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| -rw-r--r-- | doc/README.md | 1 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/translation_strings_policy.md | 72 |
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diff --git a/doc/README.md b/doc/README.md index 22b7065f62..e3be27d706 100644 --- a/doc/README.md +++ b/doc/README.md @@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ The Bitcoin repo's [root README](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/ - [Release Process](release-process.md) - [Source Code Documentation (External Link)](https://dev.visucore.com/bitcoin/doxygen/) - [Translation Process](translation_process.md) +- [Translation Strings Policy](translation_strings_policy.md) - [Unit Tests](unit-tests.md) - [Unauthenticated REST Interface](REST-interface.md) - [BIPS](bips.md) diff --git a/doc/translation_strings_policy.md b/doc/translation_strings_policy.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..6824b1d8ef --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/translation_strings_policy.md @@ -0,0 +1,72 @@ +Translation Strings Policy +=========================== + +This document provides guidelines for internationalization of the Bitcoin Core software. + +How to translate? +------------------ + +To mark a message as translatable + +- In GUI source code (under `src/qt`): use `tr("...")` + +- In non-GUI source code (under `src`): use `_("...")` + +No internationalization is used for e.g. developer scripts outside `src`. + +Strings to be translated +------------------------- + +On a high level, these strings are to be translated: + +- GUI strings, anything that appears in a dialog or window + +- Command-line option documentation + +### GUI strings + +Anything that appears to the user in the GUI is to be translated. This includes labels, menu items, button texts, tooltips and window titles. +This includes messages passed to the GUI through the UI interface through `InitMessage`, `ThreadSafeMessageBox` or `ShowProgress`. + +### Command-line options + +Documentation for the command line options in the output of `--help` should be translated as well. + +Make sure that default values do not end up in the string, but use string formatting like `strprintf(_("Threshold for disconnecting misbehaving peers (default: %u)"), 100)`. Putting default values in strings has led to accidental translations in the past, and forces the string to be retranslated every time the value changes. + +Do not translate messages that are only shown to developers, such as those that only appear when `--help-debug` is used. + +General recommendations +------------------------ + +### Avoid unnecessary translation strings + +Try not to burden translators with translating messages that are e.g. slight variations of other messages. +In the GUI, avoid the use of text where an icon or symbol will do. +Make sure that placeholder texts in forms don't end up in the list of strings to be translated (use `<string notr="true">`). + +### Make translated strings understandable + +Try to write translation strings in an understandable way, for both the user and the translator. Avoid overly technical or detailed messages + +### Do not translate internal errors + +Do not translate internal errors, or log messages, or messages that appear on the RPC interface. If an error is to be shown to the user, +use a generic message, then log the detailed message to the log. E.g. "Error: A fatal internal error occurred, see debug.log for details". +This helps troubleshooting; if the error is the same for everyone, the likelihood is increased that it can be found using a search engine. + +### Avoid fragments + +Avoid dividing up a message into fragments. Translators see every string separately, so may misunderstand the context if the messages are not self-contained. + +### Avoid HTML in translation strings + +There have been difficulties with use of HTML in translation strings; translators should not be able to accidentally affect the formatting of messages. +This may sometimes be at conflict with the recommendation in the previous section. + +### String freezes + +During a string freeze (often before a major release), no translation strings are to be added, modified or removed. + +This can be checked by executing `make translate` in the `src` directory, then verifying that `bitcoin_en.ts` remains unchanged. + |