2010-01-21: NOCC is getting ready for its 1.9 release. Complete your translation while you can!
2010-01-20: We have moved to a new server. Thank you, netcup.de! (Other news...)
| Next step | Regional settings |
This page describes the features on Special:Translate.
You must have done all things mentioned on Translating:How to start.
TODO: screenshots
When you go to Special:Translate, it should load a list of messages in your language. The first column of the table contains a key and quick links. Every message is identified by a unique key. The name of the key itself doesn’t matter.
When you find a message you want to translate, click the corresponding edit link. See how to edit a message.
This mode will display all messages and their current content for your language. If a message has no translation, the fallback message or the message in the English language will be displayed.
This mode will only display messages that have not yet been translated. This option is useful when you want to translate new messages, or when you are still working to complete the translation of a message group.
The mode will display all messages that have been marked optional. Optional messages are messages that usually do not need translation in languages using a Latin script. They are not taken into account in the regular translation process. If the language you are working on uses a different script, many or some of these messages should be translated.
This will display all messages that differ from the messages in the current version of MediaWiki that translatewiki.net is running. It will show your corrections and new translations. You can use this mode to review your changes after a translation session and make final corrections.
This mode will display all messages that have a translation in the language you are working on. Messages only translated in the fallback language or the English source language will not be displayed. This mode is useful for a full review of all translations in a language.
This mode will export the the current group as po-file for offline translation with tools that understand gettext.
This mode will export the translated messages of a message group for copy/paste. This mode is used by developers to copy/paste the translations into the MediaWiki source files.
This list is very useful for translators as it optimises their effort in the early stages of translating the interface: they will have the most benefit if they translate these messages from top to bottom. At the bottom of the list are messages that are not that often used, but important for a proper look and feel for all users: create account, sign on, page history, delete page, move page, protect page, watchlist.
For more information see Most often used messages in MediaWiki.
This link will open the message page in edit mode. When you edit a message, you have a normal edit page with some extra features. Above the edit area is a box, which shows the original version of the message. If your language has a fallback, and the fallback language has translated the message, you will see it as well. You always see a box with translation hints for the message, even if it sometimes says that we have none, yet. When you finish your translation, click "save" as you would normally do. See interface translation guidelines. It is recommended to use a web browser that supports tabs when translating messages. Open 10 or so messages in 10 new tabs and translate the messages in those tabs in order. Open new tabs once you have processed the pages.
write something
Links to special pages in messages should always follow the syntax:
[[Special:canonic-english-name|translated-link-anchor]]
Use bold parts as they are. Take canonic-english-name from the original message, untranslated. Do translate translated-link-anchor, and if there is no vertical bar (|) followed by a link anchor in the original message, add them, using the canonic-english-name as the source of your translation.
Some languages allow you to use either of:
[[Special:canonic-english-name|{{#special:canonic-english-name}}]]
[[Special:canonic-english-name|{{int:some-message-name}}]]
which is ok to do. You run the risk, however, that amending these other translations may require amending messages that use them.