It’s WordCamp London 2018 this weekend and, this year, I have the honour to be able to help out with the Contributor Day’s Polyglots team, instead of just participating as I had done in previous occasions.
So, in preparation, I’ve been working on a “Quick Introduction to the WordPress Polyglots Team” document that I’d like to share with you all. In it, you will find out how WordPress and its Themes and Plugins are translated, how you too can help translate and a list of useful links with further information.
What does the Polyglots team do?
The Polyglots team is responsible for translating the WordPress core, all Themes, Plugins and Apps from English US into other languages and localisations (such as, for example, English UK).
There are currently 172 active locales.
The translations must sound natural to a native speaker so, in order to get involved, it is recommended that you master that particular language at native level.
How to get started
- Do some reading beforehand to save work later:
- Read the General Translation Expectations.
- Visit your language’s team page and become familiar with its Glossary and Translation Guidelines.
- Login to WordPress.org
- Go to the Translate WordPress page.
- Select the language and package you wish to translate.
- Start suggesting string translations.
Before your translations can be used, they will need to be approved by a Translation Editor and 95% of the project (i.e. the plugin or the theme being translated) must have been approved. 100% in the case of WordPress core. You can read more about this process here: Translating Strings (with GlotPress) and FAQs: When are validated strings taken into account.
What happens if my language is not
in the list?
If your language is not in the list, you can request a new locale be created for it.
Before doing so, you will need to gather some information. Here’s an explanation of the process: Requesting a New Locale
The request can be made from the form in Polyglots Make WordPress page. Please note that you will need to be logged in to see the form. It is also recommended to read the tag policy before using this form.
What do I do if my language is on the list but it doesn’t seem to be active?
If the locale for your language exists but seems inactive, or has been marked as so in its Rosetta site (this is the name given to a language Team website), you are advised to attempt to contact its current Global Editor/s either via the locale’s Rosetta site, the Polyglots page, or the #Polyglots Slack channel (always remember to quote the current editor’s @username in the message).
If a week later there’s been no response, you can get in touch with the Global Polyglots team, via the Polyglots page, to request the Global Translating Editor role for the locale.
Further details of the process can be found here: Translating Inactive Translations
I’m a developer, how do I get my plugin/theme translated?
Start by making your plugin/theme multi-language ready. This process is called internationalisation (i18n). Read the instructions here for plugins: How to Internationalize your Plugin and here for themes: Theme Internationalization
You can upload your plugin/theme to the WordPress repository with language files already included. The various language files will be automatically added to GlotPress. Here’s further information about what happens to your existing language files: Loading Translations
When a plugin/theme is uploaded
Some more useful links
Finally, here’s some links that can furter complement the information above:
- What all terms in the Polyglots page mean: General Polyglots Glossary.
- What is translated: Types of translatable messages.
- What languages are used, worldwide, by live WordPress sites: Locale Stats.
- How to request the Project Translation Editor role for a particular Plugin or Theme.