How to translate SPIP?

The development version of SPIP includes a directory named ecrire/lang/ in which is located, for every language, a file called spip_xx.php, where ‘xx’ is the language code.

This file is organised in a relatively simple structure: each string of characters available for translation is represented by a line such as:

that can be translated as:

etc. There are in total about a thousand lines to translate (it takes less time than it sounds...)

A few particularities are worth mentioning:

1) when a variable is included in a string, it is shown between two ‘@’. For example: ’avis_erreur_sauvegarde’ => ’Error in backup (@type@ @id_objet@) ! ’. The characters between the ‘@’ must not be modified, since they are replaced in order to create the final string: “Error in backup (article 7)”

2) Characters with accents or non-Latin characters are noted either as HTML entities (é) or as Unicode (é)

3) The single quote (’) must be preceded by a backslash (\’).

The quality of the translations should reflect the expectations of SPIP in general: easy to read, accessible to a non initiated public (avoid as much as possible the use of jargon), respect of the language (avoid spelling mistakes), etc.

There are two ways of proceeding.

You can translate from home, off-line, by working directly on the spip_en.php3 file that you can edit with a simple text editor and then send it to us by mail so that it can be integrated into the development version of SPIP (CVS).

Another method, which we highly recommend, is that you proceed on-line via the translation interface. This interface, available at http://www.spip.net/trad_lang.php, requires that you register as an editor of this site [1]. Afterwards, if you see that your language is already in the process of being translated, you should contact the translators team for this language (either from the private area or via the spip-trad mailing list); if not, you can create the language and you can start immediately.