I apologize if this is not the right part of the forum for this question, but:
While testing the 3.4.04 update in preparation for us updating our entire installation, we’ve noticed that the 3.4.04 translation files have a lot of empty values. This can of course be remedied by installing the default translation plugin, but due to the many new empty strings in the translation this results in a hodgepodge of English and Dutch.
Before we start editing the .po files ourselves, we were wondering:
If others have also found that the Dutch translation of 3.4 has a lot of empty strings
If there is a way to export the translations from weblate to our installation
If the recently published 3.4.05 has made any improvements to the translation.
As you can see, there is still a fair bit missing. We rely on community contributors to contribute translations, so it would be great if we had more to contribute to this one.
The empty strings are an intended use of the Gettext toolchain related to our summiting tools. Long story short, it looks weird in the .po files, but it’s not accidental.
The key thing is to work on translations through Weblate (https://translate/pkp.sfu.ca) rather than editing the .po files manually. Not only will Weblate guide you through the translation process in a way that’s a little more friendly than editing the files directly, it’ll also result in the translations automatically being merged to the official distribution.
Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team
Good to have confirmed that a lot is missing. We’re aware of the Weblate plugin, and have tried to always add manual improvements we’ve made to our .po files there as well. We’re not seeing all of those improvements in the 3.4.04 installation. That could be our fault (perhaps we submitted some of them the wrong way!). It does lead to a new question: how long does it generally take for submitted translations to be (a) adopted and (b) distributed? E.g.: if we put a lot of effort into translating 3.4 through Weblate, how long might it take (both in time and versions) before we can install those translations through official means?
Unfortunately, improving the translation in Weblate will not result in a better installation of 3.4.04 or 3.4.05 for our users, hence my second question in the original post: is it possible to export translations from Weblate for your installation before the official distribution adopts them?
Tl;dr: We definitely want to keep helping the Dutch translation improve, but we’re very happy with 3.4 and are also looking for the fastest way to get it to our users with a good translation.
How long does it generally take for submitted translations to be (a) adopted and (b) distributed?
We release new builds of OJS 3.4.0-x every few months based on need (e.g. once we accumulate enough minor fixes to justify a release, or if there’s e.g. a security issue). I merge in the latest translations then. We don’t (yet) have a translation review process – though it’s on our list – so there’s no additional overhead with that (for better or for worse).
We very recently released OJS/OMP/OPS 3.4.0-5, so I’d say the next release is a few months away.
Is it possible to export translations from Weblate for your installation before the official distribution adopts them?
Yes, this post lays out some options:
It’s an old post, so refers to older branches; the branch that’s currently set to work with Weblate (as of 2024-03-14) is stable-3_4_0.
Sorry, that’s a lot of information, but I hope it makes some sense. Translation is hard work and very much appreciated!
Thanks,
Alec Smecher
PUblic Knowledge Project Team