.

Now I would like to ask your advice. Is it safe to say that using localizer for projects up to Drupal 5.x will not present a problem, but there is no certainty about upgrading to future Drupal versions?

Thank you

Roberto Gerola’s picture

Roberto Gerola commented

Hi.

I am not able to say what will be the future of this module.
I think that a solution will be implemented in core, probably this
module will die.
In this case I'll help to provide some migration procedures.

To keep you informed on the evolutions about this topic,
I think you should take a look at this group :
http://groups.drupal.org/i18n/

Gabor has written a detailed post of what they are doing
and what will be the future.

Bye.

huayen’s picture

huayen commented

I tried both i18n and localizer and found localizer is much better. SO, current uncertainty will force me to i18n?

edinjapan’s picture

edinjapan commented

huayen,
Here is my own plan and the reasons why I have chosen them. Maybe they will be of reference to you.

It has been stated that the work being done on Drupal 6 internationalization (that is with a small "i") is work on the core, and that the implementation is at a very different level than any of the currently available contributed modules (the most popular being the Internationalization module and the Localizer module). As far as I have been able to find, there has been no discussion about an "upgrade path". My guess is that it doesn't matter which contributed module you are using now, the upgrade to Drupal 6 will be non-trivial. I doubt that there will be any advantages to using one module or another when it comes time to upgrade to Drupal 6.

No one knows when Drupal 6 will be released, but looking at mailing lists, etc., I would guess it is still sometime off.

For me, right now the Localizer module has more features I want, and is easier to use. Also, it seems many who use Localizer have been providing very good information in posts here, so in addition to the fine support of Roberto, others are helping.

I have chosen to stick with Localizer for these reasons.

huayen’s picture

huayen commented

My concern here is based on what Robert said :

I am not able to say what will be the future of this module.
I think that a solution will be implemented in core, probably this
module will die.
In this case I'll help to provide some migration procedures.

From CVS message, looks like Roberto may not be working on the project. I don't mean he shall continuously work on the project, we do not have such kind of right to request him to do this. But, since previously Roberto was always actively in develop and maintain this module, his current inactivity really cast a doubt whether this module may die.

Even though Roberto may provide migration, but if this future migration is toward i18n which might become drupal v6 core, why we still need to stick with localizer now? Why not turn to i18n now to avoid future migration?

I don't mean we need to give up localizer and turn to i18n now. I really like localizer and hate to turn to i18n. I am just concerning the future ......I really hope to know Roberto's exact plan on developing this module.

Roberto Gerola’s picture

Roberto Gerola commented

>But, since previously Roberto was always actively in develop and maintain this module,
>his current inactivity really cast a doubt whether this module may die.

Hi.
Yes the CVS is not yet updated because I am rewriting some critical portions
of localizer and now it is working partially until I'll finish.

Edward has prepared a list of the next features, but I have yet to take a look
at it. I'm working alone and I have no sponsor for this project. I have received
a donation only from Funana, so, I have to work on my own business also to
support this project by myself, but I cannot continue to work on Localizer at
the same speed of the last month, otherwise I cannot work anymore for myself.
Many of the last requests are for modules that I don't use in my work, so
to provide support for them requires me a double effort.

Until the official features plan will be ready, this is what I am doing :

- introduced model concept to interact with the database with simple caching support
per page call
This has a major impact because I have to check all the code
- support for all forms that use variables
- new translation interface for taxonomy, menu and variables
- adding some patches posted here
- revisited block support
- optional support of Localizer for content type

Has I have said above, at now the code is a little broken because
of the rewriting of some critical functions. This is the only reason
because CVS is not yet updated.
I hoped to have more time to work on it, but I am also busy with
my work, so I do what I can.

About the project death.
I think that if a translation / localization core module will be released
with Drupal 6, I would prefer to concentrate the effort there to avoid
to make too much confusion for the users.
If there will be enough room in core to leave Localizer live, Localizer will
live.

edinjapan’s picture

edinjapan commented

Hi huayen,

I think Roberto cleared up the fact that he is still actively working on Localizer--just not at the feverish pace he once was. Let me just comment on a couple of things.

huayen said: why we still need to stick with localizer now? Why not turn to i18n now to avoid future migration?

As far as I can tell from reading all the posts about it, the Drupal 6 i18n project is NOT trying to move the i18n.module to Drupal core. (I know it is confusing because the names are the same.) The development team is using very different methods than the i18n.module does, and at a different level. Therefore I doubt that using the i18n.module will help you avoid migration issues. You will most likely have migration issues no matter what you use for now.

Roberto said: About the project death.
I think that if a translation / localization core module will be released with Drupal 6, I would prefer to concentrate the effort there to avoid to make too much confusion for the users. If there will be enough room in core to leave Localizer live, Localizer will live.

I will put this in a slightly different manner. If Drupal 6 does everything in core that Localizer or the i18n.module does, it doesn't make sense to continue to develop them does it? (That would certainly confuse users.) In this case I don't think anyone would object to the Localizer project or the i18n.module project "dying" if that is what the respective developers chose to do. However, if there are still features that a contributed module like Localizer can add, and Drupal 6 makes it technically possible to add them, it will probably still live.

huayen’s picture

huayen commented

Thanks a lot Roberto and also EdinJapan for clear explanations, which make me feel more comfortable in using localizer.

Roberto Gerola’s picture

Roberto Gerola commented

The next version will be 3.0, so we can unify the number versions of both Drupal 4 and 5 version.

The plan is to provide a complete stable version for Drupal 5 and then backport the same
features to Drupal 4.

This week I'll share with you the plan for the next steps and features.

sun’s picture

sun
Primary language German
Location Karlsruhe
commented
Category: task » support
Status: Active » Fixed

IMHO, i18n and Localizer differ very much. Localizer uses very comparable methods to JoomFish! (Joomla!'s translation component) and is the only module that allows you to translate taxonomy terms while keeping them in sync. On the other side, i18n is suitable for sites that need completely different contents for each language.

Yes, i18ncore has been announced, but the development speed is rather slow. I have no fears that a migration / upgrade path from Localizer to i18n or i18n could be impossible. You should decide now and base your descision solely on your requirements.

Anonymous’s picture

(not verified) commented
Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)