Better end-user documentation on translation needed
| Project: | Documentation |
| Component: | Correction/Clarification |
| Category: | task |
| Priority: | normal |
| Assigned: | Unassigned |
| Status: | needs work |
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I've never had to use translation for anything, being a native English speaker, but I am now trying to set up a British English translation of a module.
I am trying to follow the documentation on translation and I am utterly, utterly baffled.
I know that need a PO file, and in this particular case I have one.
So...
- For starters, I googled 'Drupal install translation'. Results: confusing
- Secondly, I went to the Drupal docs and 'Getting started'. http://drupal.org/node/324602 This page has a big link to 'Translations', so that's good!
- The link takes me to http://drupal.org/project/translations. Big list of translations, looks good! But 'To install these translations, unzip them and import the .po file through Drupal's administration interface for localization'. What? How? What module(s) do I need to install to GET an admin interface? What about contrib modules? In short, HELP!
I think the docs need to identify a path through the information, with use cases such as the above -- 'how do I get my drupal's interface in another language?'
I keep hearing that the d.org redesign is going to include a look at the information architecture of the documentation -- is there anywhere where this is being discussed?
#1
Agreed - http://drupal.org/node/324602 (Drupal in Your Language page in Getting Started) needs expansion.
There is some information about running multi-lingual Drupal in the Handbook somewhere, but I'm not sure where off-hand (I've seen it...). But we definitely also need some basic Drupal in Other Language information (multilingual is a much more difficult problem that, say, just making a site in Spanish). Again, that may exist in the Handbook, but it is obviously not easy to find it right now.
#2
Yes, I looked at that page and really wasn't sure where to go :/
I think there should be a clear division between making a translated Drupal (making a site in Spanish), and making a multilingual site (where users pick the UI language). Then there's translating content, which is another thing again.
Coming to this as a newbie to translation, I've no idea how this all fits together. I don't even find it clear which modules I should enable!
The basic steps I would suggest based on my head-banging today:
Translating drupal:
- essential information: say which core (or contrib?) modules are needed (just a brief intro paragraph at the top)
- say where you get files for core UI translation and what you do with them
- say where you get files for contrib UI translation and what you do with them
- then, for bonus points: how you can help translate if your language is incomplete or missing
- if you're a module developer, where to go for more info on making your module translatable.
I'm sure that all needs to be broken into subpages, but I'd say those are the key links I would look for.
#3
Is there any information now on localize.drupal.org, or better links?
Anyway, this definitely needs to be done...
#4
Hi
I have updated the documentation page at http://drupal.org/node/324602 . Tried to add more clarity to the localization / translation workflow. Can you please review & close the issue if okay?
Thanks
(Created as a part of Drupal India Sprint - DSI2009)
#5
@joachim and @jhodgdon - just fyi, konstantin has written a section there http://drupal.org/node/176254 that covers .po files - so if that is confusing, maybe it needs to be fleshed out a little more and updated (title is currently d5 though it's been updated recently)
@prasad - thanks for the work updating this. notes from reviewing http://drupal.org/node/324602 (i edited as i went):
- changed 1st sentence (untrue that it is for non-english, as multilang sites can have english:
"This guide explains how to create a Drupal website in your own non-English language, popularly known as a localized, internationalized or a multi-lingual website" --> "This guide explains how to create a Drupal website that supports more than one language, or languages other than English, popularly known as a localized, internationalized or a multi-lingual website."
- made many punctuation and style updates to styleguide standards http://drupal.org/node/338208 which should be followed for all doc work. to see the changes i made, compare current version to the revision previous to the edits: http://drupal.org/node/324602/revisions/807372/view - errors i saw several times included using & instead of "and" in sentences, a lot of dashes rather than ending a sentence and starting a new one, dashes before a list rather than ":", spaces around html elements, extra capitalization, and using strong tags rather than headings (h2, h3) for section headings. there were also several typos that the browser (or any spellchecker) would catch.
- this doesn't seem quite right, but i'm not sure what it should say:
"For a proper multi-lingual menu system and multi-lingual blocks, you may need to use a contributed module called Internationalization."
- resources at bottom need some tidying/adding/reorganizing perhaps?