Xfce Translation Resources
These pages have been set up to assist contributing to the translation of Xfce using Transifex, an online localiztion tool.
Getting Started
Transifex is the preferred tool used by Xfce translators. As an online, web-based tool, it allows translators to edit translations through a web interface rather than requiring contributors to learn more complex, and potentially error-prone tools. The main "Translating Xfce" page provides instructions for getting started with the initial Transifex registration process.
Getting Help
- #xfce-translation Matrix channel (Recommended Support channel)
- Introduction to Transifex (Collection of introductory Transifex documentation)
Translation Teams
The list of teams contains the maintainers of each language and a link to their wiki here (if one exists).
We encourage translators to create and maintain a team wiki for your language team(even if you are the only translator). This can help in making it more accesible and welcoming for new translators to join your team. You can have a look at the other teams pages to get an idea about what you could put in yours. If you are using an external resource to communicate with your team, it is recommended that it is linked to it on the team's wiki page here, for new and future translators.
In order to get write-access to the translation wiki pages here, please join ourXfce translation Matrix channel to introduce yourself to the team and request that a wiki.xfce.org account be created for you.
Collaborating with your Translation Team
It is important to keep in contact with the other translator(s) of your language.
Is your language already translated or being translated by someone else? If so, you should reach out and make an effort to collaborate with the current translator(s) of that language, and split up the work so that you are potentially reducing your workload and increasing the quality of the translation. Many translators are happy to share the work and appreciate people discussing the translations that they are working on.
Transifex Team Coordinators
Transifex allows one to manage a team with a list of translators and coordinators. Usually you will find one coordinator per team who is allowed to perform the following tasks:
- Accept or deny new translators in the team.
- Accept or deny a translation review.
It is recommended that the team language coordinator not accept new translators without having some familiarity with their involvement in other projects. If a coordinator is unsure if a new member has deep knowledge of translations, it is possible to check the new Transifex account and start a short discussion per email.
At this point, the coordinator can either accept the new member who will be allowed to commit changes directly in our repositories, or the coordinator can ask the new member to submit a sample of work for review. Following this process is important whenever the translations require the use of a shared vocabulary.
A good practice for the team language coordinator is to check the translations prior to a new release, A new release consists of compiling each Xfce component with the latest translations and ensuring that everything meets a reasonable standard of quality.
Historical/Advanced Translation Resources
For the majority of our translators, we strongly recommend using Transifex web interface as this should be sufficient for majority of the Xfce translation work. However, if you would like more technical details on translations and working with PO files, see our advanced translation resources page.