Enable translations for the Xubuntu website

[Pjotr12345]

I want to translate the Xubuntu website into Dutch, but that's not possible because of an incomplete PO template.

The PO template contains only this header:
#, fuzzy
msgid ""
msgstr ""
"Project-Id-Version: PROJECT VERSION\n"
"Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
"POT-Creation-Date: 2007-01-11 13:09+0000\n"
"PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n"
"Last-Translator: NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n"
"Language-Team: LANGUAGE <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n"
"MIME-Version: 1.0\n"
"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8\n"
"Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n"
"X-Launchpad-Export-Date: 2011-06-15 09:36+0000\n"
"X-Generator: Launchpad (build 13216)\n"

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

Please be aware the Xubuntu website at http://xubuntu.org is under a complete change to Wordpress. After the change is complete would be a better time to translate it.

[Pjotr12345 (computertip)]

@Charlie Kravetz: thanks for your reaction.

Can you give a rough estimate, when the Wordpress change will be completed (and therefore translation can begin)?

[Elizabeth K. Joseph (lyz)]

It's a goal for this cycle, so hopefully we'll be finished within a couple of months. We're currently working on the theme which will then need to be approved and installed by Canonical and then put into production.

I believe the .po template you are referring to only covers the Drupal theme itself (please correct me if I'm wrong), which would not cover any of the content which is manually updated through the Drupal interface. I have never been involved in a translation project on a Drupal or Wordpress site so I don't know the proper way to handle this, would it be committing all content that we place on the website to a branch before copying it to the site itself?

[Pjotr12345 (computertip)]

OK. It would be convenient if the website would be translatable at least a month before the release of Oneiric.

I expect a considerable surge of interest for Xubuntu in October, because Xubuntu 11.10 will then be a very attractive alternative for those who miss Gnome 2.

Having a localized website is a big help for gaining acceptance.

[Pasi Lallinaho (knome)]

There is a plugin called WPML for translating. I have used it briefly, and have only good experiences.

The plugin website is at http://wpml.org/. The plugin is not free, but non-profits can get the plugin for free, see http://wpml.org/purchase/non-profits/.

[Pasi Lallinaho (knome)]

As brought up today on IRC, one option is to write a brief page about Xubuntu in English and then simply get that single page translated to other languages, under xubuntu.org/lang/fi or something.

[Pasi Lallinaho (knome)]

I have now generated a translation template file for the new Xubuntu website theme. Please note that this is only the first, and really tiny step towards translations for the website.

[Urien Desterres (urien-desterres)]

This bug has been opened almost three years ago. Could you tell us why it is taking so long and if there is something we could do to help and accelerate its resolution ?

[Pasi Lallinaho (knome)]

We are looking to find or write a WordPress plugin with the following requirements:
1) Open source and free, and if possible, without any special licenses granted (WPML)
2) Access control that allows separating translations from other tasks on the site, and possibly translating/reviewing as separate tasks
3) Doesn't clutter the interface, eg. can't create one tab per language in the post editing view, because that would be unsustainable with the amount of languages we will potentially have; also translating one language shouldn't block editing the other languages

Currently, apart from WPML, which has its licensing downsides to it, there haven't been a potential plugin to use. I am personally working on a plugin that would do what we want and how we want, but progress on that is more or less slow.

As the bug is marked with the "Wishlist" importance which means it's very low priority for the team, and many things are ought to be done before that. Contributions are always welcome.

[Urien Desterres (urien-desterres)]

Indeed, sounds a bit tricky. Unfortunately, i don't have these kind of skills. Still, i'll be happy to help with the translation once the plugin is available. Thank you for taking the time to answer me and good luck.

[Sean Davis (bluesabre)]

Migrated to new issue tracker, please follow the issue there for updates:
https://github.com/Xubuntu/xubuntu-website/issues/4